[EricH]

I've actually heard something about this, back a few years, via a lawyer local to my college. (I want to say it was in my General Engineering class, so 5 years back.)

It was suggested to get an engineering degree/education, then go into the law field, if you want to go into patent law. I forget the exact reasoning, but I think it had something to do with being able to look at and understand designs.

(It's to be noted that my college is an engineering college; the closest we get to law is, I think, a focus on pre-law in the Interdisciplinary Science major.)