Top Law Schools

Hey all,

as some of you may know, I use to be all about TTTulane . gung ho, thinking that the top 12% of the class makes 140k. gone are those bright and cheery days. I am still thinking about putting down a deposit for Tulane while I ride out other WLs, but my question is if it is unreasonable for me to think that I could graduate and make 80k in private practice ? I am not looking at law as a way to become rich, but I need a law degree to eventually take my entrepreneurial venture to the next level... and I would like to pay off what I think will be about 80k in debt for LS @ Tulane w/in 3 years by getting experience in private practice.

It depends on where in the class you graduate, right.

lets say slightly above median

gwuorbust wrote:lets say slightly above median

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There were only 3x firms OCI in Tulane last yr, which is worse than a tons of T2s.

Now that the updated NALP forms are out, it's apparent that the the New Orleans legal market is not insulated from the economic downturn, as some on this forum have suggested in the past. Summer offer rates are likely the worst in the country, and virtually all of the New Orleans firms have declined to provide salary information, which is troubling. Prospective students should be wary.

baboon309 wrote:http://www.nalpdirectory.com/dledir_search_advanced.asp

There were only 3x firms OCI in Tulane last yr, which is worse than a tons of T2s.

Man, why is this so low?

superflush wrote:

baboon309 wrote:http://www.nalpdirectory.com/dledir_search_advanced.asp

There were only 3x firms OCI in Tulane last yr, which is worse than a tons of T2s.

Man, why is this so low?

Because TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTulane has a great national reach

my friend works as a legal assistant at a larger firm based in new orleans. a majority of the lawyers there are tulane grads, and associates make significantly more than 80k a year. not sure if they make that right out of the gate, but i was surprised how comfortably salaried they all are coming from a lower ranked school

cranberry wrote:my friend works as a legal assistant at a larger firm based in new orleans. a majority of the lawyers there are tulane grads, and associates make significantly more than 80k a year. not sure if they make that right out of the gate, but i was surprised how comfortably salaried they all are coming from a lower ranked school

Maybe ranking is not everything, especially the one from NYNEWS. Ranking is focusing on the figures and don't care much about the three-year life in each law school, maybe.

cranberry wrote:my friend works as a legal assistant at a larger firm based in new orleans. a majority of the lawyers there are tulane grads, and associates make significantly more than 80k a year. not sure if they make that right out of the gate, but i was surprised how comfortably salaried they all are coming from a lower ranked school

lol. you need to get off of tls and live in the real world.

jack duluoz wrote:

cranberry wrote:my friend works as a legal assistant at a larger firm based in new orleans. a majority of the lawyers there are tulane grads, and associates make significantly more than 80k a year. not sure if they make that right out of the gate, but i was surprised how comfortably salaried they all are coming from a lower ranked school

lol. you need to get off of tls and live in the real world.

TITCR

Some people go to lower-ranked schools and wind up making millions. Many more start out at modest salaries ($50,000 or so--which isn't so bad if you went to a state school and lived cheap) but after 10-15 years have become partners in whatever small firms they're working in and are raking in very comfortable salaries. Your law school determines your first job, but nobody pulls in the average starting salary for their entire 30+ year career, and the further you get from law school, the less the name on your diploma matters and the more how well you do your work and how much people like you does.