<p>I've been searching through the list of the top law schools and it's quite unfortunate that only two so far, Stanford and Duke, offer joint degrees where you can acquire a Juris Doctor and Master of Science in an engineering discipline.</p>
<p>For those of us who want to be patent attorneys, this is a bit discouraging because having a Master's in CS/CE/ME/ awards obvious benefits when looking for work as a patent attorney after law school.</p>
<p>Forseeing the market five years from now, I don't think a bachelor's degree in an science or engineering discipline will suffice to compete for patent attorney jobs. Law firms will be looking for those with a Master's degree (regardless of work experience), but only a handful of law schools offer such a joint degree.</p>
<p>What gives?</p>
<p>I'm not sure that there's any real advantage to a "joint degree" in two such disparate subjects. Do any of the engineering classes count toward a law degree? Do any of the classes in law school count toward an engineering degree? If the answer is "yes," I can't imagine that the number of credits that count for both is significant, in which case you might as well apply separately.</p>
<p>I'd recommend getting the engineering degree first if you want to practice law.</p>
<p>^My plans are to get an engineering degree (bachelor's in CS) before law school, but it would be very nice to acquire a joint JD/MS in law school.</p>
<p>And yes, both the degree contribute credits to each other.</p>
<p>Stanford does it: Joint</a> Degree Programs | Stanford Law School</p>
<p>Stanford can only pull it off b/c there is enough demand for it due to their location. I know some others have it too, but there just isn't much demand for it, so some schools don't bother</p>
<p>I stand corrected - I see you can potentially shave a year off your total time in school.</p>