how important is where you go to law school?

[Sam_A_Sam]

This feels like it was relevant for many things in life.

[OhNoNotAgain]

Public sector utility manager here. I’ve worked with dozens of attorneys over my career from the whole range of schools. For the “bread and butter” support, seems that the person rather than the school matters most. But … the best litigator who ever worked for us was a Harvard Law graduate. For whatever reason, she was always two steps ahead and quicker than everyone else. She joked that she felt obligated to spend 10 years in public service to make amends for all the evil things she did in the private sector. I’m not so sure it was a joke.

[applecat]

Thanks for this really truthful answer. I went to a not** so highly ranked school for undergrad that also has a great law school but as I observed, people attended there for really specific kinds of law like family law and even immigration law.

[YoChicago]

Another way to read the visual ... You have a wider range of options at the higher end of the mug. If you start too low on the mug a net stops you from rising higher. If the mug is full, the weight of the liquid is felt more heavily at the bottom of the mug. Options expanded dramatically during the time I spent at BigLaw.

[memyself]

I have interest in helping people but living a nice quiet life too! ❤

[kylehawn]

I work as a compliance analyst in an Investment bank. Considering going to law school (it was always a goal of mine). Your videos are always so helpful and informative.

[hlipifr]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you!

[ad]

Not directly related but That's how privilege works (in visual metaphor). The more privileged you are, the less work you have to do by comparison. But you still have to work.

[reicheru]

This is interesting … I am going to look into the background of all the Justices I currently work with, then into the ones who got appointed Supreme Court Justice..

[datglobetrotterlife]

In-house is the way to go! #worklifebalance

[jchiu]

For those seeking private employment in hopes of a lucrative career - you either have to go to a prestigious law school and get decent/good grades or go to a second/third tier law school and finish at or near the the top of your class.

If you go to a mediocre law school and are not on Law Review or Journal, you'll be stuck at a small firm (at best) while paying thousands of dollars in tuition and the opportunity cost of lost wages in another career. In other words, if your undergraduate GPA is less than 3.5 and your LSAT score is lower than 160, you may want to think twice before spending the time and money on law school.

There are way too many lawyers because the barrier to entry is so low and people have watched one too many episodes of Law and Order.

[Amit-vugz]

I personally feel, people tend to put themselves at the top, it is called human ego. So, depending on the prestige of a law school is an easy way to do that. But, remember a top ranking university is way more general than an ivy league school. The comparison cannot be made with Harvard, while making a general statement about university rankings. I don’t think many lawyers or law students are boasting (except to make them more credible to others). What is important is that the law school provides excellent education and students manage themselves properly.
Another thing is that the abilities that are tested for admission are very different. A random degree (required for admission) does not measure how one performs while practicing law (while they are helping others). Situations can be very different as well. A full time working parent (including a mother) can’t get as high of a mark during admissions. Even many young students have troubled finances. The more time and resources someone has before admissions becomes important.
As far as SC judges are concerned, i believe that it would be roughly proportional to the number of graduates from each school over time. If anyone wants to volunteer to do that math, they are welcome.
However, what I feel is more important is where the school is located. A better location serves better opportunities afterwards. 😊

[irwuhqy]

The thing is, no one in real life would tell you "You work for criminal defense at a small private practice instead of Kirkland &Ellis? You must be dumb" That's incredibly narcissistic and not many ppl outside the legal industry even know about biglaw. I don't really understand why you have to die for prestige in law school when being a lawyer is prestigious in itself.. I'd rather have a sustainable lifestyle and work for an area I love rather than burning out within few years at big law and becoming unemployed..

[General]

What's messed up.... Is that the price isn't that much different. Though scholly money changes a lot!

[scott]

I went to a third tier law school. Represent!

[stevensonjc]

To answer your last question....i suspect the overwhelming amount of ppl would reply: Cece! MONEY!

[Lastdayone]

I’m interested in Estate Planning & Probate Law…. I’d like a boutique high end firm… maybe employing up to 7-10 people. I’d also be interested in teaching as well. So, I think it still matters for me. I have zero contacts. I need to rub shoulders with the people who will have assets 😅.

[sandrafils]

I bet you can apply the same logic to everything in life ie

[mitchdavis]

Super subjective and personal question, but interested in your hot take because I enjoy your channel and how considerate you are in your content:

I did pretty mediocre in undergrad (2.7), but went to a "public ivy" for undergrad where I was an unfocused biochemistry major and worked throughout to make ends meet. There may be some mental health struggles there, but I want to take responsibility for my performance. After recognizing all the signs I should switch to humanities, I switched to English, and graduated with a higher major GPA inside of a year.

In the years since, I aspired to become a writer, and enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program with the goal of creating a portfolio for an MFA in Creative Writing or MS in Journalism, but became disenchanted due to not feeling like I would make the impact I want to make.

After my bartending career was shut down with the rest of the world during COVID, I thought long and hard about what mattered to me when I was younger, and I remembered how much speech and debate mattered to me in high school, along with political and social advocacy. I enrolled in a Paralegal Studies Certificate program where I succeeded with a 4.0, and am now employed as a paralegal while studying for the LSAT.

My practice tests are lately averaging around the 162 mark. I hope to bump that enough to be a super splitter, and go to a decent Tier 2 school, or at least a decent Tier 3 school, with the hopes of being at the top of my class for 1L and transferring to a better school after.

Now here's my question: What would you realistically say my options are, and what would you recommend that I could do in the meantime to improvement them or at least get more insight?

[hunzh]

This kinda relates to business schools too