Law school with a lowish engineering GPA

[Anonymous]

Hi engineer kid from a T20. Has a job after graduation. Thinking about potentially joining law school for IP law after working for a coupl eof years. Problem is GPA is sub 3.5-engineering major was hard. Is law school even a possibility with this GPA? Strong writer and good public speaker.

[Anonymous]

Look into whether IP law makes money.

I've known people who went into that (not from top law schools) and it's not big money.

Also...being a US Patent Office Examiner has issues.

Be sure the ecosystem is healthy before investing in law achool to join it.

[Anonymous]

An LSAT score is the most important factor in law school admissions, although GPA is important, too. Once your child takes the LSAT you’ll have a better sense of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look into whether IP law makes money.

I've known people who went into that (not from top law schools) and it's not big money.

Also...being a US Patent Office Examiner has issues.

Be sure the ecosystem is healthy before investing in law achool to join it.

Do you know which kinds of law make the most money? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Good lawyers in a variety of fields can make good money, especially at big law firms. The most important thing is building a good book of business (your own clients).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look into whether IP law makes money.

I've known people who went into that (not from top law schools) and it's not big money.

Also...being a US Patent Office Examiner has issues.

Be sure the ecosystem is healthy before investing in law achool to join it.

IP law is one of the strongest fields of law with lots of demand. What is his engineering degree in? He'll have the most success with something that fits strongly into the tech fields like electrical engineering, chemical engineering or software engineering, with a degree like civil engineering being less helpful.

He needs to focus on getting a really really strong LSAT score. If he can't get into one of the top schools he should look at a school like GW or Fordham. Those both still have reasonable options for law grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good lawyers in a variety of fields can make good money, especially at big law firms. The most important thing is building a good book of business (your own clients).

Not really for IP law. This doesn't happen until really far into your career because the clients are all major companies who are going to work with senior folks. You'll build your book of clients starting around 15 to 20 years into your career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look into whether IP law makes money.

I've known people who went into that (not from top law schools) and it's not big money.

Also...being a US Patent Office Examiner has issues.

Be sure the ecosystem is healthy before investing in law achool to join it.

Do you know which kinds of law make the most money? Thanks

PP. I assumed your kid had a special interest in IP law because of his engineering background. The people I've known in the field were STEM majors who didn't want to be researchers but still liked science.

How much law pays depends on the type of firm, the type of law, and the client base. There are lots of resources on the web and this isn't my area of expertise. However, most sources advise against going to lower-tier law schools if high salaries are the objective. Also, big salaries are mostly available in high cost of living areas like NYC, DC, SF, etc.

An engineering career is probably more stable than a lower-tier law degree. Regular employers don't care about engineer GPAs after they've got some work experience.

Here are some links that may help you to understand how people think about schools and law firms. These are just links I quickly found that seemed acceptable as intro posts. I'm sure others will be more in the know.

https://medium.com/@maksfeof/law-school-tiers-explained-for-perfect-career-98f95fb5af66

https://www.bcgsearch.com/bestlawfirms/ranking-methodology.php

[Anonymous]

Yes law school is possible for a kid with this gpa. There are so few STEM students who pursue law this student would likely be highly desirable assuming a decent LSAT score. However, look into what AI may do to IP law.

[Anonymous]

I was answering more generally and I’m not an IP lawyer. At many large law firms you’re fairly vulnerable and not so likely to become an equity partner without a book of business. Focusing on building some business should begin fairly early on—no later than year 6,7 or 8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An LSAT score is the most important factor in law school admissions, although GPA is important, too. Once your child takes the LSAT you’ll have a better sense of things.

Eh… not sure this is the case. You are saying one test has more sway than 4 years of grades? That makes zero sense.

[Anonymous]

A PP. Found this on the site I linked above.

I work in an F500 corporation which is also a bit feudal. But law has always been even more stratified. From observation of my Gen-X peers' lives it seems limiting. I have a good friend who went to Harvard Law and because she moved to a metro area that's smaller and she's stuck there due to a divorce, she really can't find jobs that pay Harvard level money.

https://www.bcgsearch.com/article/900046515/How-to-Easily-Determine-the-Best-Attorneys-and-Law-Firms-The-Five-Prestige-Levels-of-Attorneys-and-Law-Firms/

"As discussed at the end of this article, the modern day legal profession shares many similarities with the eighteenth century Western European class system defined by the three major classes of gentry, middle class and peasantry. While it is possible to move among these classes, it is very difficult and often nearly impossible to move “up” as opposed to “down” within this system. Part of what we must do as recruiters is be mindful of the parameters within which the system works (and thus within which we must operate), while also maintaining creative and optimistic minds that can see and capitalize on those rare situations where upward movement is possible."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An LSAT score is the most important factor in law school admissions, although GPA is important, too. Once your child takes the LSAT you’ll have a better sense of things.

Eh… not sure this is the case. You are saying one test has more sway than 4 years of grades? That makes zero sense.

DP. LSATs are standardizing measure across candidates. Extremely high performance clearly identifies what talent level you have, just like getting 1580-1600 on the SATs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was answering more generally and I’m not an IP lawyer. At many large law firms you’re fairly vulnerable and not so likely to become an equity partner without a book of business. Focusing on building some business should begin fairly early on—no later than year 6,7 or 8.

Thanks for giving uninformed and irrelevant advice, as you admit, since you don't work in this field.

[Anonymous]

Depends on LSAT score