Lateral move from intellectual property law to public law

[savannah]

Hi

I am curious about the possibility of transitioning from IP Law to public law after a few years. My background in STEM makes IP law a natural fit, but I believe my true passion lies in public ( administrative) law. I have researched several IP firms, but they do not have a public law division. While these firms will hire me, I would need to switch to a different firm to practice public law. I am uncertain how receptive other firms will be to this lateral move. Will I have to start from scratch? Are there any firms that specialize in both IP and public law? 

Additionally, I am unsure if I should specialize in one area of law during my studies. I want to keep my options open for my first job. Unfortunately, there is little overlap between public law and IP Law courses. Do universities indicate the JD option upon graduation? Even if they do, is it worth having it mentioned in your Diploma? I heard that the JD diploma you receive specifies your specialization in public law, criminal law, health law, etc. (as of now, I am not sure this will be the case for my university, I need to check with them). Is this accurate? During your studies, did you concentrate on specific areas or courses? Is it advantageous to specialize in a particular field? In my situation, is graduating with a specialization option a drawback or a benefit? 

I want to thank you in advance for any responses you give.

 

 

 

[TheDevilIKnow]

I know this isn't the advice you actually want, but: it's way too early for you to be worrying about this. You are just about to start law school. You will have no choice of courses for 1L, so you really don't have any decisions to make at this point. Attend clubs/events/talks involving the areas that interest you

Depending on what school you are going to, you may not even have many choices on course selection anyway. For example, your school might only have a single course on Intellectual Property. This was the case at UVic, where I recently graduated. There was also only a single course on Administrative Law, which everyone is required to take anyway.

So, at least at smaller schools, it may not even be possible to make the concentration you envision. Most students do not have a 'specialization' that will appear on your degree. I think only one was available at my school. Furthermore, employers won't care about that. During the (most competitive) 2L recruit, they will only have your first year transcript, which will not reflect any specific interests you may have.

Your question about switching from IP law to Public Law is a bit too broad, I think. You would need to be more specific about the type of public/administrative law you're talking about, since public law is a huge umbrella. I may be missing something, but I'm not sure what a "public law" division would even be, and I'm not sure any firm would specialize in "public law", without further specification. Public law includes criminal law, immigration law, environmental law, tax + customs law (including trade tribunals), etc. I guess, in the context of IP law (which I actually know nothing about), it would include disputes/judicial review over patents. I would have thought IP firms would handle those matters, but am not sure. In any case, you have plenty of time to find out.

[BDC]

Agree completely.  I'm an '09 call and don't actually know what "public" law would be.   

In other news, wow, back on this forum for me.  I haven't been on since I was applying for schools back in 2004!  I think I stopped coming here (or its predecessor site) in 1L (2005!).  Looking forward to re-engaging.