Berkeley vs. Michigan vs. Virginia

[big - fat - box]

Actually it's not. I'm at a t14 now, and I can tell you that very few students are going to be working internationally after law school.

The big exception are the foreign LLM students, who mostly go back to their home countries. "International law" is mostly marketing b.s. for 0Ls, and a way for profs to teach b.s. classes because they're bored with teaching traditional law school subjects. Don't forget the study abroad summer/semester programs, which are a huge money maker for law schools.

That Anna Ivey article is bulllshit, just so you know. Don't believe the Anna Ivey hype.

[snickersnicker]

There is a difference between 'international law' and 'global law.' My interest is in the latter. My plan is not to 'work internationally.'

If you don't think there are jobs in the international affairs market (whether with governmental organizations, NGOs or thinktanks), then consider how many people of the baby boomer generation are currently filling those positions and will be retiring in the next ten years or so. There's a giant thread on TLS pretty much debunking everything in that Ivey article but I can't be bothered to find it.

[big - fat - box]

I don't think there aren't some jobs out there like what you are describing, I just think there a lot less than most 0Ls would imagine. For govt jobs specifically, look at the Arizona honors handbook. It will show you that many govt agencies do not hire fresh grads, and the ones who do don't hire as much as you think.

At any rate, here is some advice that might be useful should you find your dream job working for an NGO or govt. agency doing international affairs stuff...

Look at the schools' LRAP program terms carefully if you want to take advantage of LRAP post-grad. Some schools' LRAPs may not cover you depending on the specifics of your job function.

[snickersnicker]

I don't think there aren't some jobs out there like what you are describing, I just think there a lot less than most 0Ls would imagine. For govt jobs specifically, look at the Arizona honors handbook. It will show you that many govt agencies do not hire fresh grads, and the ones who do don't hire as much as you think.

I'm not sure how you would know how much I think government agencies hire fresh law school graduates, but I am by no means blind to the fact that there are many, many fewer jobs available in the DOJ or State Department than in firms, especially right out of law school or grad school. Wherever I end up, I plan on meeting with career services and academic advisors as soon as possible to craft a set of classes (perhaps a JD/MA in international affairs or area studies) which will make me most marketable for such careers.

Look at the schools' LRAP program terms carefully if you want to take advantage of LRAP post-grad. Some schools' LRAPs may not cover you depending on the specifics of your job function.

Yeah, I've read up on Michigan's and Berkeley's, and both include government offices amongst LRAP-eligible positions.


Also, bump. Any thoughts from anyone on the stats I posted on the last page? I calculated them for 2008 and 2007 cycles as well, and with a few exceptions they turned out more or less the same, percentage-wise.

[big - fat - box]

Snicker,

What I meant about the LRAP deal was that some schools do not cover you if your job title is not "attorney". For example, a policy or legislative analyst job that requires a JD, but doesn't involve actually practicing law may not be covered by some LRAP progams. Foreign Service, etc. may also not be covered.

If you are serious about your career path, keep in mind career services may not be able to help you much, even if your school has an office or counselors dedicated to public interest placement. The reason for this is that very few people from even the top law schools land the type of jobs you're talking about, so the career counselors don't really have any useful advice to offer. Academic advisors are pretty much worthless, IME. You'd be much better off tracking down alumni that have the jobs you're interested in and speaking to them about how they got their jobs. Also, your school might have a student org up your alley, with the occasional guest speaker that might be able to give you some good info.

I doubt earning a dual degree is going to help you much. Dual degree programs, with rare exception, are just money makers for law schools.

[big - fat - box]

Many less jobs at the state dept and doj?, no kidding. I just checked the Arizona honors program handbook for kicks.

Here you go:

State Dept: hired 8 fresh grads out of 1000 apps in 2009. plans to hire 10 next year.

DOJ: hired 170 fresh grads out of 2,900 apps in 2009. Plans to hire 140 next year. My guess is apps will be up a lot because of the downturn in big firm hiring.

[lawstud80]

166/4.00/'risky' PS/plenty of softs/socioeconomic adversity/Why X? for all schools to which I am applying.

Do you really have a 4.0?  You mentioned you searched for 3.5+ statistics, but a 4.0 is drastically different than, say, a 3.6.

If you really have a 4.0/166, then I wouldn't completely rule out Columbia/NYU and anything below, assuming you didn't go to a really terrible college.