Question about engineering and law?

[ryscford]

What would make a larger salary, both short term and long term? An engineer with a bachelor in science of engineering and an MBA OR a lawyer from a top 10 law school with a bachelor in science of engineering, an MBA, and a law degree. The specific field of law is corporate/commercial law.

[hagaleah]

They'd all be highly variable, based on the firm and individual performance. Compared to other lower paying jobs, I would expect any of these to include bonuses and/or stock as a substantial component of pay.

I don't really see engineering and an MBA as a happy mixture, not nearly so much as engineering and law. With engineering and law you can get into patent law- which can be quite lucrative. I might be biased, though, since nearly every MBA that I've encountered professionally has been worthless. My first startup failed miserably, and it was managed by a flock of MBAs- many of whom had backgrounds in engineering. My third company was a large international place with a stream of no-accountability MBA holding executives passing through, shaking things up enough to confuse and demoralize everybody in the plant before they move on to their next promotion.

[berwin]

i agree with the first person

[mads]

If you are going into corporate/contract law, then a corporate lawyer with a BA in literature would probably make as much money as a corporate lawyer with a BS in engineering, I would assume.

I agree with the first guy that being a patent lawyer will probably make you more money in the long term if you already have an engineering degree.

We have a hiring freeze right now, but when it is over (probably soon) you can come work for the Patent & Trademark Office as a patent examiner; the only job qualification is that you need to have at least a BS degree in some scientific or technical field. After you've been here two years, they will pay for your law school tuition (and you get patent law experience tossed in free as you work here).

Since it takes 4 years to get a law degree part time (by going in the evenings) most people start law school shortly after starting work here at the PTO. You will have to pay for your first two years that way, but your last two years will be paid for by the government. The only obligation is that you will now owe the government two more years of service, but if you leave early for a law firm, you should be able to ask the law firm to give you a signing bonus that you can use to pay the government back for any tuition that you haven't worked off yet. Or you could simply stay at the PTO, as it is a stable job with lots of job security and a good retirement package.