Engineering+law = successful career
An academically competitive program to begin next fall (2008) will offer 30 incoming freshmen the chance to prepare for a career in Intellectual Property Law (or Environmental Law) by combining studies in engineering and law at UDM. The Intellectual Property (IP) specialty focuses on protecting creative endeavors and covers such areas as patent, copyright and trademark law, trade secret law, licensing and fair-trade competition.
Students will earn a bachelor’s degree in Engineering to garner the technical knowledge necessary to practice in this growing field that protects and markets cutting-edge research and developments in many scientific and technological areas. Students may specialize in civil and environmental, mechanical, or electrical and computer engineering. An engineering or science degree, or the equivalent, is required to take the Patent Bar Exam and is helpful in other types of IP law. The Juris Doctor will qualify students to take the state bar exam and become practicing lawyers.
“The new program will provide a specialized experience for students, whose senior project may include performing a patent search and patent application for their design, and whose co-op experience could include one assignment in a patent law office,” says UDM Engineering & Science Dean Leo Hanifin. In the past, the route through the engineering program to patent law careers has been less formal. However, a number of engineering alumni have combined engineering and law degrees for careers focused on IP law, including William Wales, '72, vice president and general counsel, Dow ArgoSciences, and Geoffrey Oberhaus, '92, partner, Dinsmore & Shohl Attorneys, Cincinnati, Ohio. Dean Hanifin recently met with them and they reflected on their careers:
Wales asserts, “Having an educational background in engineering and law has been a great asset in my career and, in particular, in the areas of complex commercial and mergers and acquisition transactions in technology intensive businesses.”
Oberhaus adds, “Some of the most sought-after job candidates are intellectual property attorneys, particularly those with engineering and science backgrounds.”
The high demand in this field is reflected in salaries reported by the American Intellectual Property Law Association in 2005:
- Starting salary range: $105,000 - $155,000
- Average starting salary: $135,000
- Average salary for an associate with five years experience: $168,000
The UDM program will take approximately seven years to complete (four for engineering degree, three for JD). Admission to UDM’s School of Law is available to those students who maintain a 3.25 GPA in UDM engineering studies and who record a LSAT score of 150 or higher. Graduates with both engineering and law degrees will be eligible to sit for the bar exam and the patent bar exam.
“Protecting intellectual property is critical to businesses today,” says Law Professor Nickolas Kyser. “The demand for intellectual property lawyers has been strong in recent years. Given the pace of innovation in today’s world, it seems likely that the demand will remain strong. Employment opportunities exist in corporations, law firms, universities and government agencies.”