Beware the IP Law Rankings. Are you using the wrong law school rankings? If you’re a grad- level scientist relying on the US News Best Intellectual Property Law Programs. It’s quite honestly almost impossible to overstate the importance of those general rankings to law firms and lawyers in general. This is a commonly accepted truth that generates periodic gosh- oughtn’t- we- wise- up laments from the profession. Part of this obsession probably stems from the fact that the US News Best Law Schools rankings quickly became a self- fulfilling prophecy. The rankings also have proven surprisingly stable over time, and their monopoly is only strengthened by the fact that some alternative rankings systems are. All this is a whole topic in itself, but for now let’s just agree that despite their somewhat arbitrary nature and. US News also compiles sub- rankings, including a list of the Best Intellectual Property Law Programs. They want you to believe that for would- be IP attorneys, these rankings control. Consider the US News party line, as stated in How to Apply to Law School as an Engineer or Scientist. In this Q& A article addressing “how engineers and those with a science background can best position themselves for success in law school admissions,” author Shawn O’Connor stated that: As you may know, it is very important that you choose the schools to which you apply based on the strength of their patent/intellectual property programs, and not just their overall ranking. I flatly disagree, and so does every practicing IP partner I’ve asked. I mean, I get the reasoning. To rank programs for specialty fields like IP makes sense in the abstract, and it’s certainly nice to recognize schools that have devoted considerable resources to building strong IP programs. And it’s not as though the list is somehow cursed turf: Berkeley and Stanford sit at #1 and 2, and they’re ranked in the top 1. But the six- figure question is whether, given the option, you should choose a top- 1. IP program over a top- 1. People use prestige as a shorthand, and very few lawyers that I know of actually keep track of which lower- ranked schools have invested in their IP programs of late. The primary law school rankings are in this sense a victim of their own success, deeply ingrained and tough to unseat. Second, even if potential employers might appreciate the value of a particular IP specialty program, the clients who hire those lawyers.
Do you think an employer will take that chance in hiring you, or will they make the safe play? Now’s the time to wonder — not when it’s too late. Third, anyone urging strict reliance on the IP sub- rankings operates with a flawed and unstated assumption: That the substance of your legal education — i. Applicants, particularly those poised to drop $2. A law school applicant straight out of undergrad might weigh IP rankings a bit more heavily to position themselves for IP firms, but as a scientist, you don’t need to. You are the credential. Finally, are you sure you want to do patent law? I certainly wasn’t when I was applying to schools, and even as a practicing IP attorney I remain skeptical of anyone who dumps all eggs in that basket before even starting 1. L year. Which is precisely why, when a law school hopeful asked me to vet her school choices earlier this year, I asked IP litigation partners in my practice group (a big firm), an IP litigation partner at a midsize firm, and a partner at a small patent prosecution firm how they felt about these US News IP rankings. My experience suggests they did not. All this doesn’t mean you should ignore the IP sub- rankings entirely. If the highest- ranked school you get into also happens to be a top player in the IP sub- rankings, that’s great. An LLM, or Master of Laws, is a degree awarded to those already holding a professional law degree, who have completed advanced education and research. Find and compare the best law schools offering a concentration or program in Criminal Law using rankings, expenses, admission rates, and bar exam results. Find and compare the best law schools offering a concentration or program in Intellectual Property Law using rankings, expenses, admission rates, and bar exam results. And if you’re shut out of the so- called T1. IP specialty schools might merit a closer look. Strict reliance on it seems illogical. But one of the big shifts in moving from science to law is understanding that what is logical is not always right. It’d make sense if employers and clients suddenly adopted them — much like, as the ABA complains, it’d be nice if lateral associate hiring were always based on actual merit. But here, as there, wishing doesn’t make it so.
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December 2016
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