W&L v. Emory v. Fordham

[Zam]

I actually thought the same thing myself. I did some research on the new Dean at W&L and he sounds wonderful. Can you tell me more about Partlett? were there problems with him at W&L?

I only know Partlett from a talk he gave at the ASW last April (before he left).  I thought he was a boring speaker.  I'd heard rumors that some Alums were unhappy w/W&L's place in the rankings under Partlett, but that's mere speculation. 

I've heard the new W&L dean (Smolla) speak at a 1st-Amendment lecture, and he is an amazing speaker.  He also looks like a great fit for W&L.

At the W&L February Open House several people, including admissions officers, made some very vague references to wanting to find a Dean whose goals were in line with improving the standing of the school. This was before they announced Dean Smolla as the new Dean, but I think they already had him in mind at the time.

I got the impression that W&L wants to move back up the rankings and has the will power and money to do so.

This was all very indirect and not obvious and I'm not sure if many people picked up on it, but I heard something along these lines multiple times.

[mae8]

i hate to be a total emory troll but... career data from usnews
(first number is emory, second is w&l)

Percent employed after nine months 98.7%  91.2% 
Employed in law firms 68%  58%                 
Starting salary, private sector (25/75) $60,000 / $102,500  $60,000 / $110,000         
Median starting salary, private sector $89,500  $83,500         
Percent in private sector reporting salary information 94%  70% 

does not seem like w&l has any advantage

one of the big considerations should be size imho, whether size of the law school or size of the town. obvious personal preference issues but emory does have a very good field placement program to take advantage of its location for internships as well as networking and such

[General2010]

i hate to be a total emory troll but... career data from usnews
(first number is emory, second is w&l)

Percent employed after nine months 98.7%  91.2% 
Employed in law firms 68%  58%                 
Starting salary, private sector (25/75) $60,000 / $102,500  $60,000 / $110,000         
Median starting salary, private sector $89,500  $83,500         
Percent in private sector reporting salary information 94%  70% 

does not seem like w&l has any advantage

one of the big considerations should be size imho, whether size of the law school or size of the town. obvious personal preference issues but emory does have a very good field placement program to take advantage of its location for internships as well as networking and such

Don't forget that Emory sends much more grads to NYC, where salaries are naturally higher because of COL. As has been said in many other threads, $160,000 for Biglaw in NYC is fairly comparable to $110,000 in a city like Charlotte, when COL is factored in.

[alphadog24]

i hate to be a total emory troll but... career data from usnews
(first number is emory, second is w&l)

Percent employed after nine months 98.7%  91.2% 
Employed in law firms 68%  58%                 
Starting salary, private sector (25/75) $60,000 / $102,500  $60,000 / $110,000         
Median starting salary, private sector $89,500  $83,500         
Percent in private sector reporting salary information 94%  70% 

does not seem like w&l has any advantage

one of the big considerations should be size imho, whether size of the law school or size of the town. obvious personal preference issues but emory does have a very good field placement program to take advantage of its location for internships as well as networking and such

Don't forget that Emory sends much more grads to NYC, where salaries are naturally higher because of COL. As has been said in many other threads, $160,000 for Biglaw in NYC is fairly comparable to $110,000 in a city like Charlotte, when COL is factored in.

That alone wont account for it. W&L sends equal or more graduates to DC, which is not as expensive as NY but still expensive. Atlanta is the #1 location Emory students practice in, and it is way cheaper than NY, even even still cheaper than DC (though still a bit more expensive than Charlotte). So it just about evens out. If W&L was leaps and bounds better for placement like people say, I would think the gap in salary would be much more.