Practicing IP attorney here, though not a patent attorney - I license patents and other IP, often as part of M&A transactions, but do not prosecute patents (though am eligible to sit the patent bar, it’s not the way my career has gone). It’s an incredibly interesting job, and most of the patent prosecutors I know love their jobs as well, as the field is dynamic and gives you a chance to learn about very new and interesting technologies that you often get to watch emerge/evolve into the marketplace. I spent seven years working in Boston, and there are IP-centric deals I was involved with where I look around today and say “damn, that’s pretty much how works now…” I think that’s cool.
Given your background and stated interest in IP and small business development, it seems like it could be a very good fit for you. While the general legal market is oversaturated in my opinion, there is still a strong demand for people with tech skills to do IP work. You also say you’re becoming more “people-centric” - if you can speak and write coherently, and have a knack for ‘dumbing down’ complex science to a level that a crusty corporate partner or high-octane venture investor can understand, you are that much more valuable.
Caveats: (1) Law school is wicked expensive and is another three years of your life, so if you’re thinking about becoming a lawyer, make sure the financials and time budgets work out. (2) To do the really cool work, you often need to spend some time in a big(ger) firm or large in-house corporate legal dept. to learn how to practice at a high level and/or get access to the coolest technology. This is a very broad generalization, but in my experience it has held more or less true - before you can hang out your own shingle or join an IP boutique, you often have to put in some time with the majors to learn the trade and get some cred. This can suck if: (a) you hate large corporate organizations; (b) you hate crappy hours/getting things dumped on you at the last minute; (c) you have other life obligations or desires that will make it hard to put work very high up on the list of important things in your life; or (d) all of the above.
Someone above mentioned become a patent agent (i.e., take the patent bar so you’re eligible to practice before the PTO, but not yet have a law degree). This could be a good option, as it can let you test-drive the field without the full commitment of money and time for law school. You still need to be tied in with a firm or IP-focused corporate legal department though, so (a)-(d) above still apply. It was a good option for friends from my old firm though - they came in with a MS or PhD; worked on cool technology while prepping for the patent bar; got paid approx. $90k/yr if working full time; if they wanted, the firm would pay for law school at night at a local school, with obligation to work at the firm for three years after law school graduation; when they graduated law school, they came into the firm with credit for the three years spent working while in night school (so joined as a 4th year lawyer, paid at around $200k, with no law school debt if they were willing to give the firm three more years).
Anyway, way longer post than I intended. In general, I try to warn people off of going to law school these days, or at least to think very very hard about it, because IMO the practice of law is getting nastier, more brutish, harder on your health and doing less and less good for the world. IP law is an exception to that bleak outlook though.
