Mn big law and what school will get me there Forum

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[azditamo]

That's true but it will something that I enjoy doing and it will be rewarding. Better than sitting in cubical do something that you really do not know what the end result of what you do is. Thank you guys for your help, I have a lot to think about.

Yea, for sure. I agree and it is admirable, but with what the thread is, I just wanted to make the distinction.

Best of luck man.

I appreciate it man, you too. Where are you going to school and what area of law are you thinking? Is it big law or bust for you upon graduation?

[TheSpanishMain]

I know you are not try to insult me and no English is not my first language. While I do want to work for myself, the main reason why I want to go to law school is so that I can help people who were in the same situation I was. Who are either trying to come to this country or are trying to stay.

If you want to do immigration law, that's something that's a little more realistic than Twin Cities Big Law. I don't know much about it myself, so I'll let others chime in on that, but the basic rule still applies: go to a T14 school OR go to a good regional school with a scholarship. Best of luck.

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[timbs4339]

You seem to have divergent goals:

Biglaw: You do this to make money, to pay down your debt, and to work for corporations. Unfortunately, I just do not think that this is a realistic goal for you because it sounds like you have a very low GPA and some ESL issues that are going to prevent you from getting a high LSAT. I missed the boat on making millions writing code or making $3 million as an Ibanker. Sometimes life just sucks like that and you have to reevaluate your goals.

Immigration Law helping people: This is a more realistic goal. You're not going to make a lot of money, so you need to have low debt. The best thing to do would be a full ride scholarship, to UMN, and to do a lot of internships and work for small firms in the community you come from during law school to get experience.

But what I'd really like you to consider is applying to be a paralegal at an immigration firm, or for a job with an organization that helps immigrants like a translator (you might be in demand if your immigrants community is large enough). Work there for a few years. It sounds like you just do not like your current job. Unfortunately, from Hamline or WM you're likely to end up with a lot of debt and a similar salary.

[worldtraveler]

Big law and helping people do not go together unless you think corporations are people. Don't go until you know your goals.

[salvage]

Cannot speak to the U but I transferred from WM to a T14 and there were about 6 minnesota firms at OCI. I was able to (by the skin of my teeth) get an offer from one of them. All of this is to say that it damn sure is not a sure-thing from any school.

As for staying at WM, I'm not sure the % of the class that got SAs, but my guess is it isn't much past the top 5% or so.

[JCougar]

I'll have to admit that immigration law is one of the fields I've actually seen more job openings in. Most of the job postings want you to speak a second language. It's totally legit to want to do immigration law, but you probably won't make much. The solution is then to limit your debt, but still go to the best school possible.

FWIW, there are Biglaw firms that have an immigration section of their Labor/Employment law practice. Of course, you have to go to a good enough school to get Biglaw first. Which rules out Hamline, UST, or WM.

If you can go to Minnesota for like half price or cheaper, I'd maybe consider it. I'd also retake the LSAT all three times to see if you can't improve by a point or two. Take a year or two off, and see if you can get a clerk-type job at an immigration firm to see if it's a field that suits you. Having this experience would also help you get a lawyer job post-law school.

[Jchance]

As you can guess I am trying to practice in one of the big law firms here in Minnesota but I am trying to hedge my risk early. With that being said I have applied to all law schools here in Minnesota and I only heard back from hamline and I got a pretty decent scholarship from them with a 2.0 stipulation attached to it. I also saw that they are outperforming old standing rival william mitchell, I know past a certain rank it does not really mater about ranking so that really won't be a real factor. My question is for somebody like me who is looking to practice in this state with maybe the possibility of WL at the U, does it matter which one of the other schools I go to? In other words if I'm not willing to move and if I don't get into the U, should I go to the school that gives me more money with the mentally I have to work harder then the next person and I better make damn sure I'm top of my class to be competitive in the job market ( which I will do whatever school I go). I just want to be able to go to the second best option school if there is one aside from the U if I do not get into the U. Any advice is welcome, thank you.

Going to Hamline and thinking Minn. BigLaw is suicidal. LST score gives 1.6% of Hamline kids at BigLaw, including those with Daddy at BigLaw or judges. I can forsure tell you that no one goes to law school thinking s/he will end up at top 1%.

After reading your other posts, it seem like you have this whole law perception mixed up, you should spend sometime to figure it out. BigLaw is not the same as owning your own firm because they have high-end clients (think Apple, Samsung), they do bet-your-company cases. Having your own firm will give you clients like personal injury (think car accident).

A lot of immigration law works are in the fed. gov't or BigLaw, maybe some at midLaw. I have not heard of/seen immigration works being done at SmallLaw (think less than 5-10 lawyers).

[DportIA]

I am an Iowa student and I was a 1L SA at GPM in the TCDIP program (absolutely loved gray plant mooty btw). From my perspective, the large MSP firms can be brutal to get into because their summer classes are exceedingly small.

For example, GPM had 5 2L SAs, and they are one of the largest MSP firms. They had 2 Iowa students, 2 UM students, and 1 WM. Boom. No UST, no Hamline, and 2 Minnesota students. My 1L class has 1 UM, 1 UW-Madison, and 1 Iowa.

Not only do UM, WM, UST, Hamline compete with one another for the coveted spots at firms paying six figures, they are competing with Iowa, Wisconsin, and T-14 with local roots. For (another) example: In my 2L class, 2 classmates are going to Dorsey and 4 are going to Faegre, & 1 to another large firm. So 7 spots out of probably 70 2L SAs at "large" firms (Winthrop, GPM, Briggs, FBD, Dorsey, Lindquist, Merchant, Maslon, Leonard Street, Fredrikson, RKMC, Oppenheimer, etc.) are Iowa students.

[kd5]

Not only do UM, WM, UST, Hamline compete with one another for the coveted spots at firms paying six figures, they are competing with Iowa, Wisconsin, and T-14 with local roots. For (another) example: In my 2L class, 2 classmates are going to Dorsey and 4 are going to Faegre, & 1 to another large firm. So 7 spots out of probably 70 2L SAs at "large" firms (Winthrop, GPM, Briggs, FBD, Dorsey, Lindquist, Merchant, Maslon, Leonard Street, Fredrikson, RKMC, Oppenheimer, etc.) are Iowa students.

I go to UMN and did a 2L SA last summer at another of the firms Dport mentioned. Quite a few spots get taken by NU and Chicago kids, not to mention places like Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. To get an SA at a big Minneapolis firm from UMN takes being in the top 20-25% of your class, plus usually LR (secondary journals seem to do pretty well too), and you need to be able to interview in a way that matches the "culture" of the firms here. Plus recruiting committees seem to be very concerned about flight risks. I was the only one in my 2L SA class with weak/no MN ties other than law school.

While I know about 25-30 people in my year who are going to big firms, most won't have that option. Immigration law is a pretty busy area around here (lots of Hmong, Somali, and other groups in the Twin Cities), but it is by no means lucrative, and like all law jobs in the local market, it's still competitive.

Minneapolis really, really, really, really should not have four law schools. And if you are 100% set on attending one, do your future self an enormous favor and go to the U. With $$$.