<p>Well, as the title implies, I am curious as to how a law firm can benefit in any way from having an undergraduate student employee. Clerical work, proofreading, being a janitor - I mean, how is it possible to gain experience working "around" lawyers as an undergraduate? Primarily, I am interested in patent law and know a few patent attorneys in my area. How much of a laugh would they get if I asked them what an undergraduate to do to help around their firm?</p>
<p>You could see if you could get a job as a messenger, office staff, or anything else at any law firms. It can’t hurt to ask, but there is a LOT of competition to be a patent attorney & limited # of positions (especially for full-time). My understanding is that quite a few get engineering degrees/backgrounds & jobs & then go to law school. It isn’t REQUIRED, but it is one route (one that our EE S is toying with). We know another young man who got an econ degree & is now studying intellectual property law in law school.</p>
<p>I worked calendaring. Also, there were many UGs who worked part time as receptionists or other clerical jobs.</p>
<p>I assume it’s this way in many big cities, but in Seattle there are a ton of offices in which there is some sort of central office area for 5-10 small firms with 2-3 lawyers each. Those sort of places would be a “target rich environment” because you could stand out to several attorneys and possibly get good LORs from any one of them.</p>
<p>To HImom: As of now, I am a junior in chemical engineering and will be attending graduate school to study biotechnology and pharmaceuticals all of this is in an effort to gain more knowledge about that which I am passionate and to better prepare myself for the patent attorney job market. </p>
<p>XaviFM: I am currently located in Arkansas. Unfortunately for me, there are not a lot of opportunities here for patent attorneys in fact, there are only a few registered patent attorneys in the state of Arkansas. I know several of them. I will take both your and HImom’s advice and ask. I have experience as a Secretary for a non-profit organization with which I went to Belize and did community service work. With this organization, under this position, I have been appraised by all those I work for for my consistently proficient secretarial work - I have drafted our first written constitution and have a lot of experience with organizing dates, deadlines, events, and have good communication skills. (All of this I am consistently told, anyway.)</p>
<p>I hope the attorneys in Northwest Arkansas have position available for people who have the aforementioned traits.</p>
<p>Again, thank you guys so much for your input. You both have certainly given me some courage to speak with the local attorneys about possible job attainments. </p>
<p>Regards,</p>
<p>Cody</p>
<p>You’re in Fayetteville?</p>
<p>Yes. I graduate the University of Arkansas with a B.S.Ch.E. in May of 2014 and am currently looking for a good undergraduate research situation for myself. As for this summer, the ideal situation would be to continue undergraduate research and have – even a pro bono – position as a clerical worker in a patent law firm in NW Arkansas.</p>
<p>Are you familiar with the area?</p>
<p>Have you talked to the Arkansas law school program? That’s a flagship school and I would imagine they would have a pretty good support system for their UG. I mean, a former faculty member there became POTUS. While that’s clearly not typical, I know that the caliber of people attracted to Fayetteville should be able to be put to use to help you get to where you need to be.</p>
<p>BTW, that Cotton Bowl was brilliant.</p>
<p>My sister actually got an internship at a law firm or clergical office (please excuse my word use, I’m not very familiar with law). She was able to interview the people that were to be held on trial. </p>
<p>Is there a pre-law guidance counselor or organization that you can talk to about opportunities available in your area? </p>
<p>Best thing to do is call a office and ask instead of walking in and asking. Atleast if you sound stupid over the phone they won’t know who you are</p>
<p>XaviFM: Let me begin with speaking of my University of Arkansas pride by agreeing with you whole-heartedly in the brilliant performance of the Razorbacks this year. I was in Crested Butte, Colorado when the game was on, and let’s just say the entire town knew there were some Razorbacks visiting before we left that week. Anyway, to get back to the topic at hand, I know that Arkansas School of Law is ranked 84, making it a 2nd tier school of law in the U.S… And, yes, Fayetteville Law – in fact, my hometown of Hot Springs – is home to former President Bill Clinton. (Although he did not get his J.D. from the University of Arkansas, he did return to Arkansas to teach here. Let it be known that his contributions to our law facility have been generous.) However, there really are only 2-3 IP law firms in this region of the state; Arkansas just is not a centralized location for the country’s IP lawyers. I want to not only go to graduate school but law school out of the state of Arkansas, where I feel my opportunities will be magnified. Although I have already made several very valuable connections in the region – in fact, I have coalesced with the residing lecturer of patent law at the University’s only patent law course, and he has been generous enough to let me sit in on it – I know I can use the skills developed in gaining these connections to gain just as many in the state or region in which plan to study and practice law. However, as you said in finalizing your post above, I may be able to use my resources to get where I need to be - for now - which is in a clerical position in a law firm. I am hoping against all odds that I gain a position such as this. I plan on speaking with the aforementioned lecturer on holding the said position at his own patent law firm here in Fayetteville, just outside of campus, later on this week.</p>
<p>Mango15: The type of work your sister got into sounds extremely beneficial to anyone interested in the inner workings of the legal system. I couldn’t imagine the ecstasy she must have felt if doing something like that was as passionate to her as much as it is to me. By the way, your suggestion at the end of your post is pure genius, and I will certainly abide by it. Thank you very much.</p>
<p>And thank you all. I have been gratified more than I deserve. You all have given exemplary responses to all of my inquiries, and I am eternally grateful. </p>
<p>Best regards,</p>
<p>-Cody</p>