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In article <1995Mar6.141057.26119@alw.nih.gov> Jeremy Cubert <cubertj@otd.nci.nih.gov> writes:

>oppedahl@patents.com (Carl Oppedahl) wrote:

>> In article <3jaj6k$kek$1@mhadg.production.compuserve.com> Frank Carlson, INTERNET:74260.1322@compuserve.com <74260.1322@CompuServe.COM> writes:
 
>> >I am a "young"--recent is a better term--law graduate from the
>> >University of Tulsa. Actually, I am 50 years old. I obtained my
>> >law degree as a part-time student while I was working as an
>> >engineer and manager in excess of 40 hours per week.  Because of
>> >this time commitment, my grades from law school are somewhat
>> >embarrassing.  I have done very well in legal research and
>> >writing, however.  In addition to a law degree, I have a B.S. and
>> >M.S. in petroleum engineering and an MBA.  While my technical
>> >degree is in petroleum engineering, most of my technical career I
>> >have primarily worked with chemical processes and simulation. In
>> >my career, I have worked both for industry and government, have
>> >spent nearly 13 years with a major oil company research center,
>> >and have been an inventor on some patents.  I have a strong
>> >technical background having published several papers in reputable
>> >journals.
>> 
>> >All things considered--age, law grades, technical background--is
>> >there hope for me in patent law?  
>> 
>> Maybe.  Of course, as you know, many employers are odd about hiring people who 
>> did not go straight from high school to college to law school.
>> 
>> >Is there a self-study preparatory course for the patent bar?
>> 
>> Well, sort of.  You can buy the study materials from one of the bar review 
>> courses and study them on your own.  Some people who try this even pass the 
>> morning part or the afternoon part.  But I think most people who pass that 
>> exam will tell you they physically attended a review course.
>> 
>> >What formal training is available for intellectual property?
>> 
>> Well, there are IP courses in law school but most employers give them no value 
>> in a candidate.  They don't generally teach what you really need to know. 
>>  There are continuing legal education courses (offered by the Practising Law 
>> Institute among others) that can be very helpful, but are mostly targeted to 
>> those who have already graduated from law school.
>> 
>> Otherwise, you learn at the feet of the masters.  That is the usual learning 
>> path and it is how I did it.
>> 
>> >How competitive is getting admitted to such training?
>> 
>> Anybody who pays the money can take a PLI course.

>I have been reading your advice to prospective patent practitioners for 
>a little while now and I'm a bit confused.  Somehow my classmates at GMU
>and other Washington area law schools have no trouble landing patent law
>firm jobs.  Many have had significant work experience either during law school
>or prior to attending law school.  They did not go to Harvard or Yale
>and they did not go to law school straight from undergraduate or graduate
>school.  Many prospective employees value their life and work experience.
>I understand you are a practitioner but somehow your advice doesn't match
>the experience my classmates and friends at other schools have had.  Most of 
>the attorneys I work with and have contact with do not share your
>experience either.  Perhaps people should contact practitioners in the
>geographic area they would like to practice in to find out what type
>of background is helpful.

Well, you refer to Harvard and Yale and yet these are not mentioned in the 
stuff that you quoted.  So I will have to guess which things I said that you 
are commenting upon.

Perhaps you are referring to the FAQ on how to choose a law school.  If so, 
please recall that in the FAQ I said:

	So here is one person's perspective on the answers to these questions.
	Obviously one should get other opinions besides mine.  The smart thing
	to do is to call up the persons or companies who would be your clients,
	and ask them for their opinions.

Please keep in mind that one of the points made in the FAQ is that some people 
who enter law school figure out while they are there that they really want to 
do a different kind of law than they had in mind when they entered.  In other 
words, there are plenty of people who do not correctly predict how they will 
feel about this, three years or more in advance.  This is a general 
phenomenon, and what I am reminding readers to consider is the special case 
where you think you are going to do patent law and later you decide to do a 
different kind of law.  

The person who figures out, half way through law school, that they don't want 
to do patent law after all, would find job-hunting much easier from Harvard or 
Yale than from any of numerous other schools we have talked about.

So I stand by my advice.  If you are thinking of doing patent law, and have 
been admitted to one of the highly reputed schools (e.g. Harvard, Yale) and 
to a school that is said to be "good" for patent law, go to the highly reputed 
school.  Indeed this advice applies regardless of whether you think you know 
what kind of law you will someday practice.

Obviously I am delighted that you and your friends are having good results in 
your job hunts.   And your comments are important reading for those who are 
choosing which law school to attend.
Carl Oppedahl
Oppedahl & Larson, patent law firm
oppedahl@patents.com
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