Lawyer Reacts to 7 Tiers of Law Schools Blog - What law schools are worth it?

Judy the YouTube Lawyer, a graduate of UC Berkeley and Georgetown University Law Center, reacts to & discusses a recent post on a law school scam website about the different tiers of law schools. If you're thinking of applying to law school or wondering if law school is worth it, please tune in for an interactive livestream show.


#lawschool #lawyer #lawyershow #legalprofession #georgetownlaw #LSAT

[criminallaw]

Honestly, if you could attend Harvard or Yale on a free ride, at no expense to you at all, then law school would be a good idea. Otherwise, it's probably not. At most law schools the big law firms are only interested in the top 10 percent of the class, firms like Cravath focus on hiring folks from the top five percent. So 9/10 law students are out of the running for those jobs by the end of their first semester. Those jobs only last around 4Y anyway, or less, for most new hires. There are other jobs out there, of course. Where I practice law, easily 100 people will apply for one slot at the Public Defender's Office. Similar stats apply to the State's Attorney's Office (prosecutors). Oh, and if you happen to be a white male, well, time to find another line of work, because those folks aren't getting hired by the government. Your more likely employment outcome? $23.00 per hour doing "Temporary Document Review Projects", maybe some part time work for the Public Defender's Office, and pro bono for the local women's shelter for victims of Domestic Violence. Until you leave the practice of law, like most of my former classmates did over a decade ago.

[rvegas]

Thank you Judy! Can't wait to watch.

[paperthin]

I would love to know what the job outlook for post COVID 19 students who entered the law schools just prior to covid. most of them would be graduating soon. I would assume there would be a spike in unemployment rate due to over abundant of law graduates,

[TXCTellsAll]

Interesting review. Hard to see screen share though. I always wonder this when I'm live streaming. Some sites are better than others to share, if you're watching on a phone.

[luciusseneca]

Hello again. The thing about rankings, is that the Boomers didn't have to contend with them at all, so they just assume that they don't matter at all. Well, there are WAY MORE law schools now, and far more JD's graduate than can ever get an entry-level job. That means graduates face a pretty difficult competition for scarce entry-level work - and those entry-level jobs really do set the trajectory for your career - and in such an environment, the "prestige" of your school actually does matter. It shouldn't, but it absolutely does, and denying it at every turn is just lousy leadership from the senior lawyers.

[TXCTellsAll]

Not having any student loans after grad school is the real flex! A law school degree is worth something for sure. You can always make money w that degree (& bar admission).

[Trish.Norman]

Liked! Leaving comment for the algorithm that no one can figure out. ;-)

[TwinsTry]

I had no idea the tiers. I mean I knew about prestigious ones but this is Insanity! Thanks for breaking g down !

[jamesjwalsh]

Thanks for calling attention to that primal scream legal blog. It's very entertaining.

[dchinsee]

Thanks for revisiting this again, it’s always great to hear your perspective on this !

[meteoriteeeee]

Some of the schools he mentioned have pretty decent (50%+) big law/clerkship rates. For example UT (best debt to income ratio of any law school I believe), Fordham, Washington, Georgetown. But I agree that these schools are huge gambles when you’re spending a super large amount of money to gamble with.

[cindynolen]

My daughter graduated from a lower tier law school but she studied her butt off & passed bar exam first try. I think, bar passage is most Important

[pranavpillai]

Rankings are only relevant to the extent to the extent that they reflect employment outcomes and bar passage rates. It’s not the ranks itself that matters.

[maxineh.]

@AALegalFocus What are thoughts on JD/MBA or JD joint programs? Do you think the cost is worth it?