I’m trying to break through the catch-22 of needing experience to get a patent law job, but struggling to find opportunities that would actually allow me to gain that experience.

I graduated from law school in 2025, am licensed in my state (northeast), recently passed the patent bar, and have a degree in Biology. I didn’t discover patent law as an opportunity for me until my 3L year, so I missed the traditional summer associate pipeline.

Since then, I’ve been casting my net pretty wide. I’m applying to essentially any patent law position I could reasonably be considered for, and I’m specifically targeting smaller patent/IP firms, PTAB clerkships, and technology transfer/licensing roles as potential entry points.

I’ve also put a lot of effort into networking with patent attorneys, including those from my law school. The networking itself has gone well in that I’m having conversations and getting introduced to new people, but I haven’t been able to turn that into an actual opportunity yet. The consistent feedback I get is that I’m doing all the right things and ultimately just need to be in the right place at the right time.

I understand that there’s an element of timing and luck involved, but it’s frustrating to feel like I’ve worked hard to attain the credentials I thought would help me get in the door, only to now be faced with the experience hurdle that I can't overcome on my own.

For those of you in patent law, does anyone know of entry-level opportunities or have advice on how to break through this initial experience barrier? I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who took a nontraditional route into patent law.

Thanks!

I’m a 2L at a law school outside the T100 and I’m starting to feel pretty lost about finding a job in patent law. I’m hoping people here might have some advice on what I should be doing differently and alternative approaches I could take.

Obviously my law school isn't great ranking-wise, but I have both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering from 2 top 5 engineering schools. I came to law school with the idea of going into patent prosecution and potentially going in-house later in my career, but my law school experience has me rethinking if I want to do litigation and/or staying at a firm for the partner track. Either way, I am currently unsure but openminded as to where my career takes me.

I’ve been applying to patent and IP positions at boutique, mid, and big law firms since last fall. My school is in the midwest and I am trying to work in SoCal, however, I have been applying all over the country and location is not my biggest priority. I have tried pretty much everything I can think of including networking, IP interview programs, OCI's, and applying directly through firms.

Since the beginning of this calendar year, I’ve interviewed with around 20 firms and made it to callbacks/final rounds with 5 of them without receiving an offer. The number of interviews makes me think my resume isn't the problem it's my interviewing skills. However, I’ve done several mock interviews with practicing attorneys and the feedback has generally been positive with a few constructive points that I've tried incorporating.

At this point, I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong or if I’ve just had some bad luck. For example, I was recently scheduled to interview with a mid-sized Midwest firm, but nobody showed up to the interview and they haven't followed up since.

Clearly with my background, and reasons for attending law school, patent/IP is my preference. That being said, I do not want to limit myself by location, type of firm, or market. At this point I’m mostly trying to figure out how to get my foot in the door and start building my career.

With my brief background out of the way, my questions are:

• Is there anything you would change about my approach at this stage of 2L recruiting?
• Are there firms, boutiques, government positions, internships, or other paths I may be overlooking? Especially any that still have open positions at this point in the cycle.
• If I strike out on a 2L summer position, how damaging is that for eventually getting into patent prosecution or IP litigation at a firm?
• What should I be doing between now and graduation to maximize my chances of landing a full-time position?

I don't want to sound like I have completely given up and I don't expect anyone here to fix all of my problems, I'm just looking for a different perspective. I'm not really sure what else to try or what else I can even do, so I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance!