Patent Law November 1 st, 2006 Senior Seminar John DeRusso

Undergraduate  There is no specific curriculum required to apply to law school Common majors include English, History, and Philosophy  However, in order to become a patent attorney, there is a separate bar exam given by the USPTO Requires a technical major or course load

Applying to Law School  Very similar to applying to college Professor recommendations Transcripts Personal statement Extracurricular activities LSATs LSDAS – similar idea to the Common App

The LSATs  5x 35 min. multiple choice sections 2x Logical Reasoning 1x Reading Comprehension 1x Analytical Reasoning 1x Unscored Experimental  1x 35 min. essay Unscored, but submitted to the law schools to which you apply

The LSATs Cont’d  The score range is 120 to 180  For the years A score of 140 represents the 12.9 percentile A score of 150 represents the 44.5 percentile A score of 165 represents the 92.6 percentile A score of 173 represents the 99.1 percentile

Choosing a Law School  Very similar to choosing a college Reputation Location Academic specialties (Intellectual Property Law, Environmental Law, Legal Writing, etc.) Likelihood of acceptance (GPA, LSAT, etc.) Financial aid and scholarships

Choosing a Law School Cont’d  Fee waivers By allowing law schools to see your GPA and LSAT score, you will receive information packets, s, and fee waivers The advantage being that you can apply to an increased number of schools at little to no additional cost or effort

Choosing a Law School Cont’d  Advice I have received… A degree is a degree unless you plan on working for one of the top law firms in the country However, you should go to the best law school you can afford If the professors are regularly published in their specialties, they are likely to have good connections

Choosing a Law School Cont’d  Advice… Find a school with a good bar passage rate Make sure you can afford $600-$700 per month in school loans upon graduation Choose a school in a region you would like to live in since you are likely to stay there after graduation

Choosing a Law School Cont’d  Top Law Schools Yale Stanford Harvard Columbia NYU UChicago UPenn UC-Berkeley  Top IP Law Schools UC-Berkeley Stanford George Washington Santa Clara UHouston Cardozo-Yeshiva Duke Franklin Pierce U.S. News & World Reports 2007

Law School  Once you have been accepted to law school, it becomes a matter of taking classes, gaining work experience, and eventually finding a job

Darby & Darby  A law firm that has specialized in patent law since 1895  Main office is located in New York City with other offices in Washington DC, Seattle, and Frankfurt  They employ attorneys with and without technical backgrounds, as well as technical advisors who generally hold more advanced degrees

Darby & Darby Cont’d  The majority of the firm’s entry level associates come from their Summer Associate program  The Summer Associate program is available to 1 st and 2 nd year law students and is intended to be similar to the experience of young associates just joining the firm

Darby & Darby Cont’d  Summer associates attend and participate in… Depositions Settlement conferences Court appearances Client meetings Social events and training programs

Darby & Darby Cont’d  Summer associates are paid $2600 per week  The starting salary for 1 st year associates is $135,000 per year

Darby & Darby Cont’d   The website contains biographies of the employees of the firm  There are in fact 3 RPI graduates currently employed by Darby & Darby One as a Scientific Advisor, one as a Principal, and one as an Associate

Questions?