Dear all, I'm an undergrad student of UCLA going into my 4th year. I've been doing quite a bit of research to see what types of law I should practice if I plan to practice in Hong Kong or PRC. My undergraduate degree is in bioengineering (biotech related stuff), and I saw that for many international law firms recruiting 3-4 year PQE IP lawyers, biotechnology is an asset to the candidate's background. However, I've also heard that M&A and real estate are in higher demand in Hong Kong and PRC due to the recent economic activities. Can anyone give me some advice or comment on this topic in general for lawyers who decide to practice in Asia? Thanks very much!

haha, you're worrying ahead waaay too much. :) your undergrad definitely gives you a huge advantage if you want to pursue an IP practice whether in the US or asia, but that doesn't prevent you from going for an M&A/real estate practice either. both fields are very very much financially attractive options in asia and the US and it all basically depends on what practice you'd be more interested in. i would advise you to do internships after your 1st year and 2nd year of JD studies, and to try out a corp firm and an IP firm, and check out the work that's available in both fields, and see which one you prefer. M&As will have you drafting and negotiating contracts, doing due diligence work, corporate compliance work, etc. you might have contracts in IP too, but you'd prolly be doing a lot of patent litigation given your background, if you pursue IP work. which one do you think would you like more? i think that's how you should decide which field you want to pursue. good luck! and chill out, you're worrying about this way too early! i suggest you concentrate on graduating summa cum laude with your bioengineering degree, scoring as high as possible in your LSAT so that you can have your pick of law schools, with a scholarship, if possible. Stanford is strong in both IP and corp classes, if you want to try out classes in both, definitely try for a Stanford JD.

many thanks!!!!! these are so very helpful... these days the career choices for my undergrad degree are both limited and have low ceiling for future growth opportunities. so for me it is a big change from science into prelaw... but i do appreciate ur help :) thank you thank you