BC v UConn Forum

[Stylnator]

DO. NOT. QUOTE.

So I've finally come down to my last two choices after regrettably withdrawing from Minnesota .

COA for UConn: $40k or 0k depending on if I live at home or not
COA for BC: $150,000

I want to be a PD but CT is not realistically going to allow me to do that after graduation (due to the state of the economy) and if I go to BC the MA PD starts their salaries at 40k and I can't service my loans on that (and I don't want to go into law school with the idea that my loans will go away under PSLF). I know UConn grads do go to CPCS (MA's PD office) but I don't know that I want to be a PD bad enough to accept a 40k starting salary and I want to end up in CT b/c it's my home state and I'd like to eventually be close to my family. I am really interested in criminal defense but I've heard that private criminal defense (my only other option really) isn't an actual legal field and is almost always combined with some other type of law (usually family law). I thought it would be smart to figure out what exactly I wanted to do even before I went to law school but I think I might just have unrealistic goals.

It just seems like no matter what law school I go to I can't optimize my career goals + regional preference + cost.

I took a year off after graduating college last year so I could retake the LSAT + get a job. My job is very comfortable and I make a very good amount with my business/tech degree (in my eyes at least) but even if I were to take another year off and continue working while retaking the LSAT it still seems like I will have the same problem with my career goals. I've always wanted to be a lawyer in court but also work with the indigent so I'm not sure what another year at my current job would do for me anyways. Do I just give up and change what I want to do? Do I hope when I go to law school that another field will interest me enough? I've already planned what PD offices I'd want to work for over the summers, what externships I want to do, but none of it means anything if there is no employment (in CT at least, and unrealistic employment in MA). Any help at all would be appreciated

DO. NOT. QUOTE.

[CatherineZetaScarn1]

Have you thought about working for a nonprofit serving indigent populations?

[BigZuck]

Enjoy UConn. The debt isn't that bad, you'll figure it out. Live at home if you can.

[UVA2B]

I'll admit I don't know enough about the budget/hiring freeze in CT that has been discussed previously, but UCONN seems like the right choice. Living at home and networking/interning hard for the jobs you want will be the best bet for your goals. UCONN for free is a perfect option for someone wanting to stay in CT.

[mcmand]

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[cavalier1138]

You could still break in to the MA market - it's not like you're across the country for purposes of networking. Save the money, go to UConn, and start connecting with every public defender within 4-5 hours driving of Connecticut. Get your hustle on.

This is absolutely not true, since the OP has no ties to MA (at least from what we've been told). UConn is the right choice here, but it's because the OP actually wants to stay in CT and might end up totally debt-free at the end of the three years. MA already has plenty of law schools feeding its public offices; no amount of networking makes MA a viable job market for this OP.

[A. Nony Mouse]

You could still break in to the MA market - it's not like you're across the country for purposes of networking. Save the money, go to UConn, and start connecting with every public defender within 4-5 hours driving of Connecticut. Get your hustle on.

This is absolutely not true, since the OP has no ties to MA (at least from what we've been told). UConn is the right choice here, but it's because the OP actually wants to stay in CT and might end up totally debt-free at the end of the three years. MA already has plenty of law schools feeding its public offices; no amount of networking makes MA a viable job market for this OP.

I don't think it's quite this dire. If the OP interns with MA PDs all through law schools they can develop connections. I know MA is a crowded market, but you can make connections for PD hiring through actually doing the work. (I agree it may make job hunting harder, but I don't think it's quite so cut and dried as above.)

[cavalier1138]

You could still break in to the MA market - it's not like you're across the country for purposes of networking. Save the money, go to UConn, and start connecting with every public defender within 4-5 hours driving of Connecticut. Get your hustle on.

This is absolutely not true, since the OP has no ties to MA (at least from what we've been told). UConn is the right choice here, but it's because the OP actually wants to stay in CT and might end up totally debt-free at the end of the three years. MA already has plenty of law schools feeding its public offices; no amount of networking makes MA a viable job market for this OP.

I don't think it's quite this dire. If the OP interns with MA PDs all through law schools they can develop connections. I know MA is a crowded market, but you can make connections for PD hiring through actually doing the work. (I agree it may make job hunting harder, but I don't think it's quite so cut and dried as above.)

Sure, but how's he going to get those internships? I'm sure it's possible to basically create ties to MA through repeatedly going out there throughout law school, but it doesn't seem like the OP would have a great opportunity to even get the first job that would create those ties.

[A. Nony Mouse]

You could still break in to the MA market - it's not like you're across the country for purposes of networking. Save the money, go to UConn, and start connecting with every public defender within 4-5 hours driving of Connecticut. Get your hustle on.

This is absolutely not true, since the OP has no ties to MA (at least from what we've been told). UConn is the right choice here, but it's because the OP actually wants to stay in CT and might end up totally debt-free at the end of the three years. MA already has plenty of law schools feeding its public offices; no amount of networking makes MA a viable job market for this OP.

I don't think it's quite this dire. If the OP interns with MA PDs all through law schools they can develop connections. I know MA is a crowded market, but you can make connections for PD hiring through actually doing the work. (I agree it may make job hunting harder, but I don't think it's quite so cut and dried as above.)

Sure, but how's he going to get those internships? I'm sure it's possible to basically create ties to MA through repeatedly going out there throughout law school, but it doesn't seem like the OP would have a great opportunity to even get the first job that would create those ties.

I think she could if she applies widely enough - internships aren't hard to get. Not sure how much she wants to be in MA, though.

OP, private criminal defense is a thing. Although it's true that it's often combined with family law, it doesn't have to be. The problem is that it's primarily solo practice or maybe 2-3 attorneys banding together (mostly to share office expenses) and it's not really something you can do well right out of school (in part because, in the markets I'm most familiar with, a good way to survive is to get on the federal CJA panel or the state equivalent to get appointed to cases, and they will require a certain amount of trial experience before they're going to appoint you to felonies/anything/pay you enough to live on). If you can find a solo interested in taking on an associate that might work, but most people go into private criminal defense after getting experience elsewhere (or take the really hard route of building up a practice on their own, but I think it's easy to make a lot of mistakes that way).

[Stylnator]

Have you thought about working for a nonprofit serving indigent populations?

I have thought about NGO work but I think I'd be happier working for the state because I would eventually like to work in the federal gov't for FPD.

I don't think it's quite this dire. If the OP interns with MA PDs all through law schools they can develop connections. I know MA is a crowded market, but you can make connections for PD hiring through actually doing the work. (I agree it may make job hunting harder, but I don't think it's quite so cut and dried as above.)

Sure, but how's he going to get those internships? I'm sure it's possible to basically create ties to MA through repeatedly going out there throughout law school, but it doesn't seem like the OP would have a great opportunity to even get the first job that would create those ties.

I don't think it'll be so impossibly hard to land an internship in a MA PD office from CT. From the research I've done they're not very competitive b/c it's not generally a route that the Boston law students take. It will be more difficult for sure, but not out of the realm of possibility. However, I would prefer to go to a firm in CT rather than be a PD in MA. Is it possible to become a PD after working for a firm? I'm scared that if I do this (because of my preference to be in CT/with family) then I'll be less marketable to the state PD when they finally do open up jobs.

OP, private criminal defense is a thing. Although it's true that it's often combined with family law, it doesn't have to be. The problem is that it's primarily solo practice or maybe 2-3 attorneys banding together (mostly to share office expenses) and it's not really something you can do well right out of school (in part because, in the markets I'm most familiar with, a good way to survive is to get on the federal CJA panel or the state equivalent to get appointed to cases, and they will require a certain amount of trial experience before they're going to appoint you to felonies/anything/pay you enough to live on). If you can find a solo interested in taking on an associate that might work, but most people go into private criminal defense after getting experience elsewhere (or take the really hard route of building up a practice on their own, but I think it's easy to make a lot of mistakes that way).

Do you know how one would go about getting a CJA panel appointment?

[Rigo]

You could still break in to the MA market - it's not like you're across the country for purposes of networking. Save the money, go to UConn, and start connecting with every public defender within 4-5 hours driving of Connecticut. Get your hustle on.

This is absolutely not true, since the OP has no ties to MA (at least from what we've been told). UConn is the right choice here, but it's because the OP actually wants to stay in CT and might end up totally debt-free at the end of the three years. MA already has plenty of law schools feeding its public offices; no amount of networking makes MA a viable job market for this OP.

I don't think it's quite this dire. If the OP interns with MA PDs all through law schools they can develop connections. I know MA is a crowded market, but you can make connections for PD hiring through actually doing the work. (I agree it may make job hunting harder, but I don't think it's quite so cut and dried as above.)

I think UConn could have decent enough pull in the Springfield area and non-Boston metro areas of the state.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Re: CJA panel - I don't know the process but I think the federal district court webpage should have info about it (my district does).

[mcmand]

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[Stylnator]

I don't know the answer to this question but want to let you know that I think you can do this and I believe in you

You are so sweet, thank you! I appreciate the encouragement!!

[Ferrisjso]

I don't know the answer to this question but want to let you know that I think you can do this and I believe in you

You are so sweet, thank you! I appreciate the encouragement!!

Go to UCONN for free and do great! Id do almost anything(except retake the LSAT again) to have the chance to go to UCONN for even 60k! I also really really really dislike Boston(ive had some expierences there) so even if I had no bias towards UCONN id pick UCONN. BCs a better school but thats near the very top of the ceiling of how much you should be paying for a school like that. BCs probably another level of reputation up from UCONN but that isnt enough to justify paying so much more.

[Stylnator]

I don't know the answer to this question but want to let you know that I think you can do this and I believe in you

You are so sweet, thank you! I appreciate the encouragement!!

Go to UCONN for free and do great! Id do almost anything(except retake the LSAT again) to have the chance to go to UCONN for even 60k! I also really really really dislike Boston(ive had some expierences there) so even if I had no bias towards UCONN id pick UCONN. BCs a better school but thats near the very top of the ceiling of how much you should be paying for a school like that. BCs probably another level of reputation up from UCONN but that isnt enough to justify paying so much more.

Thanks Ferris! The reputation is definitely what gave me a pause before fully committing to UConn (one reason for the thread) but with the $ figures I do think that I'd get more bang for my buck at UConn.