DD with PhD suddenly interested in becoming a patent attorney

[Anonymous]

My DD has a stem PhD from a very competitive program. She's doing fine as a researcher, but doesn't make a lot of money. She likes the work, but can't afford to buy a house. Someone told her that she could make $500k or more as a patent attorney. Suddenly, she thinks she wants a law degree.
I want to encourage her, but is this a good idea? She's smart, so would get into a good school, but would it be worth it?

[Anonymous]

Possibly, but only if she wants to be an attorney.

What sort of stem degree? It matters.

It used to be you could become a patent examiner at the pto and they would pay for your law school. Not sure if that is still the case

[Anonymous]

She has a PhD in CS

[Anonymous]

I think her degree needs to be Abet accredited or else shell need more classes.

[Anonymous]

Why does she have a PhD in CS? That's totally unnecessary. Does she work in academia? If so, she needs to jump to private industry to make more.

Law degree is a waste of time and money. Attorneys that make 500K hate their lives. My friends in patent law were making less than me starting out in pharma sales.

[Anonymous]

I think she wants to make more money and is slightly bored by her job. She doesn't know anything about law. She met someone who just finished a PhD in a CS-type field, who is starting law school this fall. That's what gave DD the idea.

[Anonymous]

My friend, a patent attorney, says in order to make good money, you have to be great at getting customers.

Is she up to it?

[Anonymous]

Why not try for FAANG?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does she have a PhD in CS? That's totally unnecessary. Does she work in academia? If so, she needs to jump to private industry to make more.

Law degree is a waste of time and money. Attorneys that make 500K hate their lives. My friends in patent law were making less than me starting out in pharma sales.

I don't understand this comment. She went to one of the best universities in the world and got a PhD in an area she's interested in.

She didn't go into academia because she said she didn't want to publish all the time. I think she should go into academia, but now she's got this patent law idea planted in her head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend, a patent attorney, says in order to make good money, you have to be great at getting customers.

Is she up to it?

No, I doubt it. She's quite introverted. She's a typical nerd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD has a stem PhD from a very competitive program. She's doing fine as a researcher, but doesn't make a lot of money. She likes the work, but can't afford to buy a house. Someone told her that she could make $500k or more as a patent attorney. Suddenly, she thinks she wants a law degree.
I want to encourage her, but is this a good idea? She's smart, so would get into a good school, but would it be worth it?

Most patent attorneys make FAR LESS than $500k and her degree is not in a more specialized, lucrative area. I'd have her reach out to her program career services office for advice and possibly names of alumns to reach out to. Law school is expensive and there is the opportunity cost of not working if go full time, 3 years. A night program, like Georgetown, is longer. She needs a far more realistic sense of options and tradeoffs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think her degree needs to be Abet accredited or else shell need more classes.

I looked this up. It's for undergraduate and master's programs. DD has a doctorate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does she have a PhD in CS? That's totally unnecessary. Does she work in academia? If so, she needs to jump to private industry to make more.

Law degree is a waste of time and money. Attorneys that make 500K hate their lives. My friends in patent law were making less than me starting out in pharma sales.

I don't understand this comment. She went to one of the best universities in the world and got a PhD in an area she's interested in.

She didn't go into academia because she said she didn't want to publish all the time. I think she should go into academia, but now she's got this patent law idea planted in her head.

It's unnecessary to work in industry, where the money is. If she wants money all she needs to do is leave academia. However, industry views her PhD as excessive. It only makes sense if you need a green card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not try for FAANG?

Stock options can be quite lucrative, if in the DMV she should investigate opportunities with Amazon perhaps.

[Anonymous]

She’s an adult let her figure this out.