<p>Hi,</p>
<p>My friend says he knows someone that's making much more than 200k. I don't remember if he said this for sure, but I think that guy might have been pulling in 300k! How is that possible as a patent lawyer? I mean I guess it's stupid to ask if it's possible since anything is possible, but I thought you only make that much as a partner in corporate law in the legal field</p>
<p>Uhh.....most senior associates at biglaw make about that, sometimes more.</p>
<p>Partners at BIGLAW firms can make well over $1 million per year.</p>
<p>I may be wrong but here's what I have heard...</p>
<p>For the most part, many patent lawyers have graduate degree in hard sciences/engineering. Usually these majors tend to have lower GPAs than liberal art majors. Since law school admission is primarily based on GPA and LSAT, on paper a science/engineering major is at a disadvantage in terms of GPA resulting in a very limited supply. It would appear as if average income of patent lawyers would be based on the simple laws of supply and demand. Perhaps this is why for entry-level positions out of law school, the average patent lawyer makes more than other fields of law?</p>
<p>No entry-level patent lawyer makes 200k. Those who do make that sort of money have a fair bit of experience - either at least 4-5 years of solid work in a top law firm or 5-8 years of solid work in-house. Talking about 300k means you are a partner in a law firm or an in-house chief patent counsel, or close to it.</p>
<p>There are first year patent associates starting at $160k at "biglaw" firms with patent departments and at many of the large IP boutiques. With bonus, at least before bonuses were slashed, reaching $200k would not be difficult. Sometimes, patent lawyers are given credit for experience prior to law school or prior to becoming an attorney and they start the firm at pay higher than their classmates. These are positions with the top patent firms or with departments in very large firms - not in any way meant to represent average pay. Most of these associates have advanced degrees and/or prior work experience in a specialized field.</p>
<p>yeah that guy has been working in the field for a while. That's by no means a straight out of law school salary I'm giving, but I'm still surprised patent lawyers can earn that much. My friend also said that this person who is working his own clinic is making 700k (not a typo)!!! Ridiculous.</p>
<p>Why is that ridiculous? If there's someone willing to pay him that kind of money, then I don't see how making $700k a year is ridiculous. United Airlines is hemorrhaging money at a rate of a half a billion a year and GM is hemorrhaging even more money at a billion a month and their CEOs take home like $30 million.</p>
<p>why are you surprised that patent attorneys, in particular, can make that much? If anything, it makes sense that they would get paid more than attorneys in other specialties because they generally have more training (master or PhD in science or engineering, in addition to the law degree).</p>
<p>I'm not sure why you'd be surprised that someone earns that amount. There are likely thousands of lawyers, in every area of the law, who earn a similar amount, or more. Certainly lawyers who work for biglaw earn a lot more than that, as do many who are in-house in large corporations. Most of the patent lawyers we know are in boutique firms (many after several years at biglaw firms) and they are all earning well over $200,000.</p>