Do not go to law school unless it's a passion that you're willing to sacrifice financial and mental well-being for. It's only "worth it" if you're able to attend an elite (top 10) institution -- otherwise, in an industry obsessed with status and prestige, you'll end up on the wrong side of the bimodal salary curve¹ struggling to pay your six figure student debt. BigLaw, IP (patents), and tax attorneys are the only specialties that make decent money. Once laden with debt, 2000 billable hours is standard at most firms, meaning that 50+ hour weeks are the norm. Lawyers are unhappy: alcoholism² and depression³ are rampant in the profession.

Source: Lawyer that hated writing patents and went back to tech.

¹ https://www.nalp.org/salarydistrib

² 20+% of lawyers have alcohol problems: https://www.americanbar.org/publications/youraba/2016/march-...

³ 4x rate of depression and highest suicide rate among occupations: https://www.americanbar.org/publications/gp_solo/2015/march-...

This doesn't really answer any of the questions I asked but thanks for the perspective. I'm not worried about the financial cost and planning on focusing on IP law in the company I currently work at.

You must be independently wealthy to not worry about a $150k+ outlay for school.

I obtained a CS degree, worked in tech for several years, and decided to attend law school to study IP like you’re intending. I attended one of best schools for IP, and worked writing patents. Despite a great law firm and clients, the work was not stimulating and a net drain on society. I left to start my own company in tech again.

My work as a core Django developer during school was more fulfilling intellectually and professionally.

Studying law will not bring the prestige you’re seeking. I didn’t listen to the lawyers who told me that either.

I guess you are set on assuming who is asking the question. Cost isn't a concern in my decision, I can pay for it out of pocket and I'm not seeking prestige. Thanks for your time.

I didn't plan on it but I always considered LS an option.

I have a Computer Engineering degree and programmed for 10+ years, mainly at startups that didn't pan out with some contracting thrown in there too. During that time some of my friends went into IP law and were doing well.

I eventually reached my last straw with startups and bit the bullet and went to LS at night while doing programming.

IMO industry experience is more important than LS rank/performance for patent attorneys. (I went to a local third tier LS school and had no problem.) It is your understanding of the technical subject matter that will set you apart from other patent attorneys especially from those w/o much industry experience. That said, I only work on computer/software patents, never gadgets or circuits.

Downsides include: drafting good patents is more exhausting for me than programming; the job can get grindy at times; and it also kind of sucks being in the service industry, dealing with those pesky clients can sometimes be a hassle. Being a diva programmer was more fun in that aspect.

Also, LS is expensive, my school charges about 2X what it did when I went. I went at night and worked at programming jobs during the day. This reduced my opportunity cost by at least $400K.

Upsides include: meeting a lot of smart people; learning about what they are building; flexible hours; nice office; decent pay; not having to build the inventions -- we just talk about cool parts and don't have to spend n-months or years getting them work; and not having to program for work.

Another upside: after the bar, no one is going to make you whiteboard the rule against perpetuities.

Thanks for insight, I tend to agree that industry experience is more valuable then going to a top 10 law school. Especially after working at a big 4 and seeing lots of people from top tier CS programs provide subpar engineering solutions.