Law School Discussion

by mid-sized i mean a V100 firm that is on the relatively "smaller" scale (vs. V10 firms).  Clerkship in a federal district court in a major city. 

Then I really have to ask, if you're already at/have an offer for a V100 firm why on Earth would you ever want to go to a V10?  Unless it has been your life long dream to work at S&C or Cravath or Davis Polk specifically by name, there is no point to leaving a V100 for a V10.  You will literally make the same money at any V100 that you would at a V10 (with the exception of Wachtell of course but despite being the #1 firm in the world they are actually a very "small scale" operation of only 200 lawyers)  As a point of reference, I currently work for a V100.  I have friends at V10's.  I do not envy their life.

But to answer your question yes it is possible to lateral over to some of the bigger shops like a Skadden or somebody.  However, other places like Cravath, for example, do not take laterals.  Depends on the firm.

Quote from: Burning Sands, Esq. on September 02, 2009, 04:03:55 PM

Quote from: IrrX on September 02, 2009, 02:35:52 PM

Quote from: Burning Sands, Esq. on September 02, 2009, 01:14:16 PM

I once knew a girl who was so wrapped up in elitism and rankings she got into NYU, Columbia, Stanford and Harvard, but got dinged at Yale and based on that 1 ding decided not to go to law school at all.

No, I'm not kidding.

She is too smart to be that goddamned stupid. Certainly there was someone in her life who could talk some sense to her. Or slap the poo out of her.

It was a little frustrating being around her, to say the least.  You just had to shake your head and keep it moving.  To this day, that's probably one of the worst cases of somebody suffering from elitism that I've witnessed personally.

- Side note: isn't it amazing how somebody can be that book smart yet not have the common sense of a grade schooler?

Law school message baords have proven to me that this is far more common that I ever thought possible

Somebody should do a study.  

B/c I've run across some folks (like the aforementioned) who literally do not know basic every day, how-the-f#ck-do-you-not-know-that knowledge like what state is immediately west of and visible from NYC, or how many justices there are on the Supreme Court or how many buroughs there are in NYC or, my personal favorite, how many branches of government there are (I am not kidding) but yet can knock out a 170-something LSAT score, go on to [insert top-14 law school here] and end up becoming heralded as the "cream of the crop" of the legal profession.  

Life is funny sometimes.

I once knew a girl who was so wrapped up in elitism and rankings she got into NYU, Columbia, Stanford and Harvard, but got dinged at Yale and based on that 1 ding decided not to go to law school at all.

No, I'm not kidding.

A rehash on our Criminal Justice discussion from ATL:

Don't Major in Criminal Justice If You Want to Go to Law School

Tuesday, September 1, 2009 3:24 PM - By Elie Mystal

We have some interesting statistics that suggest legal sounding majors -- like Prelaw or Criminal Justice -- have a negative relationship with LSAT performance.

Courtesy of Tax Prof Blog, Professor Michael Nieswiadomy of North Texas, has given us average LSAT scores broken down by 29 differed undergraduate majors.

The bottom of the list is very interesting:

    25. Education: LSAT = 149.4
    26. Business Administration: LSAT = 149.1
    27. Health Professions: LSAT = 148.4
    28. Prelaw: LSAT = 148.3
    29. Criminal Justice: LSAT = 146

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. But is there something going on in criminal justice classes that makes people unable to complete a logic game?

After the jump, let's look at what you should major in if you want to do well on the LSAT.

The bottom of the list was interesting, but the top of the list is pretty much expected. People with difficult majors tend to do well on the LSAT:

    1. Physics/Math: LSAT = 160
    2. Economics: LSAT = 157.4
    2. Philosophy/Theology: LSAT = 157.4
    4. International Relations: LSAT = 156.5
    5. Engineering: LSAT = 156.2


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Looks like Alci was right on point with dropping the Criminal Justice major advice.  I must concur in the judgment.

let's say you end up graduating from an HYSCC with latin honors, but summered and spent your first post-grad year or two working at a mid-sized law firm, then clerk for a year or two... is it somewhat easier to get a V10 than if you tried getting one of those as a mediocre-GPA'ed 1L?  (clearly i am talking about a hypothetical "friend" of mine.)

Not sure I understand the question.

You graduate from a good law school, you then work for a "mid-sized" firm, then from there you clerk, and then from there you want to go to a V-10 law firm after the clerkship?

I guess my first question would be what do you mean by "mid-sized?"

My second question would be where did you clerk?