An understanding of marketing, economics, accounting, mathematics, and languages, though less essential, will also be helpful. A college student who has not made a firm career decision can follow the course of study outlined here and finish college prepared for a career in science or engineering, business, law in general, or patent law. The general discussion in the preceding section concerning admission to law school, choice of a law school, financing a legal education, bar associations, and competitions applies equally to the preparation for a career in patent law. These law schools include, but are not limited to, George Washington University National Law Center, John Marshall School of Law , Franklin Pierce Law Center, and New York University Law School. Internships are unpaid part-time positions.
Some schools give credit for internships.
Interns can expect to work on a variety of assignments similar to those of judicial clerks, including general legal research, preparation of bench memos, opinion drafting and special projects. Each judge has different needs and expectations. The cover letter should specify the time period for which the applicant is applying. Some judges are willing to take interns for brief periods of several months. Clerkships are full-time paid positions on the judge's staff.