Science law?

September 12, 2008 11:50 AM

I'm interested in law with a special interest in science related issues. What do lawyers in this field actually do?

I'm a junior at a second-tier school majoring in neuroscience. I'm trying ot figure out what to do with my life. I've considered a lot of options and slowly dismissed them all. So now I'm interested in law, but googling for science-related law information hasn't yielded much. So I'm wondering what goes on in this field? What are some things I'll hate? What are some things I'll love? How competitive is it? I want a realistic perspective of the field.

posted by saoyama to law & government (18 comments total)

Perhaps the most obvious way to marry law and science is in the patent field. Lawyers also have the need of scientific expertise in some subfields within health law.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 11:59 AM on September 12, 2008

I am not a lawyer or a scientist, but there are a lot of areas where science and law (and/or government) intersect, often antagonistically. Consider these hot-button issues, which are the subjects of lawsuits or legislation and have significant scientific components:

Teaching evolution/teaching creationism
Stem-cell research
Cloning
Genetically modified foods
Global warming
Endangered Species Act
"Healthy skies" (hah!)
Drug policy

Being in neuroscience, some of these are closer to your current field than others, but people who could navigate both the legal and scientific sides of these issues could carve out a niche for themselves. Some of them are handled more at the local level, some at the national.
posted by adamrice at 12:00 PM on September 12, 2008

Patent law, medical device liability law, biotech law, maybe even some stuff on the tech/venture capital transactional side.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 12:01 PM on September 12, 2008

Like adamrice said, this may be far from your current focus, but environmental law is big right now and will be for the foreseeable future. Project areas might include suing manufacturers who dump toxins into rivers or otherwise flout disposal regulations, investigating options for dealing with developers who violate local zoning laws or renege on their word, and testifying for or against new housing or commercial projects.
posted by hippugeek at 12:19 PM on September 12, 2008

Patent law
Regulatory law
Product liability law
Environmental law
posted by caddis at 12:23 PM on September 12, 2008

I work at an patent law firm (IT slave). They are doing very well for themselves and are looking for a biotech Ip attorney, even in my city's dire economy. So patent law would seem to be a good choice with your focus.
posted by cimbrog at 12:24 PM on September 12, 2008

As I understand it, if you want to have a senior role as a patent attorney you're looking at a PhD in the technical field as well as a JD. I have a very smart friend with a BS, MS (in math), and a JD. She just finished a very prestigious clerkship and is going to an IP (patent) law firm. But because she does not have a PhD in a technical field (biochemistry, etc) she has been told that she will never be a senior player at the firm.

YMMV, but that's one datapoint from someone I know who is very not clueless.
posted by alms at 12:34 PM on September 12, 2008

Another thing to keep in mind is that patent attorneys have to take a second, separate bar exam to be admitted to the patent bar (on top of the relevant state bar exam).

That said, patent lawyers make bank. So you'd have that to look forward to.
posted by orrnyereg at 12:41 PM on September 12, 2008

More about that patent bar exam - you may want to check out the requirements bulletin here. I don't see neuroscience as one of the required degrees listed on page 4. If you've taken enough science/engineering courses, you may still qualify to sit for the exam, but it's worth looking into before you get too excited.

You don't need to pass the patent bar to do patent litigation. Only patent prosecution. It's an important difference, so you should definitely research those two terms if you're interested.
posted by naju at 12:47 PM on September 12, 2008

Beyond patents, it's a really good qualification for policy work in technical areas. Being double-degreed would mark you out as someone to watch in either a private (NGO, thinktank) or public service setting.
posted by bonehead at 1:11 PM on September 12, 2008

I also work at a patent law firm, and everything above is true, with the exception of a Ph.D. requirement to move up. Only one of our four name partners has a Ph.D., two have an M.S. in their field, and the last has only his B.S. We certainly do not require Ph.D.'s to move up in our firm. I know our recruiting director does prefer folks with M.S.'s but if you have a strong background and great experience in your field along with good law school grades you will definitley get in the door here.

And patent lawyers do make bank. Our starting salary is $160,000.
posted by MeetMegan at 1:14 PM on September 12, 2008

When my wife was in law school, I remember seeing something about an LLM in space law at a law school somewhere in Scandanavia. Sorry to be so vague, but that's all I can remember about it.
posted by Stylus Happenstance at 2:28 PM on September 12, 2008

MeetMegan, not to disparage your surely awesome firm, but a starting salary of $160k is common for lots of large law firms in large cities, so that's not that "bank"ish. I'm sure though, that partners at your firm do make bank.

I'm in law school now, and according to my sciency friends, when you're starting out the money is not so much the motivation because you'd get the same salary starting at any large firm in a major market, but that people with science backgrounds are so in demand that you have your choice of jobs, even in this shitty economy.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 2:57 PM on September 12, 2008

If there were an associate at my firm talking about "making bank," I would wonder about their English skills and begin paying extra attention to their work product.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:54 PM on September 12, 2008

Another possibility, given your undergrad major. is health law, which as I understand it can take you one of two directions-- either towards management of and legal services for medical entities like hospitals, or into medical malpractice litigation. The University of Houston (my alma mater) has a strong program in health law-- info at the link can tell you more.

But by all means consider patent law as well. My ex-wife is a patent lawyer and seems to like it.
posted by missouri_lawyer at 10:01 PM on September 12, 2008

I'll chime in with the lesson I learned from an abortive patent law career: lawyer != scientist (or engineer, in my case). This may seem like a trivial observation, but all this talk about "making bank" shouldn't obscure the reality that this is something you'll be doing day-in, day-out for the next several decades, and if it's not something you enjoy then I guarantee your misery will outweigh any financial reward.

Before you start on the path to law school, spend a summer working in a law office. If you have the background then patent firms will be all over you, and it should be easy to find a place willing to take you for a summer if you're even thinking of law school. (Caveat: it is harder as a scientist -- I was an engineer without even a master's, but most scientists have PhDs, in my experience.)
posted by bjrubble at 9:36 AM on September 13, 2008

But because she does not have a PhD in a technical field (biochemistry, etc) she has been told that she will never be a senior player at the firm.

Most patent attorneys do not have anything beyond a BS. In the biotech area Ph.D.s are far more common though. Making partner is not about your undergrad degree. It is about getting clients and/or grinding out the hours. The patent bar is hardly challenging so don't let that put you off. I would check out the Patent Office web site to make sure you take enough science courses to meet their requirements. As for making bank I don't think patent attorneys are paid more than other attorneys but because the laws of supply and demand currently favor them patent attorney jobs are plentiful even if you do not end up in a top ten law school.
posted by caddis at 10:00 AM on September 13, 2008

Another area of law that is rather science-heavy would be bioethics law. Issues like parents seeking sterilisation of their mentally handicapped children, euthanasia, abortion, sale of human organs, creation and utilisation of DNA 'banks' or databases all involve understanding some technical/scientific field to varying extents. I did a module on that in law school, and found myself plowing through technical and scientific explanations of the nuances of specific issues in order to understand the legal arguments that both sides were framing.

Am also very sleep deprived, so please forgive if the above is slightly hard to parse.
posted by nihraguk at 7:57 PM on September 14, 2008