Unpaid Internship at a Patent Law firm? - Page 2

Any non-cash compensation was pretty minimal, i.e. a few meals here and there - no housing/stipend, or anything of the sort.

Regarding your question about whether I'd do again, well, I guess that depends. As you may or may not know, finding a legal job was tough back then (i.e. 2006-2007), and still is today. At the time I applied/was offered the position, I was admittedly feeling a bit desperate, and I ended up applying to any one willing to hire a 1L. I was trying to seem as appealing as possible for OCI interviews which would take place during the fall of my 2L year, and I wanted to get any kind of experience I could. I figured that any way I could get a leg up on my competition would be beneficial, and if that meant 3 months of work experience, so be it. In that context, I'd absolutely do it again. It just so happens that towards the end of my internship, I worked with one of the "of counsel" attorneys who practiced trademark law, and that experience really sparked my interest in other fields of intellectual property, i.e. "soft" IP.

Sounds shady -- not aware of any respectable law firms that ask people to work for free. You should check whether any of the paid staff rose up from the unpaid internship.

Sounds fishy, at least based on what classmates of mine were getting to be patent agents while in law school.

Those of you who say it sounds fishy--how far out of law school are you? IMO, in the last couple years, unpaid legal internships become very common.

Less than 2 years.

from what I heard, it's best to work in industry for a few years before studying in law school. the clients like someone who has worked as an engineer before. lets you see it from the client's side. have no idea if this is true though.

Not to say it isn't fishy, but there's a big difference between a registered patent agent and someone with no legal experience whatsoever. ~ H