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[A. Nony Mouse]

What do you mean by a high end, boutique public interest firm? (For that matter, what do you mean by low end PI?)

[Cal Trask]

What do you mean by a high end, boutique public interest firm? (For that matter, what do you mean by low end PI?)

They don't want to be a lowly pd. Not enough preftige.

[09042014]

What do you mean by a high end, boutique public interest firm? (For that matter, what do you mean by low end PI?)

They don't want to be a lowly pd. Not enough preftige.

pd isn't public interest. Getting criminals onto the street is against the public interest.

[A. Nony Mouse]

What do you mean by a high end, boutique public interest firm? (For that matter, what do you mean by low end PI?)

They don't want to be a lowly pd. Not enough preftige.

pd isn't public interest. Getting criminals onto the street is against the public interest.

Yawn.

[patogordo]

What do you mean by a high end, boutique public interest firm? (For that matter, what do you mean by low end PI?)

They don't want to be a lowly pd. Not enough preftige.

pd isn't public interest. Getting criminals onto the street is against the public interest.

bro public defenders put people in jail with far greater efficiency than prosecutors

[Brettanomyces]

What do you mean by a high end, boutique public interest firm? (For that matter, what do you mean by low end PI?)

They don't want to be a lowly pd. Not enough preftige.

pd isn't public interest. Getting criminals onto the street is against the public interest.

bro public defenders put people in jail with far greater efficiency than prosecutors

Awesome.

[20141023]

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[mt2165]

Lol, the closest thing I can think of regarding the OP's high end public interest boutique firm (which doesn't exist as described) would probably be a higher end plaintiff side litigation firm? As a 0L I'm struggling with the idea too but it seems like for 95% of PI there won't be too much overlap between the biglaw and PI track. One requires grades, LR, etc and the other largely commitment to the cause and hustling and networking.

[Nelson]

For the kind of work you want to do, there's no conflict. You work for an impact org or the gov't for 1L summer, you do OCI, and you take a biglaw job. Then you lateral later.

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[IAFG]

For the kind of work you want to do, there's no conflict. You work for an impact org or the gov't for 1L summer, you do OCI, and you take a biglaw job. Then you lateral later.

This is the answer I was looking for. Thank you.

This is along the level of what would be ideal for those who I seemed to confuse: http://www.altshulerberzon.com

So you don't really know what you're talking about but the important thing is, no matter what you end up doing, you can feel smug about it. Got it.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Yeah, my confusion was that I don't usually think of "public interest" and "firm" together - as mt2165 suggested, I think of Alshuler as high-end plaintiff's side litigation, which isn't quite the same thing (here, rightly or wrongly, public interest is usually used to talk about government and non-profit work, and the hiring criteria can be very different).

(Sorry for such a non-contributing post, the only thing I know about how to get hired at Altshuler is from reading their attorney bios, which seems to suggest you should to go to Yale and do an impressive COA clerkship or two.)

[EijiMiyake]

If you have an actual, defined PI interest, the answer is no. Get good grades. Spend your 1L summer working in the area, because nobody expects biglaw 1L anyway. Split your 2L summer between a firm and another PI org (firms are much less wary about allowing splits with PI, and you'll have a full 4-month summer at most places during 2L). Be an RA in the area, do externships during the schoolyear, etc. and you should have both paths available to you as a 3L. It may be awkward for you to ask your biglaw firm to keep their offer open through Jan/feb, but many will. If not, you can just reneg. But obviously, dont list them as a reference if you plan to reneg.

If, during 3L, one of your interviewers asks you whether you're truly committed to the cause, just say that you are, but with hiring the way that it is, you needed to make sure you were employed at graduation. They'll understand.

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[patogordo]

has to be flame

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[transferror]

Not enough money. My SO would kill me if I went to law school for 3 years to make 60K.

Sounds like a keeper

[prezidentv8]

This is along the level of what would be ideal for those who I seemed to confuse: http://www.altshulerberzon.com

Literally the first employer I thought of when I read your post^

Those be few and far between tho.

Anyway, for a vague idea about what you should probably do, these are the answers you're looking for:

I think of Alshuler as high-end plaintiff's side litigation, which isn't quite the same thing . . . [(]the only thing I know about how to get hired at Altshuler is from reading their attorney bios, which seems to suggest you should to go to Yale and do an impressive COA clerkship or two.)

For the kind of work you want to do, there's no conflict. You work for an impact org or the gov't for 1L summer, you do OCI, and you take a biglaw job. Then you lateral later.

[worldtraveler]

I wish 60k was a low salary for PI.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I wish 60k was a low salary for PI.

Yeah, I was going to say that earlier.

OP, have you seen the NALP chart showing how bimodal law salaries are?

[cron1834]

Not enough money. My SO would kill me if I went to law school for 3 years to make 60K.

Sounds like a keeper

[Otunga]

Local PD office pays 55k in average COL state and that appears relatively high. Better than private "shitlaw" as well.