Is going to Tulane a bad idea?!

[csisk3]

I am taking the LSAT for the first time in June and am highly considering attending Tulane for law school. However, my friend, who has just been accepted to UCLA in the fall told me that attending Tulane might not be a great idea. He stated Louisiana law is based on Napoleonic law, therefore, if I wanted to practice law outside Louisiana it could be difficult to get any job offers. Can anyone confirm, deny, or give me any more information about this? I am really interested in attending Tulane, but I do not want to waste time considering it if it will not be beneficial to my future.

[john4040]

Tulane has a common law track and a civil law track.  You can choose which type of law you want to study.  It's very difficult to get jobs from Tulane in this economy, however.  Tulane typically prides itself on placing its students nation-wide.  The economy has cut back on Tulane's nation-wide hiring and LSU and Loyola generally place better in Louisiana. 

My advice:  Talk to some current Tulane students (not the ones that the school sets you up with). If you know some people going to Tulane, ask around and see which firms they're going to.

[bigs5068]

Pretty much what he said. If you got into Tulane it is very possible you can get a full scholarship at a number of ABA schools and get out almost debt free. Do this only if you know where you want to live though. For example if you wanted to live in L.A. at graduation and you had good enough numbers to get into Tulane you could probably get a full scholarship at Southwestern and firms in L.A hire from Southwestern, but a getting job anywhere else would be difficult.

Your friend is right Louisiana is the only state that has Civil and not common law and this would be somewhat of a challenge. Although I imagine the first year curriculum at Tulane is the same as any other ABA school. When making your decision about a law school outside of the T14 i.e. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc location & cost should be your number #1 concerns. If you have no desire to end up in Louisiana don't go to law school there. If you want to be in Louisiana then Tulane will probably work out fine.

[john4040]

Your friend is right Louisiana is the only state that has Civil and not common law and this would be somewhat of a challenge. Although I imagine the first year curriculum at Tulane is the same as any other ABA school. When making your decision about a law school outside of the T14 i.e. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc location & cost should be your number #1 concerns. If you have no desire to end up in Louisiana don't go to law school there. If you want to be in Louisiana then Tulane will probably work out fine.

Tulane wouldn't be my first choice if I wanted to practice in Louisiana.  Tulane has traditionally placed its grads outside of the Louisiana market thus, the alumni base in Louisiana is weak.

[WCR04001]

I just graduated from Tulane and already have a job in Connecticut.  Most of my friends chose to follow the common law track, so don't worry about that.  New Orleans is an amazing city with all types of opportunities to volunteer legal services.  Plus, it's a lot of fun.  Tulane has a relatively aggressive career service office, but the economy is terrible.  Just know that going in.  I know people taking the bar in California, Texas, DC, Washington State, etc...  Lots of them have jobs.     

[fortook]

Tulane has a good rep.  I personally like civil law, but as noted you can pick your path between common law (the rest of the US) and civil law(LA) at most, if not all LA law schools. The benefit of having a civil law (Napoleonic Law is an antiquated term btw)  state is useful because the rest of the Latin world uses civil law, and in a way LA keeps us better connected to the Latin world.  If you can get into Tulane, which is not a cake walk btw, do your research and consider it.  Why Tulane, if I can ask? Most regions of the US have schools on par with Tulane. Say hi to Carville for me if you end up going there. Does Puerto  Rico use civil law? I know there are a few US law schools there, but honestly I'm not sure what system they use.