UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis Forum

(Rankings, Profiles, Tuition, Student Life, . . . )
Post Reply
ManImCool

New
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2017 11:28 pm

UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by ManImCool » Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:22 pm

Been over a year since my last post and I return with a much higher LSAT score, but my goals are the same:

My dream job is to do some sort of soft-IP in-house at a tech company. I understand how exceedingly difficult this will be for someone like me, who doesn't have a STEM background. (Irrelevant to my ability to take the patent bar, but math and science have overwhelmingly been my strengths my entire life.) I'll take any soft IP area that I can get into, whether it's licensing, privacy, copyright, whatever. I also understand my soft-IP dream job generally pulls from Big Law, and that generally requires T14. I previously had my heart set on only working in the SF Bay Area, but I'm a lot more flexible now. I'm willing to work anywhere the tech companies are even if they are outside of the Bay Area. Texas, Colorado, Seattle, wherever. I'll go to where the tech companies are.

Anyway, T14 is going to be a massive reach for me. Right now I have my reach schools set on UCLA and UT, but I emphasize that these are reach schools. Alabama and UC Davis are much more realistic for me. I suppose I have two questions: If I get into any of UCLA/UT, will I at least have a realistic chance of eventually working my way to an in-house job? And if I don't, and Alabama and UC Davis are my only options, which would afford me more realistic options (across the entire US)? In my brain, all I can think of is on one hand, Davis has a closer proximity to the Bay Area and might just have the right connection and fit for me, whereas Alabama is ranked higher and more of a nationally recognized name.

futurelawyermike

New
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:12 pm

Re: UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by futurelawyermike » Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:11 pm

It's definitely possible but make sure to apply early with good scores. If you go to a good school you can definitely work for a IP Biglaw.

User avatar
unsweetened

Silver
Posts: 705
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:12 pm

Re: UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by unsweetened » Wed Aug 22, 2018 10:57 am

Alabama places very well in Alabama and in the surrounding states for graduates with ties to those respective states. Outside of that, I don't think Alabama has much national recognition and places very strongly. T14's are really the only schools with national reach. If that's not going to happen, then the next best option is going to a strong T1 regional in the region that you're targeting.

QContinuum

Moderator
Posts: 3594
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:52 am

Re: UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by QContinuum » Thu Aug 23, 2018 1:52 pm

Of the four schools you list, UT has the best BigLaw placement at 51% BL/Federal Clerk placement for the class of 2017. UCLA clocks in at 44%, Alabama at 32%, and Davis at 20%. In other words, to land BigLaw, you'd probably need to be in the top ~40% at UT, top third at UCLA, top quarter at Alabama, and top 10% at Davis. I wouldn't go to any law school expecting to end up in the top 10% in 1L, so in your shoes I'd rule Davis out. Frankly I'd also rule Alabama out - to my knowledge, there isn't much IP legal work based in the Deep South where Alabama places.

Why not also consider some of the other T20 schools that place well, like Vandy, Gtown, WUSTL and USC? BU and Fordham may also fit your goals.

dianetics08

New
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2016 10:48 am

Re: UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by dianetics08 » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:06 am

QContinuum wrote: Frankly I'd also rule Alabama out - to my knowledge, there isn't much IP legal work based in the Deep South where Alabama places.
People always forget about Atlanta. Nashville has a lot of soft IP too. And Alabama also reaches pretty well into Texas, so you can add Houston and Austin to that list (I know those are strong hard IP cities, not sure about soft IP). But yeah, don't go to Alabama unless staying in the south appeals to you. Takes a STEM background or being top 10% to get looks from firms further out.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


QContinuum

Moderator
Posts: 3594
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:52 am

Re: UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by QContinuum » Sun Dec 16, 2018 6:50 pm

dianetics08 wrote:
QContinuum wrote: Frankly I'd also rule Alabama out - to my knowledge, there isn't much IP legal work based in the Deep South where Alabama places.
People always forget about Atlanta. Nashville has a lot of soft IP too. And Alabama also reaches pretty well into Texas, so you can add Houston and Austin to that list (I know those are strong hard IP cities, not sure about soft IP). But yeah, don't go to Alabama unless staying in the south appeals to you. Takes a STEM background or being top 10% to get looks from firms further out.
There isn't much of a legal market in Austin or Nashville. Re: Houston and Dallas, UT would be much better than Alabama, and either UT or Vandy would be better for Atlanta (which also isn't a huge market).

texaslawl

New
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:09 am

Re: UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by texaslawl » Sun Dec 16, 2018 7:40 pm

QContinuum wrote:
dianetics08 wrote:
QContinuum wrote: Frankly I'd also rule Alabama out - to my knowledge, there isn't much IP legal work based in the Deep South where Alabama places.
People always forget about Atlanta. Nashville has a lot of soft IP too. And Alabama also reaches pretty well into Texas, so you can add Houston and Austin to that list (I know those are strong hard IP cities, not sure about soft IP). But yeah, don't go to Alabama unless staying in the south appeals to you. Takes a STEM background or being top 10% to get looks from firms further out.
There isn't much of a legal market in Austin or Nashville. Re: Houston and Dallas, UT would be much better than Alabama, and either UT or Vandy would be better for Atlanta (which also isn't a huge market).
Second all of the above. IIRC, ABA employment reports for Alabama showed like 10 or so people going to Texas from year-to-year. I think Kirkland Houston's summer class has one person from Bama. I don't recall really seeing too many Bama folks during callbacks either. I'm not sure how much of that is self-selection or what, and obviously the fact that I didn't meet anyone from there isn't dispositive, but UT would certainly be a better choice than Alabama for Texas employment.

dianetics08

New
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2016 10:48 am

Re: UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by dianetics08 » Mon Dec 17, 2018 3:41 am

texaslawl wrote:
QContinuum wrote:
dianetics08 wrote:
QContinuum wrote: Frankly I'd also rule Alabama out - to my knowledge, there isn't much IP legal work based in the Deep South where Alabama places.
People always forget about Atlanta. Nashville has a lot of soft IP too. And Alabama also reaches pretty well into Texas, so you can add Houston and Austin to that list (I know those are strong hard IP cities, not sure about soft IP). But yeah, don't go to Alabama unless staying in the south appeals to you. Takes a STEM background or being top 10% to get looks from firms further out.
There isn't much of a legal market in Austin or Nashville. Re: Houston and Dallas, UT would be much better than Alabama, and either UT or Vandy would be better for Atlanta (which also isn't a huge market).
Second all of the above. IIRC, ABA employment reports for Alabama showed like 10 or so people going to Texas from year-to-year. I think Kirkland Houston's summer class has one person from Bama. I don't recall really seeing too many Bama folks during callbacks either. I'm not sure how much of that is self-selection or what, and obviously the fact that I didn't meet anyone from there isn't dispositive, but UT would certainly be a better choice than Alabama for Texas employment.
I mean, obviously UT is better for getting Texas employment and Vandy will be better in general. But My point was that going to Alabama doesn't mean you have to work in Alabama. And I guess we just have different ideas on what is a "huge" market. Atlanta isn't DC, Chicago, or NYC, but it's the main hub of the Southeast, particularly for IP. Nashville and Austin are smaller, sure, but not small markets by any means. There is IP work in the southeast, and Alabama does fine in the Southeast. If Alabama offers a shit ton more in scholarship money, then it could be worth it over UT or Vandy.

QContinuum

Moderator
Posts: 3594
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:52 am

Re: UT, UCLA, Alabama, UC Davis

Post by QContinuum » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:54 pm

dianetics08 wrote:
texaslawl wrote:
QContinuum wrote: There isn't much of a legal market in Austin or Nashville. Re: Houston and Dallas, UT would be much better than Alabama, and either UT or Vandy would be better for Atlanta (which also isn't a huge market).
Second all of the above. IIRC, ABA employment reports for Alabama showed like 10 or so people going to Texas from year-to-year. I think Kirkland Houston's summer class has one person from Bama. I don't recall really seeing too many Bama folks during callbacks either. I'm not sure how much of that is self-selection or what, and obviously the fact that I didn't meet anyone from there isn't dispositive, but UT would certainly be a better choice than Alabama for Texas employment.
I mean, obviously UT is better for getting Texas employment and Vandy will be better in general. But My point was that going to Alabama doesn't mean you have to work in Alabama. And I guess we just have different ideas on what is a "huge" market. Atlanta isn't DC, Chicago, or NYC, but it's the main hub of the Southeast, particularly for IP. Nashville and Austin are smaller, sure, but not small markets by any means. There is IP work in the southeast, and Alabama does fine in the Southeast. If Alabama offers a shit ton more in scholarship money, then it could be worth it over UT or Vandy.
I'm not sure I'd agree with Alabama over UT even with a "shit ton more" scholarship money at the former. UT has an effective BigLaw placement rate of 51%. Alabama is at 32%. IOW, you need to be a bit above median at UT to land BigLaw, but you need to be ~top quarter at Alabama. That's a real risk. No one should attend law school on the expectation that they'll end up in the top quarter after 1L.

I'm all for debt minimization but there's something to be said for having debt and being able to pay it off, vs. having less/no debt but having no job either (or a job that doesn't pay well - recall the bimodal salary distribution for law school grads). There's no "do-over" for law school. If OP attends Alabama and ends up at median, that's likely going to be the end of OP's BigLaw/IP dreams.

Of course anything's possible - OP could very well end up in the top 10% at Alabama after 1L - but, as another TLS poster once wisely said, you always want to be the rule. You don't want to fight to be the exception to the rule.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


Post Reply

Return to “Choosing a Law School”