(Photo courtesy of Andrew Majchrzak)
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Andrew Majchrzak studied mechanical engineering at Kettering University and received a minor in applied mathematics; an academic path that has led to him now being a 1L student at Detroit Mercy Law, with a view to becoming a patent attorney.
“I wasn't initially pulled into mechanical engineering as much as I was pulled into Kettering University's stellar reputation in the automotive industry and their co-op program,” he says. “Kettering has 11-week quarter-semesters. You’re in classes for two semesters and work at a company for the other two semesters. The school helps to show you which companies you can work for nation-wide, but it is up to the student to get the position as a co-op at the company. So, I picked Mechanical Engineering because Kettering requires students to select a major, knowing I could change if I didn't really like it.
“Turns out, I really enjoyed the material and the fast-paced atmosphere that comes from having a course condensed to 11-weeks.”
Majchrzak worked at two different tier-1 automotive suppliers in the metro-Detroit area that specialized in heat-transfer devices and HVAC for automotive companies, and wrote a 55-page thesis about a cooling device to be used for electric vehicles that compiled the performance of the device in a variety of sizes.
When he graduated from Kettering in December 2019, the automotive industry was still reeling from a UAW strike and he found full-time employment at Williams International, an aerospace company, where he worked for 3.5 years before leaving to attend law school full time.
Majchrzak always knew he wanted to attain higher education after undergrad, but a M.Sc. or MBA didn’t interest him. Then fate stepped in. The father of one of his friends—a patent attorney and the only attorney Majchrzak spoke to before deciding on law school—asked him if he had ever thought about law as a career.
“At the time, I hadn't,” Majchrzak says. “I always had an interest in the law because of how much our society is built around it and the fact the law has a significant historical aspect, but I never thought a career in science could coincide with a career in law.
“After researching on the Internet, I knew I wanted to attend law school and become a patent attorney. A career where you learn about new technologies and help people protect their intellectual property? That sounded right up my alley.
“I knew my company wouldn't want to pay to have an employee go to law school, like they would pay to have them get a M.Sc. or MBA, so I slowly paid off loans from my undergrad and saved to reduce the amount of loans I would need to take out for law school.”
The Macomb native also landed a grant from the Wayne County city of Grosse Pointe Park, where he now makes his home.
“Grosse Pointe Park has this amazing program where students who rent in the area and attend a university downtown can receive a grant,” he says. “I take advantage of that grant and I’m very thankful for it. The grant makes the rising cost of living a bit more affordable.”
Majchrzak is enjoying his law school experience.
“I thought Detroit Mercy Law would best prepare me for a career in the law field. I saw a lot of similarities between Kettering and Detroit Mercy Law, like small class sizes and the ability to get to know your professors, and I wanted something similar to that.”
Majchrzak’s career goal is to become a patent attorney.
“I have some steps to take, like passing my classes, taking and passing the USPTO patent bar exam, and taking and passing the Michigan state bar exam, but those are all in process,” he says.
“Thankfully, I was able to secure a summer associate position with a firm already. Ideally, I'd like to work for a law firm after law school.
“I don't necessarily see studying the law as harder than studying engineering, but I would say it’s more work,” he adds.
“There’s a lot more reading and writing in law and it is less 'binary' than engineering. In engineering, you either get the answer right or wrong because of your math. In law, it’s not like that. There are things you should know and things you need to find out and there is more studying and research related to it. I find the researching aspect of law to be very interesting because sometimes you may have an opinion on something like a fact pattern and find out your initial thought or feeling of how something will go in a courtroom will be completely different than how the court saw it.”
Majchrzak is not the only engineer in the family. His older brother is a mechanical engineer, and younger brother is studying to become an electrical engineer.
“Do you think my parents might have suggested a career path for their sons,” he asks with a smile.
“I have a relatively large extended family and none have attended law school or worked in the law field. My parents have been incredibly supportive of me and my decision to attend law school, and I’m very grateful.”
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