I have some questions for Patent Attorneys but I am not sure if this is the proper forum to ask these at so please recommend elsewhere if you think I can find better responses some place else! If you are a patent attorney it would also be nice if you could privately message me responses!
I am concerned about 2 things, the work-life balance and the employability of the field for a mechanical engineer (much more so the former than the latter).
I understand that some big law lawyers may work tremendously hard but I also have not experienced 70 or so hour work weeks before (but many all nighters in college BUT I also don’t have a relationship or family either) so I don’t know if I would be accepting of this lifestyle or not yet. So my question is, are there stories about the life of a patent attorney (what you do in the morning until night when you go to bed, telling it like a story), concluding with an overall opinion of this lifestyle?
Secondly, should I try to learn some electronics or take special classes or self-teach myself something during my free time during the duration of my internship? I know EE’s and Compsci majors are the most in demand for patent attorneys so i was thinking as a MechE I could learn something that would impress patent attorney recruiters. I’m just not sure what to do with my free time honestly. (I won’t take LSAT for 2 more years at least so that’s not an option and GPA is a nonissue; so basically I am not worried about getting into any law school at all currently. I just would like to know how to increase employability at a patent firm)
My husband is a patent attorney and from a family perspective he has no work life balance. Work is it. He loves his work, is a great provider but we can’t count on him for family things. I do know others in the firm that have a better balance but their salary shows it. My husband was a chemical engineer (masters). There are many of each type in the firm. He also does civil trial law for oil and gas and chemical companies so that adds to his work load.
The key is to get good grades do well on the LSAT and excel in law school.
@momocarly What do you and your kids think about his lifestyle (like do ya’ll “miss” him or anything along those lines). I never really had a serious relationship either but as I think about what type of family I want I feel like I should ask myself these questions. I also don’t know if I would “miss” my own family.
Also this might be a bit personal but you didn’t fall in love with your husband because he would be a great provider did you? It is important but that’s just not the kind of relationship I would want. You could also directly message me if you want to share something with me only!
And yes, I’m not too worried about excelling/getting good grades in college, I already have planned for that already. It would just be nice to know what skills/whatever many patent firms desire in an engineer.
I am not a lawyer. Over the years however, I have seen a variety of lawyers involved in patents and intellectual property. Some work for high tech and/or manufacturing companies. Some work for law firms and seem to mostly write up the patents (as consultants to the high tech or manufacturing companies). Some are involved in litigation (and might be brought in to help the high tech companies when needed).
I am wondering whether the life / work balance varies between these various types of lawyers. Do the first type of lawyers (who don’t work for law firms) have a better life / work balance? Is there a tradeoff between life / work balance and salary?
Usually an in-house lawyer’s hours are better than at the law firms so work/life balance is better. It’s hard to generalize because there are so many types of law firms.
In law firms, generally, a lawyer’s salary is highly dependent on the hours billed and on seniority at the firm.
If you do patent litigation, which many find more interesting than just prosecuting (writing) patents, your work life balance will be very hard to maintain, as poster #1 has said. My husband is also a patent attorney mainly doing litigation and at 53 he is as busy, if not busier, than he was at 25. It is just the nature of the work. As others have noted, working in-house is a path to a more stable work-life balance since you will not be affected by clients’ demands.
Mechanical engineering is not always as sought after as some other specialties, but my husband’s degree is in mechanical and he has done fine. Generally any patent attorney is highly employable.