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Mixing Law And Computer Science Degrees?
Janthkin asks: "I'm finishing my BS in computer science this year, and I'm looking for some advice. Grad school is a given: I want a master's in computer science. However, I'm also very interested in pursuing a career in law. Given the number of high- (and low-) profile cases we've seen just in the last year or so involving technology in general, and computers in particular, it seems reasonable to believe that a lawyer with significant computer knowledge would do quite well, much as the medical doctors with law degrees do. Anyone out there have experiences (personal or otherwise, finanacial or not) to share that might help me decide what to do?"
The first applicant, an engineer, was asked how much he wanted to be paid for going. "A million dollars," he answered, "because I want to donate it to M.I.T."
The next applicant, a doctor, was asked the same question. He asked for $2 million. "I want to give a million to my family," he explained, "and leave the other million for the advancement of medical research."
The last applicant was a lawyer. When asked how much money he wanted, he whispered in the interviewer's ear, "Three million dollars."
"Why so much more than the others?" asked the interviewer.
The lawyer replied, "If you give me $3 million, I'll give you $1 million, I'll keep $1 million, and we'll send the engineer to Mars."
As a third year law student about to graduate, I can't tell you how much I wish I had a hard science Technical Background. I attend Santa Clara University School of Law which is located right in the heart of Silicon Valley and which offers a Computer and High Technology Law Certificate within the J.D. program. I am very technically inclined, yet whenever I go out to interview with a law firm for an Intellectual Property job, the first question that they ask is always what is my GPA and the second is what is my undergraduate background. I would highly advise you to do it, but with the caveat that you should find a school which will encourage and support your experience. Some excellent choices are Santa Clara University in NorCal, Franklin Pierce in NH, Chicago-Kent in Chicago, Berkeley in NorCal, Stanford in NorCal, George Washington in D.C. and others. You can see the rankings at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/beyond/gradrank/g blawsp5.htm
By the way, I am writing this from my Cyberspace Law class right now and it is awesome.
Good luck!
I am in my last year of law school and planning to get a degree in CS next yr. Like the great majority of law students I have a bachelors in the humanities. An attorney with a tech degree is fairly rare. The governemnt will hire a patent attorney -- all patent attorneys have to have tech degrees -- starting out at 60 k; industry pays double that....
There's an even larger group of people that get a BS in mechanical or electrical engineering, then go to law school to become patent attorneys. In recent years, computer engineering & CS are becoming more commonplace as well.
I've heard that IBM has hundreds of patent attorneys. They've been awarded the most patents of any company for several years running.
If you can have a degree in medicine, computer science or some hard science (physics, chem): you are very valuable. Corporations need those kind of people as well as everyone else. Getting a lawyer is easy, getting a tech person is "easy", getting a tech laywer is damn near impossible. There aren't many out there.
I'm a graduate of Stanford law school. Certain things don't change. 95% of legal professionals wish they'd pursued a different career. About 80% of my colleagues at a major New York law firm interviewed with investment banks or consulting firms after their first two years, desperate to change professions. (I made the investment banking move, myself). A handful of high profile antitrust cases, the recent wave of "business method" patents and the (now OVER) boom in Internet IPOs have changed little about the dreary life and profession of lawyers in the US. By the way, as far as the money is concerned, salary pressure has abated, as firms have recognized that the massive associate departure for Internet startups last year was a momentary anomoly. As a matter of fact, if you have an ambitions outside of pure patent law, such as litigation or corporate law, your computer science background is of no importance whatsoever, except for what you've learned about "critical reasoning". (A crack philosophy student can whip your behind in this regard). Even in the patent arena, your computer science background is of uncertain value five years from now. Also, keep in mind that there tends to be not a single promotion along the legal career track for seven to ten years, when the "partnership" decision is made ... and typically your hours INCREASE.
I have a BA in Psychology and I'm up for a BS in Computer Science this December. At the very least, I think it has allowed me to look at both computers and human thought from two different angles.
For example, the psychologist in me tries to make machines represent human thought. The computer scientist, however, is constantly amazed at how his brain can beat a binary search in some cases.
Those who will be most successful are the ones who can integrate diverse areas of thought, such as Law and Computers. Anyone can write code, but not everyone can solve problems that span multiple disciplines.
Don't just look at your educational choices as decisions in picking a trade. You already know that a CS profession is a continuous learning process. And the same is true in most other trades today. Gone are the days when if you simply became a lawyer or a doctor, your success was virtually guaranteed. Whatever trade you pick, you will have to work at it to be successful. And, I believe, if you continuously work at something--anything, you are bound to succeed. So why not do something you love?
If you love the Law, both the theory and the practice, then go for it. If you are a crusader, looking to free software production from the closing shackles of property law, then you must love it, and I believe you will find a vast army of peasant woodworkers like myself behind you. If you got into CS for the money, and now you're thinking of a strategic shift to maximize your return, then you're like the rest of us, and no amount of riches can save you.
A law degree with a technical background is a just a better educated lawyer. But a law degree with an advanced degree in a technical discipline can do serious good. You'll know far more than just enough to be dangerous. And dangerous lawyers we don't need. Most of the best opportunities seem to lie at the intersection of two fields. Best of luck with your plans.
I haven't done a lot of research, however. Does anyone knew of any particular law schools that specialize in Intellectual Property and Technology Law?
:q!
This is *very* true. I work for a very large Bar association (I'm a techie, I don't get the legal mumble jumble) - and the attorneys who know IT technology are making a *fortune*. If you have the opportunity to go to law school, take full advantage of it and do it.
http://slashdot.org/~tf23/journal
My brother-in-law just finished law school this past year. While we were talking over a few beers one night, he said that the greatest demand is for lawyers with an MD (there only 400 or so in the country) and recently internet/computer law. There apparently aren't very many lawyers with the technical know-how to handle computer related cases (criminal to things like IP).
ÕÕ
Go for it, my son.
My own CS knowledge was acquired at the University of Life, with postgrad work and the College of stuff I figured out as I went along, but I find it tremendously useful in practice as a lawyer.
-- AndrewD
A Maze of Twisty Little Laws, All Different.
I'm currently taking an undergrad course entitled Computers and The Law of Information Technology. It's a CS course, taught by 2 lawyers, and it's VERY interesting.
According to the lawyers, several students of this class have gone on to become lawyers. There is a huge demand for lawyers who understand IT in both public and private law.
The only caveat is that most of the stuff that's relevant to IT (the stuff we're being introduced to right now) doesn't really surface until your last year of law school.
But if Law interests you, I would persue it. At worst, you decide not to be a coder or a lawyer and get a fantastic job elsewhere because you've specialized in two fields that most people know very little about, even though it affects them all the time.
I can spell. I just can't type.
Okay, it must be a personal decision. However, as a pure tech let me encourage you to do so. I've thought about self-study to get a law degree equivelent myself (I don't know if I'd be allowed to take the bar) just because of all the stupid cases we have seen on /.
Once you do get your degree we would like it best if you would make your night job a technical one that paid the bills, and for the day work on some of these technical cases for those of us without the ability to deal with law. Sort of an EFF lawyer without taking money from the EFF. Since in reality you can't do this, just find something that you can make work for you.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST: