<p>I'm almost done with my degree in mechanical engineering with an aerospace minor. I'm interested in going into patent law.</p>
<p>I will have a 2.5 GPA. For planning purposes, I'm assuming an LSAT score of >170 (a generous assumption, I know).</p>
<p>I won't be getting into a great law school. I've read a lot about the dim employment prospects for those who don't go to top law schools. </p>
<p>My question is, would the fact that I have an engineering degree make me more likely to find a well paying job after graduating from a less than prestigious law school?</p>
<p>I don’t know how rare of a case this is, but my cousin’s wife did her UG in Biology at UChicago, didn’t do too hot GPA wise (~3.1), went to a probably Tier 2 regional law school, and is now very successful doing Patent Law at the local level. </p>
<p>She’s claimed she definitely thinks that the hierarchy for patent law is a bit different than that for the normal law student, and she also thinks if she didn’t do patent law she wouldn’t be employed right now. Not sure how accurate any of this information beyond the actual anecdote is though.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike - I can only comment on lateral hiring, but my clients typically do not ask for transcripts from undergrad. Obviously graduating with some level of honors is a plus but the patent law firms really just want to be sure that their patent lawyers can speak the same language as and have credibility with the science folks. If you graduate from MIT, it’s not likely anyone is going to delve into the GPA from there.</p>