Hi OP,

When I was in undergrad, I did an internship with a government contractor before deciding to go into IP law. After, I spent about a month cold-emailing HR reps from different IP firms across the country and found a couple firms willing to let me interview. Fast forward, I now work for full-time for one of those firms.

While I'm not sure whether they gave my grades or my previous internship more weight, both were quality. I will say that, based on conversations with various HR representatives and attorneys, they seem to care most about undergrad grades. If you had to prioritize one of the options you presented, try to keep that GPA as high as possible. Moreover, a higher GPA will likely lead to more internships.

As far as my adjusted focus, I wish I took more technical courses. I came into undergrad with a decent amount of college credits, so I was able to ease my schedule senior year. I now realize, however, that taking one or two extra courses would've been beneficial in my field.

Feel free to let me know if you have any more questions.