I enjoy these discussions, there really aren't any real active Michigan lawyers forums (that I know of), so it is fun to be able to have a debate somewhere.

The "bulk" of IP faculty? You do realize that MSU has over 20 IP classes (admittedly they rotate them) and Wayne has 4 (which they also rotate)?

IP curriculum is the one thing I can say for certain MSU trumps Wayne at pretty easily. It isn't even a close contest.

PLIP usually doesn't require anything more than top 25% at any of the firms I saw posted for prosecution type positions, which ranged from small firms to Vault firms with prosecution groups.

I can only put forth the argument that there are a couple exceptions to those who have the ability to be adaptive enough to be considered to be able to handle "custom" situations rather than "off-the-rack" situations. These exceptions deal more with the students themselves rather than the school curriculum, which is without a doubt, geared towards the majority of students who attend that school who really only have prospects within a small regional area and/or have limited fields of law open to them. The exceptions are older students who have had a successful career but would like to branch out into law (because they seek new challenges) but are constrained, usually because of family to nearby schools. Another exception, is the usual exception, IP. IP students come from a deflated grade curve, and have shown that they have an ability to handle ALL forms of knowledge, making them, truly, the most "custom" student possible.

Getting off on a bit of a tangent, "custom" to me, really means the ability to be adaptable to any situation that a lawyer may encounter in their life, and in order to do that, they need to be able to apply all forms of knowledge. For example, there are plenty of successful lawyers and doctors who earn large amounts of money, yet, when they wish to retire, they cannot because they are not well-rounded enough to handle the subject area of finances properly. As mentioned, this discussion is just about lawyering, but I think if one is really going to talk about "custom," one must realize there is more to even being a lawyer than just being good at analyzing a new issue properly.

I learned law school is really easy...it was pretty surprising after all the hype and the extreme difficulty of the LSAT. It is almost like high school all over again. I still like reading for enjoyment, it is straightforward and the issues aren't buried under mounds of meaningless references and side stories.