Picking a law school

Update 12/30/2016 – A lot has changed since this post was originally published in 2010 – The ABA has since required law schools to publish standardized disclosures, rendering a lot of the information below outdated. Check out newer law student blogs for more up-to-date information.

Since my last advice post I received a lot of messages from 0Ls trying to choose between schools. Here are three common themes:

1) Prestige.

Unless you are considering a top 5 or top 10 school, focus on what city or region you want to practice law in.

For example, if you want to live in Seattle, then going to Less Prestigious School of Law in downtown Seattle is probably a better idea than going to a “top 40” school in Georgia.

The top 10-40 schools will tout the few alumni who made it in swank, distant cities to oversell their national reputation. Go to the “okay” school in the city you want to practice in, volunteer, build a network of local attorneys and land a job.

2) Employment rates.

Ignore them. The job market sucks unless you go to an elite (top 5) school.

If a school is waiving around a really high employment rate, call up the career office and ask them these questions:

• Does your employment percentage represent the entire class or just the students who responded to the survey?
• How many students responded to the survey? Did you verify their employment or is it self-reported?
• What exactly counts as “employment” in this survey? How many of these students have paid, full-time positions that require a JD?

You’ll find that many schools count any employment towards their numbers. The student with a research position with a professor that ends a month after graduation counts. The student volunteering at a non-profit counts. The barista counts. If you ask how many of a school’s students actually go on to become paid full-time lawyers, you’ll find a lot of trapeze artists.

3) Specific programs.

Law school is a big investment, so you have the right to ask questions before you get into a crushing amount of debt. If you have a passion for a particular area of law, ask the admissions office to put you into contact with a professor that teaches the subject.

If admissions is unhelpful, then you can always look up the professor on the school’s website, and email them yourself. A simple email will do –

“Hello, My name is Jill Smith. I am an accepted student interested in insurance law. Can you tell me more about Whatever Law School’s insurance law program? I am specifically interested in car insurance…”

I know this sounds scary, but you might just find a mentor, and the worst they can do is ignore you, …which is also telling.

For the 0Ls with more questions, you can facebook message me, check out the advice archive, or this site.