southern law schools

[ututsumuju]

I haven't had a chance to check out a couple of schools in the south yet, and i was wondering if anyone had anything to say about any of these schools:

tennessee
kentucky
lsu
south carolina
louisville
richmond

If any of you guys went to any, or lived there or anything feel free to throw in your 2 cents.  Thanks.

[jon]

I'm from Richmond and know a little bit about the law school there. 

Facilities, etc.: The law school building is nice, located on the UG campus.  It's collegiate gothic (same cat who designed Princeton) and is a pleasant place to go to school all around.  the area is nice, it's in the West End.  Lots of old southern money around, very "Virginia" if that helps at all.  I know a few 1Ls and 2Ls and a few grads, and all live or lived in an area of Richmond called "The Fan".  Row houses, corner bars, etc.  Pretty cool area, actually, like a JV Georgetown.  The student body strikes me as "southern college fratty", if that means anything, though the undergrad is largely NY/NJ. 

Rep: Solid job prospects with Hunton & Williams, McGuireWoods (two major firms based in Richmond) and the rest of the big/mediumlaw types there.  Gotta be on law review, etc., but these firms are solid and pay 100k/year, which is a king's ransom in Richmond.  Other than that, I assume the prospects are tougher.  That being said, Richmond would be a great place to live.  I haven't the faintest idea of prospects beyond that, I'm a Biglaw type and that's where I did my research.  Also, it's definately a regional/local school, so if you want to stay in VA, then it's all good.

Academics: Seem to be good, Bork teaches Conlaw now, and all reports are typical law school.  I've heard, so take it at face value, that the school should be ranked higher.

My two cents 

[mfitz]

South Carolina:

Went to USC for undergrad, live in Columbia now.  Columbia's a pretty nice town...big enough to have a "city" feel but not so big that it takes 3 hours to get home in rush hour traffic. The bar scene is great, but the bars are pretty segregated into "frat" and "nonfrat".  If you come here, I'll be happy to clue you in a little more.

I've visited the law school and sat in on a torts class.  I wasn't terribly impressed, but I think that has a lot more to do with my desire to get out of SC than anything else.  The admissions staff is nice and friendly, although the financial aid office (the same as the undergrad fin aid office) will not take appointments, and so it's almost impossible to get in to see them without wasting your whole day.

Other than that, the law school is pretty isolated from the rest of the university.  The building was top-notch in the 70's, and there's been rumors of building a new building, but that won't happen for a while.  The entire building is wireless, as is a lot of the rest of the campus.  The campus is absolutely beautiful.

USC is the only ABA-accredited law school in the state, therefore USC graduates get all of the jobs in state.  I currently work for the SC Court of Appeals, and all of the law clerks, staff attorneys, and judges are USC grads.  If you'd like to stay in South Carolina, this is the place to go. Placement rates are very high.

All in all, I think the University of South Carolina is appropriately ranked.  This is probably where a lot of my luke-warm feelings stem from--it's not likely I'll receive scholarship money, but it's probably also not the best school I'll get into.  But check it out for yourself.  Don't let me discourage you.

[JDPlease]

Univ of TN

I went to UT-Knoxville for undergrad and it is a great place to live. Knoxville has a population of about 500K, so it's not small - but not big. It is, however, small enough to be cheap as hell. You can easily live the "college lifestyle" for 10K or under - with beer money. If you are planning to buy a house, you can do so for under 90K.

It is a good school with a large SEC name. Their law school also has a great name in the south...and in the nation.

It's a great bang for you buck.

CC

[the REAL desi]

Their law school also has a great name in the south...and in the nation.

Yea...

[Gummo]

Their law school also has a great name in the south...and in the nation.

Yea...

haha, seeing the word "bukkake" made me click on this thread.