<p>I work in the legal field, and I am amazed at how many attorneys I come across who have degrees in engineering from very well respected engineering schools, like Tulane, UMichigan, UIUC. </p>
<p>Considering how crowded the legal field is, I am wondering if today's engineering majors still look to law as a possible career goal.</p>
<p>According to the [UC</a> Berkeley career center survey of graduates](<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/CarDest/2010Grad.stm]UC”>https://career.berkeley.edu/CarDest/2010Grad.stm), only 3 (about 4%) of the 80 graduates for 2010 who reported going to law school were in the College of Engineering. College of Engineering majors made up about 10% of the 2010 graduating class and 12% of the survey respondents. Note: Chemical Engineering is in the College of Chemistry, which sent 0 of its 2010 graduates to law school.</p>
<p>It is likely that some of those engineering majors in law school intend to do intellectual property law.</p>
<p>IP and patent law generally expect a scientific or engineering background, so many people interested in these fields start off by getting an engineering degree. Many more are lured later on by law programs pitching these fields. Plus, a surprising number of people complete engineering degrees having decided that they do not actually want to work as engineers - having done so, patent law becomes an appealing option for many.</p>
<p>That is not the only reason of course - of the engineers I know who went on to law school, only about half are working in IP or patent law. Presumably the remainder are simply the result of ambitions changing during college - it happens to everyone. Many people THINK they want to be engineers but change their minds when they realize that the parts they don’t like are the parts that won’t change.</p>
<p>Corporate Law Attorneys sometimes have an advantage by having an undergraduate engineering degree, particularly if their clients’ business is technical in nature.</p>
<p>For instance, a Corporate Attorney that is involved with many Chemical and Energy companies would have an advantage if he has a Chemical Engineering degree. An attorney with a Computer Science Engineering degree would fit in with clients that are involved with the Internet extensively.</p>
<p>in large part due to the fact that engineering in practice is nothing like engineering in school. once you get into industry it’s very hands on and industrial and that isn’t appealing to many. I’m an engineering grad considering law school.</p>
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I guess it depends on what one’s expectations are. There are plenty of engineering students who thought engineering curricula would be more practical and more hands-on. I’ve seen students who were disappointed to learn that there was in fact a lot more theory taught in college.</p>
<p>Some engineering grads and students mistakenly believe that their purpose working for an engineering firm is just to design buildings, computers, cars, etc. Employers actually hire you to make money for the company, and it just so happens you’re designing those items. Some people lose sight of that.</p>
<p>As others have said, in patent law you need a technical degree so engineering is a great background to have. In general, however, I would say that out of all engineering graduates that only a small percentage ever go to law school.</p>