u/IDKsomething26

After law school I moved back in with my family to help my mom take care of my grandmother. I took a low paying government law job which had a low workload and the perk of free tuition at our local public college. My undergrad degree was in psychology, but I wanted to get a biology degree so I could transition towards patent law or something else that was more science focused.

I really enjoyed my classes, but my case load has gone up by a lot. I no longer have the ability to juggle my job’s expectations and a 6 credit course load. The jobs pay has not gone up, there is a ton of office drama, and I am looking to jump ship.

Right now I live rent free with my parents. Moving out is not an option, even if I made a 6 figure salary. Before I moved back home my mom was at the edge of caregiver burnout with my grandma. My mom needs there to be someone else in the home to talk to who isn’t senile and for someone to spend time with my grandma to give my mom a break.

Given my low living expenses, I could take a part time attorney role and just finish up the bio degree out of pocket. Alternatively, I could drop the bio degree entirely and just find a normal full time position. However, I am unlikely to have the ability to go back to school in the future. I just don’t know how valuable a bio degree would actually be for my long term career.

I think my ideal job would be in-house counsel for a university research center or institution like St. Jude’s. I am leaving my current position with 2 years of litigation experience in a niche practice area not related to science. I do have some university connections in my network, but nobody local.

I’m completely at a loss. Do I bother finishing up the bio degree I started? If not, what jobs should I be looking for as my next step?

I have a an undergrad degree in psychology and I graduated law school in 2023. My psych major was very medical focused, but it doesn’t count as a STEM degree for the purposes of the patent bar. In 2024 I took a position in a government law office. The job doesn’t pay great compared to most starting law jobs, but the workload was unusually low for law and they had a job benefit of free tuition at our local public college. It was also close to my family home since I ended up moving back in with my parents after graduation.

My plan was to work full time at the office and get a nearly free biology degree on the side. It was going to take 5 years since I had a lot of useful credits coming in but I could only take up to 6 credits a semester. However, the work load at the office has increased drastically and it seems unlikely that I can continue to work full time as a lawyer and finish my degree. There are other reasons I want to leave my current position (my job is depressing and the office has way to much drama), but my primary reason for staying has gone out the window.

I don’t see the value of staying at my current job much longer, but I need to make a choice: change to a part time position and finish my degree in 4 or 5 years; or drop the biology degree entirely and try to find a job that I will like more that pays a reasonable amount.

I’m not necessarily that set on being a patent attorney. I just really like science, and I know that scientifically literate lawyers are a rare and valuable commodity. I think my dream job would be in-house counsel for a hospital or research institution. Having to deal with billable hours sucks and working for the FDA (or any other federal agency) is not very appealing at the moment. In-house counsel jobs are also unfortunately notoriously hard to get. The patent bar would basically be an extra line in my resume. My current law job is in a niche field and not related to science.

I currently live with my parents and help my mom take care of my grandmother. I don’t pay rent– taking a pay cut or living off my savings for a bit is a valid option, but moving away really isn’t. If I don’t get this biology degree now, I will probably never be in as good of a position to get this degree in the future. However, I don’t actually know how much a biology degree will be that helpful in the future. I don’t want to limit the opportunities I have right now for what might be an incredibly marginal benefit in the long run. There’s a

TL;DR: I took this law job so I could work and get a bio degree, but that’s not going to happen anymore. Should I give up on the degree and find a full time job that is closer to my ideal job, or find a part-time position and finish the bio-degree I started?