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

[Taadow]

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

You may not end up making half as much as a Stanford grad, that's why.
Once you get your law degree (which is "the point" of going to law school, btw - to awnser your title),
it doesn't guarantee you chit; it won't mean anything if you don't know how to use it.

 

[Colin X]

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

That's great breh, but for the VAST majority of folks who graduate from schools outside the T14, or schools that hold prestige in a certain region, a job like that would be close to impossible to get and they'd have to settle for less

 

[Colin X]

You may not end up making half as much as a Stanford grad, that's why.
Once you get your law degree (which is "the point" of going to law school, btw - to awnser your title),
it doesn't guarantee you chit; it won't mean anything if you don't know how to use it.

So you're saying somebody who is at the top of their class at Yale or Stanford WOULDNT have an easier time than someone who went to Loyola?

 

[King Poetic]

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

One good reason is u never know who the law school people at loyola university know

For example, the dean Victor Gold of Loyola is well known among all high powered CNN, Fox news and both the L.A.and New York Times as well as a few other professor's who has big connections, that can help u as a student if they feel u have the potential to be great...

Yeah Stanford has the name and a lot of connections as well, but that doesn't mean school's like loyola don't

U can't always judged a book by its cover

 

[SadimirPutin]

A top tier law school degree is an advantage but it does not mean the world will drop at your feet on graduation...

If you are outside the top tier(whatever metric is used to determine that) you have to differentiate yourself. And for a lawyer that means the quality of your writing is a really good start.

Good legal writing and arguments can get you noticed and is something that you should focus on during your studies. Get your writing critiqued regularly...get it sharp.

Find a mentor in law school. This is easier said than done based on how cutthroat the environment is...or at least so I have heard from other people

From the time you enter law school you should be planning on what happens after you graduate...

Do some legal work for non profits...could be charities, innocence projects, labor organizations...basically nothing can get you work more than current work.

Learn the mechanics of your profession.....I hear many lawyers talk about how much they have to teach new graduates when they enter the workforce....

Basically a harvard degree has to pass the bar and practice in the real world like any other university. If these top tier universities disappeared tomorrow would the law cease to exist? No....everybody has to practise in the real world

 

[Eastside Get The Money]

OP is about 90% right. If you have everything (terrific reading skills, analytical skills, charism, and a huge supple of adderall) you can potentially make a nice living with a law degree from an average school. But, in 2016 the attorney market has been over saturated with people who watched law and order and read John Grisham books. These firms almost have to pick from the top schools now.

 

[Taadow]

So you're saying somebody who is at the top of their class at Yale or Stanford WOULDNT have an easier time than someone who went to Loyola?

No, I didn't say chit about someone "having an easier time".

I said the point of going to law school is getting a law degree, in response to your thread title which
implies there's no point in going to law school.

It might (again "MIGHT", just like it "might not" - there are no guarantees) be "easier" going to a "top tier" school.

But to make the comparison you make is the same as saying "it's pointless to cook when you can order take out".
Yeah, it might be easier to order take out - but if you know how to cook pretty decently, you can still eat (which is the point of that)
and do it better and cheaper.

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

If you're a natural hustler and know how to network as long as you pass the bar it don't fukking matter what school you go to

It only helps get in interviews at top law firms.

 

[WaveCapsByOscorp™]

the OP is talking in terms of money, that's all. it's such a basic argument which is why he'd make a terrible lawyer and the point is flawed

 

[mobbinfms]

As someone who has been an attorney for going on ten years now, law school is a terrible idea for most people.
Most believe that graduating from any law school means you will be offered a job at a top firm in a big city with a starting salary around $200k. Nothing could be further from the truth. You do need to graduate from a top tier school (or be the single most outstanding student in your tier two school) to get that job.

But law school can be a good option for people not going to top tier schools, if you are reasonable and practical.
If you want to work in a small market for a small to medium sized firm - go to law school where you want to practice law. A law school in Iowa is going to be able to get you a job there (assuming you do well).
If you want to work in public interest? Don't think you are going to be an ACLU lawyer doing high profile cases in NY/DC
Those jobs go to Harvard grads, etc.
I have a friend who is doing amazing work in Arkansas (he lives in Memphis - so its a not a bad compromise).
Don't think that you are going to get a job with the Manhattan DA's office (Law and Order) if you aren't going to a great school.
You can probably get a job as a prosecutor or PD in a less populated area though
Go to school where you want to work.
Also - if you can get a JD from a shytty school on a free ride - consider doing temp work (document review) - the work isn't stable - but you can make $100k a year. The work is mind-numbingly boring - but you don't have any stress when you go home either
You can do this in DC.
Most importantly - don't go to law school because you don't know what else to do
Don't go to law school if you don't have a plan for exactly what you are going to be doing after you graduate.

 

[Drake is God]

Get a degree in chemical engineering and then go to law school(patent lawyer).

But this requires math and most hate math.

The law game is over you will never make partner.

 

[SadimirPutin]

As someone who has been an attorney for going on ten years now, law school is a terrible idea for most people.
Most believe that graduating from any law school means you will be offered a job at a top firm in a big city with a starting salary around $200k. Nothing could be further from the truth. You do need to graduate from a top tier school (or be the single most outstanding student in your tier two school) to get that job.

But law school can be a good option for people not going to top tier schools, if you are reasonable and practical.
If you want to work in a small market for a small to medium sized firm - go to law school where you want to practice law. A law school in Iowa is going to be able to get you a job there (assuming you do well).
If you want to work in public interest? Don't think you are going to be an ACLU lawyer doing high profile cases in NY/DC
Those jobs go to Harvard grads, etc.
I have a friend who is doing amazing work in Arkansas (he lives in Memphis - so its a not a bad compromise).
Don't think that you are going to get a job with the Manhattan DA's office (Law and Order) if you aren't going to a great school.
You can probably get a job as a prosecutor or PD in a less populated area though
Go to school where you want to work.
Also - if you can get a JD from a shytty school on a free ride - consider doing temp work (document review) - the work isn't stable - but you can make $100k a year. The work is mind-numbingly boring - but you don't have any stress when you go home either
You can do this in DC.
Most importantly - don't go to law school because you don't know what else to do
Don't go to law school if you don't have a plan for exactly what you are going to be doing after you graduate.

As someone who has been an attorney for going on ten years now, law school is a terrible idea for most people.
Most believe that graduating from any law school means you will be offered a job at a top firm in a big city with a starting salary around $200k. Nothing could be further from the truth. You do need to graduate from a top tier school (or be the single most outstanding student in your tier two school) to get that job.

But law school can be a good option for people not going to top tier schools, if you are reasonable and practical.
If you want to work in a small market for a small to medium sized firm - go to law school where you want to practice law. A law school in Iowa is going to be able to get you a job there (assuming you do well).
If you want to work in public interest? Don't think you are going to be an ACLU lawyer doing high profile cases in NY/DC
Those jobs go to Harvard grads, etc.
I have a friend who is doing amazing work in Arkansas (he lives in Memphis - so its a not a bad compromise).
Don't think that you are going to get a job with the Manhattan DA's office (Law and Order) if you aren't going to a great school.
You can probably get a job as a prosecutor or PD in a less populated area though
Go to school where you want to work.
Also - if you can get a JD from a shytty school on a free ride - consider doing temp work (document review) - the work isn't stable - but you can make $100k a year. The work is mind-numbingly boring - but you don't have any stress when you go home either
You can do this in DC.
Most importantly - don't go to law school because you don't know what else to do
Don't go to law school if you don't have a plan for exactly what you are going to be doing after you graduate.

sheeeiiittttt

dont go to law school if you cant afford it without incurring massive student loan debt

cause you may be without a job for a while after you graduate

 

[Drake is God]

So you're saying somebody who is at the top of their class at Yale or Stanford WOULDNT have an easier time than someone who went to Loyola?

The 2014 U.S. News Job Rankings: Being A Lawyer Is Worse Than Being A Nail Technician

Really Weak Arguments For Going To Law School: The Small Law School Edition

Another Garbage Study Offering Misleading Statistics On The Value Of A Law Degree

Some Lawyers Still Hit Hard By Joblessness After The Recession

More Extreme Low-Paying Lawyer Jobs!!!

Lawyer Threatens Suicide If No Job Is Secured By New Year’s

 

[mobbinfms]

sheeeiiittttt

dont go to law school if you cant afford it without incurring massive student loan debt

cause you may be without a job for a while after you graduate

Good advice generally.
Especially true if you aren't going to a great school or you don't have a plan.

 

[SadimirPutin]

my other point is this....

why do you have to do law firm work? there are myriad organizations that need legal staff or work done......go do some stuff for them...

again goes back to my point of learning the mechanics of everyday law....not some obscure constitutional turn of phrase that might be only relevant in some even more obscure corner case.

write, write, write, write , write....write on contract law, write on medical law, write on immigration law, write ON YOUR SPECIALTY, write on stuff outside your specialty

start a blog, write on cases....ask for someone to write a guest blog and write a counter argument.. trust me you will have no shortage of people waiting to shyt all over your argument....but in that you get to refine your thought process



DO SOMETHING to get your name out there.....