job before law school

Cat.Zzzzzzzz

I'm currently working as a software engineer( more like an algorithm engineer), and I decided to apply next cycle. I got a decent LSAT score on Jan test, so I didn't worry about test preparation. The thing is my current job is nothing related to practicing law. I want to be a patent lawyer after law school, so I searched online about patent agent job( and also patent assistant). However, the salary for inexperienced patent agent is only one third of my current salary. TBH, I didn't care about money. I had enough saving. How important is work experience related to job hunting after law school? Is it stupid to give up my current job for less lucrative position?

Thanks for your advice.

FixedDice

It doesn't matter what kind of job you have, so long as you have some kind of real work experience before law school (though some really rare experiences may draw favorable or intrigued reactions from admission committees). In fact, I heard from a biglaw attorney that big law firms want to see some kind of scientific background from those who apply to their IP or patent departments.

Leah M B

Actually your work experience sounds perfect for a patent lawyer. It is standard that they have some kind of STEM background first. That said, I don’t know the salaries for patent lawyers but I would guess that they are pretty high, especially if you want to work in tech. But, you already have a very lucrative position and a good career path ahead of you. So to me, it sounds like you just need to decide which is more interesting to you, and which one you would want to do for the long haul. You might want to do some networking and find patent lawyers in your area that would be willing to talk to you about that career path. It might help you figure out what you want long term.

Leah M B

And to be clear, a patent agent is different from a patent attorney. Patent agents don’t have to attend law school and make a lot less. Patent attorneys tend to be very well paid.

https://info.legalzoom.com/much-patent-attorneys-make-20285.html