Going to law school is pointless if it's not a top tier one.

[MikelArteta]

Cochran geragos both went to Loyola
Bradman went to Ohio northern university of law

 

[BigMan]

those school are really good, for sure but any study of the law at any university, any place, is good. i know men that handled their cases from prison, and do more for men within the prison than those outside. i've sat in on a couple UCLA law classes as a non-law student, the only thing different between schools (at least from what i've seen) is resources and faculty, but you'll be studying the same laws and procedures and you'll have to know the laws and their application regardless of what tier your school is when it comes to taking the bar

remember that harvard grads vs. former inmates?

absolutely not. Please don't spread that misinformation

 

[AB Ziggy]

It also depends on location.

Even someone who went to a lower tier law school in say NYC will have a better chance at a job than someone who went to a lower tier school in say St. Louis.

 

[WaveCapsByOscorp™]

absolutely not. Please don't spread that misinformation

like i said, i know former felons who've studied from prison that do better work than law students. if you want to learn something, you'll do it regardless of location. what law school you go to?

 

[Idaeo]

Depends on what type of company you aspire to work for. Many of the top firms only hire from top tier schools

 

[Street Knowledge]

The Law-School Scam

 

[Anerdyblackguy]

Pretty true and painful to admit for most. In this day and age, if it isn't a T14, you're fighting an uphill battle to find a job that pays well enough to pay off the student debt.

Law Schools are extremely pedigree and prestige oriented, it really is a "it's not what you know, but who you know" type of field--and your school name says everything. There are law firms and jobs that definitely will NOT take you based on your school alone. A lot of students graduate from Tier 2 and 3 schools without a job, and then when they find one it's completely out of the field making much less money. You have people in perpetual debt now because the game has changed. To get some understanding of how hard it is....you have to talk sto someone who graduated from law school within the last 10 years, not look at someone like Johnny Cochran or Thurgood Marshall lol.

The NYT just did an article yesterday of a which chick who sued her law school because she hasn't been able to find a law gig in 10 years, after graduating from a Tier 3 or 4 program. Here it is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/b...on&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

I understand your point; however I respectfully disagree. I read about her story ( Your link isn't working BTW), and to be completely honest it's her fault for her problems. She went to the worst ABA ranked law school in the country and she took out 100k in loans for it. If I'm correct she also was offered a legal aid job after graduation and she chose not to take it (Can't blame the school for that), thats her fault. I don't believe you need a T-14 law degree to be very successful, but it does help.

Also Look at other universities outside the top 14 that does well in placing law students at big firms. Boston University law school, Boston College law school, University of Texas law school, Fordham law school ( and I hate giving credit to this university, makes me sick ), Howard law school, University of Connecticut law school, etc.

I respect your opinion, I just disagree with it.

 

[Anerdyblackguy]

not necessarily pointless, but for the most part, if you're looking for a position with the top-firms, it's all about the elite T14. my ex recently graduated from columbia; too bad i fukked that up

 

[Anerdyblackguy]

Pretty true and painful to admit for most. In this day and age, if it isn't a T14, you're fighting an uphill battle to find a job that pays well enough to pay off the student debt.

Law Schools are extremely pedigree and prestige oriented, it really is a "it's not what you know, but who you know" type of field--and your school name says everything. There are law firms and jobs that definitely will NOT take you based on your school alone. A lot of students graduate from Tier 2 and 3 schools without a job, and then when they find one it's completely out of the field making much less money. You have people in perpetual debt now because the game has changed. To get some understanding of how hard it is....you have to talk sto someone who graduated from law school within the last 10 years, not look at someone like Johnny Cochran or Thurgood Marshall lol.

The NYT just did an article yesterday of a which chick who sued her law school because she hasn't been able to find a law gig in 10 years, after graduating from a Tier 3 or 4 program. Here it is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/b...on&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

I understand your point; however I respectfully disagree. I read about her story, and to be completely honest it's her fault for her problems. She went to the worst ABA ranked law school in the country and took out 100k in loans for it. If I'm correct she also was offered a legal aid job after graduation and she chose not to take it (Can't blame the school for that), Again thats her fault. I don't believe you need a T-14 law degree to be very successful, but it does help.

Also Look at other universities outside the top 14 that does well in placing law students at big firms. Boston University law school, Boston College law school, University of Texas law school, Fordham law school ( and I hate giving credit to this university, makes me sick ), Howard law school, University of Connecticut law school, etc.

I respect your opinion, I just disagree with it.

 

[horizon]

Y'all give the WOAT life advice

 

[filial_piety]

I understand your point; however I respectfully disagree. I read about her story ( Your link isn't working BTW), and to be completely honest it's her fault for her problems. She went to the worst ABA ranked law school in the country and she took out 100k in loans for it. If I'm correct she also was offered a legal aid job after graduation and she chose not to take it (Can't blame the school for that), thats her fault. I don't believe you need a T-14 law degree to be very successful, but it does help.

Also Look at other universities outside the top 14 that does well in placing law students at big firms. Boston University law school, Boston College law school, University of Texas law school, Fordham law school ( and I hate giving credit to this university, makes me sick ), Howard law school, University of Connecticut law school, etc.

I respect your opinion, I just disagree with it.

It's cool (i'll fix the link BTW)...I wasn't saying you can't be successful coming from a school outside of a T14, it's just much more difficult given the income to debt ratio these days. I have friends who graduated from a number of tier 2 schools (Cardozo, Temple, SUNY Albany etc etc) and because of the debt...they really can't afford to do anything like buying a home, or starting a family. It's especially tough for them because they are in their prime years (late 20's and early 30's) where they are expected to have these things in order.

BTW: I read in other articles that she did turn down a law gig...but it was for 60k, and with 150k in loans...I don't see how that would've worked out. It was a law job, but still....

 

[Colin X]

Completely untrue. If you overachieve at a smaller school you can have a nice career still.

Y'all give the WOAT life advice

Give me a valid reason to spend 18k less at Loyola if I'll end up making half as much as a Stanford grad

 

[Colin X]

Depends on what type of company you aspire to work for. Many of the top firms only hire from top tier schools

Yeah, the chances of getting hired at a firm making close to a suitable salary after graduation is lower the further you get outta the T14.

 

[Idaeo]

Yeah, the chances of getting hired at a firm making close to a suitable salary after graduation is lower the further you get outta the T14.

I got a temp job at Quinn Emanuel, the biggest business law firm in the world, as a document reviewer. it was a patent infringement case...I had just quit the patent office...so I was the only non-lawyer they hired for this task. All my coworkers were JDs from non-top tier firms who couldn't find work

the average salary for a lawyer at Quinn Emanuel was 1.4 mil....that was in 2008

 

[OneManGang]

There's some truth to this thread though. It's all about your expectation though. Law is oversaturated, and these big firms basically only looking at the top schools for their hires these days. I personally dont think its worth it racking up all that debt to possibly get a decent good at some point down the line. theres even stories of big school graduates not finding work...it's definitely a reasonable thing to take into account if youre going to invest that much money. There's always outliers but you have to look at the overall trend not the points way outside the best fit line.