Law School Discussion

Hello All,

Back when I applied to law school, I was on this board too much for my own good.  I had a lot of questions, and the answers always seemed to be coming from other people like myself, i.e., people who had not gone to law school yet, were not lawyers, had never been on an interview with a big law firm, had not interviewed law students for a job at a big law firm, and generally had no idea about the profession.  Thus, I thought I would "give back" and see if any of you have questions that I could answer.

I'm currently a third year associate at a regional office of an AM Law 100 firm.  I went to a top 25 law school and graduated in the top 10%.

Here is some general advice, for what its worth:

(1) Don't go to law school: Law school is probably for about 5% of the people that go.  Really.  While I'm not a huge fan of Tucker Max, his thoughts are pretty spot on: http://tuckermax.me/why-you-should-not-go-to-law-school-3/.  If you are itching to go to school, I would suggest an MBA.

(2) 90% of you will not be in the top 10% of the class.  Accept this now. 

(3) If you do go to law school, I would starting thinking about a career path outside of an AM LAW 200 firm RIGHT NOW.  I have friends that have started their own practice and they love it.  While the first year to a year and a half were rough, they now make about the same amount as I do.  They have also created jobs, don't have to answer to partners, probably learned more, and are generally very satisfied with their choice in life.

(4) I would strongly recommend that you apply/attend a school in the area where you want to practice that is (1) cheap and (2) has a good (or better) reputation locally.  Keeping you debt down should be your #1 priority.  I think most of you haven't faced down $150K+ in debt.  I have about half of that and its miserable.  I can't imagine what its like to pay $1500 a month for the next 25 years for the privilege of working 60+ hours a week.

(5) On a related note: if you don't get into Harvard, Yale, Stanford, or Chicago you are going to need good grades.  Yes, that includes other "T-14" schools that report grades.  Time and time again, at the two firms I have worked, life experience plus good grades at a well respected school trumps (on paper) a straight out with no experience, that did mediocre or worse at Georgetown or Cornell.

(6) If you are going to do well in law school, you are going to do well regardless of what school you go to.  I have nothing to back this up other than experience, but doing well in law school is not something that comes naturally to most.  If you are able to figure out the secret sauce, it will probably put you in the top 25% of most law schools.  Thus, if you see (4) and (5) above, go to where school is cheapest and reasonably respected.  If you do well, you will have opportunities at a "market pay" job.  If you don't, then you should start your own practice and have as little debt as possible.

(7) Finally, you are all smart.  I don't know any of you, but if you did well enough on the LSAT to go to any law school, and have good enough grades to consider going to law school, you are smarter than the vast majority of people.  Guess what: EVERYONE IN LAW SCHOOL IS SMART.  Understand that and check your ego at the door.  You cannot go into this thinking you are going to be the exception because, odds are, you are not.

If you have specific questions, fire away.  I'm happy to answer.

This one is simple and generic, but I found the answers helpful:

"What do you like about this firm?"

You might be amazed at the variety of responses.

Also, I liked to ask what people did for hobbies/vacation. If the list was short, or non-existent, it would send up red flags.

However, I would be careful of asking this type of question if you are interviewing with a firm that doesn't hide the fact they could care less about associates and they expect you to give you give every drop of blood you have to the firm.

Also, if everyone talked about how wonderful the firm was, I asked what the worse thing was about that firm.

I am going to echo the above poster's response that faculty interaction, at least from my experience, has been excellent. While Emory is bigger than W&L, it is still pretty small per class.

As for IP and NY, I can tell you this: I had A LOT of options in NYC had a chose to go there this summer (which I did not, I ended up going to CA). I have no idea how W&L students do in NYC, but Emory grads do well, especially if they have some sort of tie to that area. The IP work is just icing on the cake. Off the top of my head, I don't know anyone that wanted an IP job in NY, and was qualified, that didn't get an offer there.

Further, Emory has a pretty unique program for IP centric students called TI:GER: http://www.law.emory.edu/programs-centers-clinics/tiger/programs/jd.html . This program is very unique and employers LOVE it. I can tell you that it has really been a great experience being a part of this program and going to Emory.

For the record: I'm an EE patent guy. 

In state tuition at FSU and UF is ridiculously hard to turn down. One year at my school is more than tuition for 3 years at either school. I guess Stetson is cheaper that most private law schools, but both UF and FSU are 1) cheaper and 2) have a better reputation. I think this is a no brainer if you like FSU.

Get a real LSAT 1st, and then we can talk. Most people score several points below their practice test scores. While you may be the exception, on average, you are not.

Plus, regardless of law school acceptance, you might have an issue with the bar. Again, one thing at a time. Take the LSAT, get a real score, then we can figure it out.