Top Law Schools

w7ldcard wrote: Thanks! I havent hear from any schools yet so I pulled the trigger on applying to UF. Everyone seems to be taking a long time so far

<-- late applicant as well. What're your numbers if you don't mind me asking? You can PM if you like.

underwear wrote:

w7ldcard wrote: Thanks! I havent hear from any schools yet so I pulled the trigger on applying to UF. Everyone seems to be taking a long time so far

<-- late applicant as well. What're your numbers if you don't mind me asking? You can PM if you like.

161 3.4 medium softs non-urm out of state

dobie1 wrote:wtf UF. Yea it'll be t14 or FSU for me if UF is truly this disorganized. UF will have to offer more scholarship money than FSU if they want to win me over. Went to FSU undergrad and was looking forward to moving somewhere new...oh well.

I wouldn't focus too much on this. In the minds of employers, their opinion of UF Law has been formed by decades of experience with graduates of UF Law. I doubt that a 1 year swap in rankings or a protracted dean search will have any impact on their feelings regarding the quality of UF Law or its students. Just a thought.

Roberrrrto wrote:

dobie1 wrote:wtf UF. Yea it'll be t14 or FSU for me if UF is truly this disorganized. UF will have to offer more scholarship money than FSU if they want to win me over. Went to FSU undergrad and was looking forward to moving somewhere new...oh well.

I wouldn't focus too much on this. In the minds of employers, their opinion of UF Law has been formed by decades of experience with graduates of UF Law. I doubt that a 1 year swap in rankings or a protracted dean search will have any impact on their feelings regarding the quality of UF Law or its students. Just a thought.

+1

I'm still trying to decide between the two, but basing your decision on a couple spots difference in rankings is naïve. Nor do I think it makes UF "disorganized".

Roberrrrto wrote:

dobie1 wrote:wtf UF. Yea it'll be t14 or FSU for me if UF is truly this disorganized. UF will have to offer more scholarship money than FSU if they want to win me over. Went to FSU undergrad and was looking forward to moving somewhere new...oh well.

I wouldn't focus too much on this. In the minds of employers, their opinion of UF Law has been formed by decades of experience with graduates of UF Law. I doubt that a 1 year swap in rankings or a protracted dean search will have any impact on their feelings regarding the quality of UF Law or its students. Just a thought.

This is why I don't think I would ever choose FSU. I currently work at a SAO and UF is like holy ground to everyone.

fwiw i plan on practicing business law specifically real estate law and have numerous contacts with South Florida business law practices spanning large and small firms and unanimously if you want to practice business law in FL, UF is a no-brainer. I cant speak about public interest law or gov work.

Good info! It is hard to escape Gator Nation...even in a drought. Anyone else hoping to see movement in their app today??

Tennislover8 wrote:fwiw i plan on practicing business law specifically real estate law and have numerous contacts with South Florida business law practices spanning large and small firms and unanimously if you want to practice business law in FL, UF is a no-brainer. I cant speak about public interest law or gov work.

It would seem like you have better opportunity for government at FSU because of the location, but honestly I think UF has such a pull everywhere in Florida that it wouldn't be a big deal.

Tennislover8 wrote:fwiw i plan on practicing business law specifically real estate law and have numerous contacts with South Florida business law practices spanning large and small firms and unanimously if you want to practice business law in FL, UF is a no-brainer. I cant speak about public interest law or gov work.

??? I'm a big fan of UF but if you want real estate law in South Florida then you want U Miami Law + their LLM in Real Estate Development. This is your best route to short and long-term success in that geographic area based on your self-professed interests. [This comment of course doesn't account for whether or not you would receive a scholarship from Miami and the impact on COA]

raininthedesert wrote:

Tennislover8 wrote:fwiw i plan on practicing business law specifically real estate law and have numerous contacts with South Florida business law practices spanning large and small firms and unanimously if you want to practice business law in FL, UF is a no-brainer. I cant speak about public interest law or gov work.

??? I'm a big fan of UF but if you want real estate law in South Florida then you want U Miami Law + their LLM in Real Estate Development. This is your best route to short and long-term success in that geographic area based on your self-professed interests. [This comment of course doesn't account for whether or not you would receive a scholarship from Miami and the impact on COA]

Im factoring COA as a huge issue. If both were equal in tuition and living expenses, then yes i would agree.

Tennislover8 wrote:

raininthedesert wrote:

Tennislover8 wrote:fwiw i plan on practicing business law specifically real estate law and have numerous contacts with South Florida business law practices spanning large and small firms and unanimously if you want to practice business law in FL, UF is a no-brainer. I cant speak about public interest law or gov work.

??? I'm a big fan of UF but if you want real estate law in South Florida then you want U Miami Law + their LLM in Real Estate Development. This is your best route to short and long-term success in that geographic area based on your self-professed interests. [This comment of course doesn't account for whether or not you would receive a scholarship from Miami and the impact on COA]

Im factoring COA as a huge issue. If both were equal in tuition and living expenses, then yes i would agree.

Even if you do have a scholarship (I have a great one), in my opinion it's not worth it to go there because the stipulations are so atrocious.

SailorMoon9543 wrote:

Tennislover8 wrote:

raininthedesert wrote:

Tennislover8 wrote:fwiw i plan on practicing business law specifically real estate law and have numerous contacts with South Florida business law practices spanning large and small firms and unanimously if you want to practice business law in FL, UF is a no-brainer. I cant speak about public interest law or gov work.

??? I'm a big fan of UF but if you want real estate law in South Florida then you want U Miami Law + their LLM in Real Estate Development. This is your best route to short and long-term success in that geographic area based on your self-professed interests. [This comment of course doesn't account for whether or not you would receive a scholarship from Miami and the impact on COA]

Im factoring COA as a huge issue. If both were equal in tuition and living expenses, then yes i would agree.

Even if you do have a scholarship (I have a great one), in my opinion it's not worth it to go there because the stipulations are so atrocious.

+1

I turned down a very large scholarship from UMiami. With the top half stipulation, rumors of section stacking, and COA should I lose the scholarship, it's not even in the picture.

For Florida, UF is the best for private sector, FSU is the best for public, and UMiami as also a law school in FL.

All makes sense...no debate. I simply know from practical work experience in the market that there is an overinflated view of the power of UF and FSU brands in Miami in particular for both Big Law and Public Interest. Applicants and OL's have the mistaken impression that those two brands give them leverage over Miami Law in the City of Miami specifically -- and that's just not even remotely close to being true. As long as the decision to attend UF and FSU, both terrific law schools, isn't based solely on the probability of obtaining a job in Miami then the decision appears sound. [Please note that I have no dog in this pony race]

raininthedesert wrote:[Please note that I have no dog in this pony race]

How about a pony?

Nucky wrote:

raininthedesert wrote:[Please note that I have no dog in this pony race]

How about a pony?

LOL. Only a donkey...but I need to pull him away from the poker table first.

Is prestige something that really matters? Neither school is Harvard, let's face it. Just because some UF alumni says UF is more prestigious, what does that exactly mean? That a lesser qualified candidate for a job from UF gains preference over a more qualified candidate from FSU just because of some unwritten prestige factor? I do understand that having an alumni network definitely without question does help you in finding a job, and in that case, of course having gone to the same educational institution would give you that connection.

But I don't really envision a scenario where an employer would ignore how you perform during an interview and the material experiences on your resume just because someone went to a more "prestigious" school.

I ask this because at this point... my decision to choose between UF and FSU is being complicated by these potentially irrelevant factors. At this point, I'm really thinking this argument doesn't really matter. If prestige was such a great factor, I'd expect there to be more UF grads finding long term, bar passage required jobs, ESPECIALLY because there are more of them graduating.

But it's not the case. According to LST, the FSU class of 2012 actually placed more graduates in long term, full time, bar passage required jobs than UF did. Say what? That is NOT to say that LST is perfect. They rely on the information made available, which isn't 100% and complete, but it's one of our best resources.

Also, anyone receive scholarship information recently?

phireblast wrote:my decision to choose between UF and FSU is being complicated by these potentially irrelevant factors.

I haven't been accepted to UF, but I'm acting as I have in making my decision as FSU wants theirs by April 15th. I'm right there with you. lol

In other news, I came out of initial review today and switched to Comparative Review. Hopefully I won't be in purgatory long. The wait is already unbearable...I still would have to wait on the mail. The worst part is I live like right down the street from the law school...I'm sure the mail would still take almost a week.

raininthedesert wrote:All makes sense...no debate. I simply know from practical work experience in the market that there is an overinflated view of the power of UF and FSU brands in Miami in particular for both Big Law and Public Interest. Applicants and OL's have the mistaken impression that those two brands give them leverage over Miami Law in the City of Miami specifically -- and that's just not even remotely close to being true. As long as the decision to attend UF and FSU, both terrific law schools, isn't based solely on the probability of obtaining a job in Miami then the decision appears sound. [Please note that I have no dog in this pony race]

I know several lawyers (some from the few decently-sized firms here) and politicians that will attest to UF being the cat's meow over UM any day of the week. So, your "not remotely close" is an exaggeration at best.

phireblast wrote:Is prestige something that really matters? Neither school is Harvard, let's face it. Just because some UF alumni says UF is more prestigious, what does that exactly mean? That a lesser qualified candidate for a job from UF gains preference over a more qualified candidate from FSU just because of some unwritten prestige factor? I do understand that having an alumni network definitely without question does help you in finding a job, and in that case, of course having gone to the same educational institution would give you that connection.

But I don't really envision a scenario where an employer would ignore how you perform during an interview and the material experiences on your resume just because someone went to a more "prestigious" school.

I ask this because at this point... my decision to choose between UF and FSU is being complicated by these potentially irrelevant factors. At this point, I'm really thinking this argument doesn't really matter. If prestige was such a great factor, I'd expect there to be more UF grads finding long term, bar passage required jobs, ESPECIALLY because there are more of them graduating.

But it's not the case. According to LST, the FSU class of 2012 actually placed more graduates in long term, full time, bar passage required jobs than UF did. Say what? That is NOT to say that LST is perfect. They rely on the information made available, which isn't 100% and complete, but it's one of our best resources.

Also, anyone receive scholarship information recently?

It's about the Alumni base. In FL, from my experience, UF's is larger and more loyal. It's the ability to check the alumni DB that gets you in the back door of a decent job, or to get advice from an insider of a firm you're looking to work at.

UF also has a much larger class, if I'm not mistaken, so that might account for the slight difference in numbers in LST. Even with the higher rank, and better LST #'s, I'd go to UF because frankly, if I wanted a job in FL, the UF alumni base is larger, stronger, and more active. Odd metric to consider, but it's one I've encountered over basically two decades.

I still think FSU is better for government but not for private practice.

# of grads from each school

Greenberg Traurig - 20 FSU / 60 UF

Akerman - 31 FSU / 94 UF

Holland & Knight - 24 FSU / 100 UF

Blizin Sumberg - 2 FSU / 33 UF


The rest of the largest 10 in FL I checked don't let you sort by law school. Search any firm you would want to work at and compare. I haven't really found any decent sized firms with a significantly higher FSU presence, unless it is in Tallahassee or the Panhandle.

Kanye West wrote:

raininthedesert wrote:All makes sense...no debate. I simply know from practical work experience in the market that there is an overinflated view of the power of UF and FSU brands in Miami in particular for both Big Law and Public Interest. Applicants and OL's have the mistaken impression that those two brands give them leverage over Miami Law in the City of Miami specifically -- and that's just not even remotely close to being true. As long as the decision to attend UF and FSU, both terrific law schools, isn't based solely on the probability of obtaining a job in Miami then the decision appears sound. [Please note that I have no dog in this pony race]

I know several lawyers (some from the few decently-sized firms here) and politicians that will attest to UF being the cat's meow over UM any day of the week. So, your "not remotely close" is an exaggeration at best.

???? Listen Drake, no one was comparing UM to UF for the State of Florida as a whole or making any commentary related to the strength of the curriculum or its grads. My comment was that both UF and FSU are terrific schools. I'm involved with our Miami Office -- both from a work and hiring perspective -- and quite familiar with that specific city and people of influence (in law, business and medicine). My "not remotely close" comment is true only as it relates to hiring and the misperception that UF and FSU have a leg up in that market. Just a reality check for applicants and admits.

[Let's also quote Dean Jerry: "Rural law schools are disadvantaged..."]

Playing the waiting game for about a month now. Still in 'Comparative Review' getting really tired of waiting.

I could have retaken the LSAT 2 times over by now.

Finally got my admissions packet. I'm in!

nebula666 wrote:I still think FSU is better for government but not for private practice.

# of grads from each school

Greenberg Traurig - 20 FSU / 60 UF

Akerman - 31 FSU / 94 UF

Holland & Knight - 24 FSU / 100 UF

Blizin Sumberg - 2 FSU / 33 UF


The rest of the largest 10 in FL I checked don't let you sort by law school. Search any firm you would want to work at and compare. I haven't really found any decent sized firms with a significantly higher FSU presence, unless it is in Tallahassee or the Panhandle.

Is there a specific website where you got these numbers? Or does each firm list them?

nebula666 wrote:I still think FSU is better for government but not for private practice.

# of grads from each school

Greenberg Traurig - 20 FSU / 60 UF

Akerman - 31 FSU / 94 UF

Holland & Knight - 24 FSU / 100 UF

Blizin Sumberg - 2 FSU / 33 UF


The rest of the largest 10 in FL I checked don't let you sort by law school. Search any firm you would want to work at and compare. I haven't really found any decent sized firms with a significantly higher FSU presence, unless it is in Tallahassee or the Panhandle.

Know that in order to work at the bolded, you need to be at least top 10% in your class (likely w/ LR or Moot Court)... something that you shouldn't count on. You may get a screener interview with lower numbers but the people who get the jobs are in that 10% area.

Note: Akerman didn't even interview here this past OCI.