Please Answer My 2 Questions

[futurejd20]

OK I'm a newbie with all of this so please answer my 2 rather dumb questions. ANy info would be appreciated.

1) I understand that law firms often recruit the top students at each law school. However, my question is, if a person gets a JD by just getting a 2.0 (and obviously doesn't get recruited right after graduation) - wouldn't that person still have the same opportunity to find a job in a respectible firm? I am assuming that law school grades and achievements don't show up on resumes so why does it matter how well a person does in law school as long as they graduate?

2) What are the chances of going to a law school like the University of Washington (or another lower tier 1 school) in the West and ending up working in a city like Atlanta, Miami, or Honolulu?

[foxnewssucks]

1) law firms are all about the grades and will probably want to see your transcripts, especially for the first job. 


2) very very small chance.

[thechoson]

1) TOTALLY depends on the school.  If you @#!* up at Yale, you might still get a decent high paying job.  Of course, even students at the top schools these days have trouble landing jobs unless they graduate at the top of their class.  Law School grades are EXTREMELY important.

2) U of W or anything lower in the West, you will be very hard pressed to land in any of those cities you mentioned, unless you were at the top of your class or you work for a couple of years in local cities and then move to those other cities.

[thechoson]

I will mention though, I think Noell mentioned recently that at the firm she works for (in Portland), they landed a Fordham grad.

Considering U of Washington has a similar rep and ranking, I would think if you do EXCELLENTLY you would have pretty good geographic mobility.

[gobears]

OK I'm a newbie with all of this so please answer my 2 rather dumb questions. ANy info would be appreciated.

1) I understand that law firms often recruit the top students at each law school. However, my question is, if a person gets a JD by just getting a 2.0 (and obviously doesn't get recruited right after graduation) - wouldn't that person still have the same opportunity to find a job in a respectible firm? I am assuming that law school grades and achievements don't show up on resumes so why does it matter how well a person does in law school as long as they graduate?

It depends what school you're coming from.  If you're a 2.0 from Harvard, I'm sure you're still probably gonna be alright.  Maybe not working at a big law firm making $125K a year, but you'll probably be fine.  The lower you go down the rankings scale, the more difficult it's gonna be for someone with a 2.0 GPA from a law school to get a job.  Also, a lot depends on intangible stuff like your personality, how good you are at interviewing, whether you might have a special skill set that other lawyers don't have and that's in high demand at the time, etc.

2) What are the chances of going to a law school like the University of Washington (or another lower tier 1 school) in the West and ending up working in a city like Atlanta, Miami, or Honolulu?

What are your numbers, GPA and LSAT?  That'll give us a better idea to help answer your question about going to the University of Washington.  But generally, yeah, the University of Washington is a regional school, awesome in the Pacific Northwest.  Outside of it, you'll have to have pretty stellar grades, maybe connections, etc.

[futurejd20]

I don't understand why it's such a small chance? Please explain to me because I have always been under the impression that doctors and lawyers have the best jobs in terms of being able to work anywhere they want, including small towns and big cities all around the U.S. Maybe I was under the wrong impression all this time or are you just a raging, evil pessimist?

[TheDecline]

If you just want to set up shop on your own, then yeah go for it. If you want to get a job at a firm, it will largely depend on what law school you go to and where it is located.

[futurejd20]

thechoson, I must say you are the king of this forum. You are every single god damn post man!

gobears, I have a 3.62 and should get a decent LSAT score. i'm a huge wild-card though because I will be graduating college in 2 years so I'll only end up trying 1 top ED and some lower-level 1st tiers. I'm already pretty much in at my universities law school because I have signed up for the BA/JD program here.

[thechoson]

I don't understand why it's such a small chance? Please explain to me because I have always been under the impression that doctors and lawyers have the best jobs in terms of being able to work anywhere they want, including small towns and big cities all around the U.S. Maybe I was under the wrong impression all this time or are you just a raging, evil pessimist?

Doctors yes, cause they are still in demand.  Lawyers are not.  The top grads from the top schools yes, but otherwise there are too many lawyers out there.

I think nurses or high school math/science teachers have better mobility than most lawyers.

[AaronJ]

I don't understand why it's such a small chance? Please explain to me because I have always been under the impression that doctors and lawyers have the best jobs in terms of being able to work anywhere they want, including small towns and big cities all around the U.S. Maybe I was under the wrong impression all this time or are you just a raging, evil pessimist?

Consider this:  The most prestigous firms in New York hire lawyers from 50 different law schools and those are not the US News top 50.  The people who make it are the ones who, as others here have mentioned, rise to the top of their respective classes.  That is what all firms look for regardless of local or where the applicant is coming from (unless you get you're degree online, dont do that!!!).  As far as being high powered and all that jazz consider Mark Geragose, Scott Petersons lawyer.  He is one of the most recognizable faces in the legal world right now and graduated from little old tier 2 Loyola.

Dont get to caught up in worrying about where you go or where you are going to work when you get done.  Just get in there and be detemined to be the best and if you do that you can stack you chips with anyone.