job opportunities (Was: An IP gripe)

On 8/19/99, Deborah Peckham <peckham[_at_]tht.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Aug 18, 1999, Carl Oppedahl <carl[_at_]oppedahl.com> wrote:
> >
> > Look in the help wanted advertisements placed by law firms. They
> > *never* say "copyright lawyer needed". They *always* say "electrical
> > engineer needed, admitted to practice before the USPTO". Or instead
> > of "electrical engineer" it says chemical or mechanical engineer or
> > biotech PhD.
> >
> > Or listen to the telephone calls from headhunters. They are invariably
> > offering jobs requiring a technical degree and admission before the
> > USPTO, and almost never offer trademark or copyright jobs.
> >
> > For one point of view on this subject, see "What are the job prospects,
> > in the non-patent areas of IP law, for lawyers who do not have technical
> > backgrounds?" at <http://www.patents.com/opportun.sht#nt>.
>
> Ok, now that I have lurked on this thread for awhile I have to jump in.
>
> Mr. Oppedahl, really, whether you intended it or not, the suggestion
> that we ought to characterize the value of different types of
> intellectual property lawyers according to what headhunters are doing,
> or because EE candidates are hard to come by is a little bit offensive.

I made no such suggestion. I hope that other readers may see for themselves what I did purport to do, which was to give one person's point of view as to the *job prospects*. That's not the same thing at all.

> Furthermore, I respectfully disagree with you. I am a "non-technical"
> intellectual property attorney -- and in the last few months alone I
> have been courted by several prospective employers for my skills and
> experience in the trademark and copyright arenas.

I don't see where this contradicts my characterization of job postings, nor my characterization of the headhunter calls.

Maybe you can help to balance my characterization of the job postings by citing to some job postings for trademark or copyright or other non-technical intellectual property attorney job openings.

Do we have any law school placement directors on this list? I think it would be very helpful if one or two law school placement directors could give us their points of view as to the IP job prospects for law students with any of various backgrounds.

Carl Oppedahl
<carl[_at_]oppedahl.com> Received on Fri Aug 20 1999 - 16:12:09 GMT