Not ready to commit to law school?

June 30, 2025

Last week we talked about going to law school on the path to becoming a patent attorney. But what if you’re not sure about getting a JD? Let’s talk about:

  1. The best option for testing the waters before law school

  2. How to potentially bypass law school altogether

Want to gauge your interest in patent law? 🌡️

Do an internship or other short-term program at a law firm. It is THE best option to figure out if you like patent law, and can really set up your career (it did for me!). You very well may get a full time job offer at the end of the internship. Alternatively, if you decide to go to law school afterwards, you have great work experience on your resume when you apply to law jobs. It’s a no brainer!

The catch is that internships are hard to come by. You may have to do some digging to find them or be flexible on location. Here are a few I’ve found:

Don’t see an internship job posting in your area? Try networking your way in. I got a 4-month paid internship at an IP boutique as an undergrad by cold emailing firms like crazy until I found one that would hire me. It was a lot of effort, but it worked!

If you are currently in school, you can also look into the tech transfer office at your school. They sometimes offer internships!

Maybe skip the JD? ⏩

There are two good options for working in patent law without going to law school:

  1. Become a Patent Agent (aka a tech specialist, patent engineer, etc.)

    In North America, you can become a patent agent without going to law school. You’ll need to pass an exam, and some jurisdictions (like Canada) require some years of work experience. But afterwards you can practise in front of the patent office and represent clients. Law firms sometimes look for STEM grads who haven’t gone to law school to fill patent agent positions. If you’re interested, it’s worth doing more research into, since there are some downsides (e.g., usually lower pay compared to attorneys).

  2. Become a Patent Examiner

    Another option is to work for a patent office as a patent examiner. Examiners are the people who evaluate patent applications submitted by attorneys/agents. I don’t know too much about what being an examiner is like, but you can check out your country’s patent office website for more info (e.g., the USPTO in the US).

Part Time Law School 👨‍💻

If full time law school is too much of a commitment, I would also encourage you to look into part time programs. They may take longer to complete than the typical 3 years, but you could potentially still work on the side and partially alleviate the financial burden of a JD.

So, do any of these alternative options interest you?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Thanks for reading this issue of The Patent Pivot! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you. See you next week! 💌