How should a future patent attorney choose a law school?

The new USNews law school rankings have been released.  Everyone knows that the rankings are worthless, but we follow them anyway.  Engineers and scientists usually do pretty well on the LSAT and often end up with the following law school options:  

• Attend a highly-ranked law school;
• Attend a lower-ranked law school with a renowned intellectual property program; or
• Attend a lower-ranked law school as a night student and continue making money during the day.

The name of the law school matters most when you are looking for your first job out of law school.  Many people advise students to attend the highest ranked school where they can gain admittance.  Others would advise you to go to the school that offers the best financial package.  Not many advocate part-time solution — because it is such a hard road to work full-time then attend school four nights a week.  However, some of the most skillful attorneys that I know went through school that way.

What is your advice for hopeful pre-law students? Please leave a comment:

Comments

[Malcolm Mooney]

"Is it better to get a year of work as an engineer or as a patent agent (I have both offers) if my goal is to work at a major law firm"

Second what the person above said: working as an engineer for one year isn't going to do jack for your legal resume, at least not compared to a year working as an agent. Plus there's no better way to get a feeling for the pool than to sit on the rim and dip your toes in the water.

[Need to decide]

Thank you both for the responses. How would you rate either of those options compared to getting my Master's in E.E.? I can do this in the upcoming year before law school, but then I'll have no real work experience, just a bunch of degrees back to back.

[curious]

I would get the Masters in EE, then spend a year as a patent agent before going to law school

[Need to decide]

Unfortunately, I can only do one or the other, which would you pick, MSEE or 1 yr of WE as an agent?

[Leopold Bloom]

"Unfortunately, I can only do one or the other, which would you pick, MSEE or 1 yr of WE as an agent?"

MSEE. You'll get that 1 year of work experience later, or during law school. And everybody will have the 1 year of experience at some point. Not everyone will have the MSEE.

[dissertation]

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[Chaplain_Sunshine]

This has been an excellent discussion so far. Here's my problem: I went to a top 10 undergrad program which didn't have a top engineering program. I got my degrees in Mechanical Engineering and History. I always wanted to be an inventor and got my first patent pending. I filed it pro se but did all the prosecution and drawings myself. I'm looking for licensing partners but that may take some time.

I have more patentable ideas, but I'm currently at law school. It's ranked by US News at around #50 and is a relatively new school in NY. Their IP program is ranked fairly high, though I wonder what would be different at a more prestigious school.

My questions are: 1. Should I seriously consider transferring to a higher ranked school if grades/money permit it? I know I'll be a patent attorney anyway, but is going to a higher ranked school determinitive?

2. Does the fact that I'm an independent inventor matter?

3. What are the odds of leaving a legal career to go back to get a Masters or Phd? I sometimes wonder if I'd be happier doing pure science or engineering. Does everyday patent attorney practice actually make use of your technical background?