I was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft and played professional baseball for 2.5 years until I was released from my contract. Being selected by Pittsburgh was the payoff for many, many days that started before breakfast and went into the night. The big-league game is impossible without a great deal of discipline and fierce cultivation of motor skills that take years to develop. I was not blessed with either extraordinary size or speed, but I focused, and I outworked my competition. If my mechanics were off, I hammered at them until I found the solution. This self-discipline also helped me resist distractions off the field, making only decisions that improved my ability to play baseball. I next turned my attention to the study of Law, which, as I see it, is a field that also requires discipline, tenacity, and even a healthy dose of competitiveness.
This same degree of focus and willingness enabled me to build a solid foundation for law school, where I excelled and then went on to pass the California Bar Exam. During my third year, a close friend of mine, Andy ____, sought my legal advice to trademark the name of his start-up business, ____ Food Group. People with small business startups like Andy’s face a substantial risk if their ideas go without protection, endangering their ability to reap the full benefit of their creations. More recently, the United States Supreme Court's unanimously ruled against the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") – declaring state laws barring college athletes from being compensated for their name, image, and likeness to be unconstitutional. This has propelled me to become a strong advocate for college athletes to compensate for generations of sportspeople missing this opportunity. The new rules do not compensate for past offenses, but they will at least ensure that this does not continue to occur.
Even though my law school did not specifically focus on Intellectual Property Law, I utilized what I had available to expand my knowledge. I had the opportunity to draft a non-provisional patent application as a final project for my Patent Drafting course. We were allowed to either develop an invention subject to our professor's approval or select one from a list provided. After weeks of brainstorming, drawing diagram after diagram to find a novel and logical system, and extensive research into the mechanical and electrical mechanisms of my invention, I produced a solar-powered surveillance system that could detect embers and debris from fires that might end up on the roof of anyone’s house. While drafting a non-provisional patent application was challenging, I became increasingly passionate about the project. I particularly enjoyed the claim construction section, defining the invention in a manner that was not too broad or too narrow to avoid someone else designing around the invention, a critical step for determining the outcome of patent litigation.
That semester, I sought my professor's advice frequently because I was convinced that I wanted to focus my legal career on Intellectual Property Law. Since I plan to sit for the Patent Bar Exam, I could have chosen the option of taking twenty-four credit hours rather than earning a degree in a recognized technical subject. Still, I decided to earn an associate degree in mechanical engineering (expected graduation after summer classes in 2020). To set myself up for this journey, I spent months preparing for a Calculus placement exam – which I passed – to jump-start my journey in Engineering while continuing to excel in law school. I passionately believe this will not only provide me with the ability to understand specific methods and systems but to communicate complex technical and scientific concepts for legal purposes effectively.
Now a practicing attorney at ____, --__ & ____, LLP, I am gaining civil litigation experience, which is imperative for success in Intellectual Property Law. An active member of the ____ County Intellectual Property Law Association, I have attended various seminars to ensure that I stay current on developments in this area.
I am confident that earning the Master in the Intellectual Property Program at ____ University’s School of Law will provide me with the additional, advanced, specialized education in Law that I need to fulfill my professional goals. I feel that I will be a good fit with the academic community at ____School of Law.
Thank you for considering my application.
Sample Personal Statement LLM
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