Do I need a PhD for patent law as a Chemistry Undergrad? Forum

[snarfing]

Basically the title. I had never heard of this until yesterday and now I'm a bit worried. I basically went for the law school route because I am really uninterested in research and do not want to do a PhD. I have a bunch of research experience and could get into a program if I tried but I'm really not a fan of the work. What do I even do with a law degree if I cant do patent law. I'm kind of freaking out. If I need PhD I need to do it sot of soon but my LSAT score will unusable by then (probably will take 5-6 years) and I think I got above what I can expect to get (170 on LSAT but only was pting around 167).

I guess if I need one I'll just go into industry and get my PhD and do what I actually want to do when 35 when I finally get a JD.

[kingpin101]

Patent prosecution pretty much laughs at chem and bio grads w/o grad degrees. But patent litigation certainly does not require a Phd. Either way, probably not a good idea to go through 5 years of grad school work just to go into patent law.

[snarfing]

Patent prosecution pretty much laughs at chem and bio grads w/o grad degrees. But patent litigation certainly does not require a Phd. Either way, probably not a good idea to go through 5 years of grad school work just to go into patent law.

What should I do, is litigation really as bad as Ive heard? By grad degree is there any chance a masters in something like chem e or materials science would suffice? My research background is more in materials science.

[goldenbear2020]

For patent prosecution, I would recommend a master's in ChemE over a PhD in Chemistry. It won't matter for patent litigation, especially from a T14.

[snarfing]

For patent prosecution, I would recommend a master's in ChemE over a PhD in Chemistry. It won't matter for patent litigation, especially from a T14.

I wonder if it would make more sense to just go litigation. I wonder how hard it would be to get my masters if I ever wanted to change. Man if only my prelaw adviser would answer my emails this would have been much easier. Good thing I found a thread talking about it.

[merde_happens]

Unless you're dead set on patent lit or prosecution, you could also look into technology transactions (essentially negotiating licenses). Life science tech trans practices especially are interested in STEM majors but not as picky about it as you'll sometimes see in patent pros or some patent litigation firms.

All else aside, you could look into other fields of law where your degree might be more of a net neutral if you really want to become a lawyer.

[androstan]

You don't need a PhD in general, only for certain types of jobs. I wouldn't do it just to help out as a lawyer. A master's in che is as far as I would go.

I'm bs che ms ch patent lit at a major firm fyi.

[snarfing]

You don't need a PhD in general, only for certain types of jobs. I wouldn't do it just to help out as a lawyer. A master's in che is as far as I would go.

I'm bs che ms ch patent lit at a major firm fyi.

Could you tell me more about being a patent litigator? whats your average week like, how do you like it? Is the work/life balance really as bad as Ive read?

[androstan]

You don't need a PhD in general, only for certain types of jobs. I wouldn't do it just to help out as a lawyer. A master's in che is as far as I would go.

I'm bs che ms ch patent lit at a major firm fyi.

Could you tell me more about being a patent litigator? whats your average week like, how do you like it? Is the work/life balance really as bad as Ive read?

There's no average week. Every day and week depends on the case schedule, which can change. It requires a lot of attention to detail and good professional judgment. The work/life balance is horrible but it pays well and the odds of being able to hang around as counsel or something seems much higher than other areas of law. The up or out policy is not really used as long as your can competently run a case.

[snarfing]

You don't need a PhD in general, only for certain types of jobs. I wouldn't do it just to help out as a lawyer. A master's in che is as far as I would go.

I'm bs che ms ch patent lit at a major firm fyi.

Could you tell me more about being a patent litigator? whats your average week like, how do you like it? Is the work/life balance really as bad as Ive read?

There's no average week. Every day and week depends on the case schedule, which can change. It requires a lot of attention to detail and good professional judgment. The work/life balance is horrible but it pays well and the odds of being able to hang around as counsel or something seems much higher than other areas of law. The up or out policy is not really used as long as your can competently run a case.

Are there any good weeks or is it all just insane hours and 80+ hours a week. Is it one of those fields that you will eventually be able to delegate all that work and the hours get better?

[androstan]

You don't need a PhD in general, only for certain types of jobs. I wouldn't do it just to help out as a lawyer. A master's in che is as far as I would go.

I'm bs che ms ch patent lit at a major firm fyi.

Could you tell me more about being a patent litigator? whats your average week like, how do you like it? Is the work/life balance really as bad as Ive read?

There's no average week. Every day and week depends on the case schedule, which can change. It requires a lot of attention to detail and good professional judgment. The work/life balance is horrible but it pays well and the odds of being able to hang around as counsel or something seems much higher than other areas of law. The up or out policy is not really used as long as your can competently run a case.

Are there any good weeks or is it all just insane hours and 80+ hours a week. Is it one of those fields that you will eventually be able to delegate all that work and the hours get better?

There are not that many 80+ hour weeks until you get close to trial. But there will be plenty of days where you do 8 or 9 hours of work, but an hour of that work consists of getting a bunch of shit together for a filing sometime between 9 PM and midnight. Or you're diddling around on Thursday, then get something around 1 PM on Friday, and you're working all day Saturday on it.

The problem with delegating is that you're still ultimately responsible, so you have to review carefully or really trust those under you. And even then, higher efficiency generally means the partners bring on more work. Further, doing things highly efficiently so that they're ready early just means that the partners have more time to go back and forth and agonize and deliberate over every little thing. I swear at least 50% of the changes they have me make end up getting reverted back very close to the way they were originally. Or it risks the case settling or the issue becoming moot, and all your work being for nothing. There is literally no way to "win." The point of working for a major firm is to make a lot of money and/or do high level work. You will not have work/life balance unless you plan to leave in a few years anyway. Full stop.