Human Rights Law Programs Forum

[SecondAidenn]

Hello everyone! I am currently (like most of you, I'm sure) frantically looking at law school programs, but I am having some difficulty with targeting second tier schools with strong human rights programs. The only one I have found so far has been American University. Do any of you have any suggestions on good places to look/schools to consider? Preferably in the North East, but I'll take any and all suggestions at the moment.

Thank you very much!

[nealric]

Don't go to law school if your plan is to work in human rights. Go work for Amnesty International and be done with it.

Programs dedicated to such things are nothing but marketing ploys.

[SecondAidenn]

I think I'll have to disagree with you, since my aim is to work in human rights law from a more diplomatic or scholarly perspective. Plus, a law degree is an incredibly versatile thing, and, depending on the school, has a much higher chance of affording me a salary that I can live off of while ALSO saving the world.

[romothesavior]

.

[zanda]

I think I'll have to disagree with you, since my aim is to work in human rights law from a more diplomatic or scholarly perspective. Plus, a law degree is an incredibly versatile thing, and, depending on the school, has a much higher chance of affording me a salary that I can live off of while ALSO saving the world.

Law degrees are no longer "incredibly versatile," nor do they provide a large chance at a good salary. I dunno... T6 w/ a good LRAP program might be a less terrible idea than going to another school with that expectation, but I'd be aware that you're not looking at a high salary or, even from those schools, a very good chance of getting that type of job.

[KibblesAndVick]

Trolls are supposed to be funny.

[Jack Smirks]

Total FLAME.

[SecondAidenn]

Law degrees are no longer "incredibly versatile," nor do they provide a large chance at a good salary. I dunno... T6 w/ a good LRAP program might be a less terrible idea than going to another school with that expectation, but I'd be aware that you're not looking at a high salary or, even from those schools, a very good chance of getting that type of job.

Thank you, Zanda. I was not actually even aware of LRAP programs, so I'll definitely have to keep that in mind.

[nealric]

Yeah, OP's second post confirms flame status.

[270910]

Disco_Barred's Official Human Rights Law Rankings:

YHS

CCN

MVPB

DCN

G

UCLA..uh... Texas? Some other schools

The Abyss

Florida Coastal
Cooley
Ave Maria

People's College of Law

[CanadianWolf]

Northwestern University offers, to the best of my recollection, either a dual degree program or a concentration in human rights law. Northwestern has both a journal & a clinic focusing on international human rights. NU School of Law also offers a LLM degree in International Human Rights.
P.S. Just noticed that OP is seeking second tier programs. NU is first tier so it may not be a realistic option in this case.

[romothesavior]

OP, if you're going to flame, at least have the decency to argue with us like seija in the original NorB. This thread has potential, but right now its booooring.

[rayiner]

Disco_Barred's Official Human Rights Law Rankings:

Y
.
.
.
.
H

[SecondAidenn]

P.S. Just noticed that OP is seeking second tier programs. NU is first tier so it may not be a realistic option in this case.

Yeah, the first tier schools are definitely my hope, but I'm trying to gather research on second tier schools at the moment, since I don't know nearly as much about them. Thanks for the info, though.

[romothesavior]

Better odds:

Romothesavior getting WLRK from WUSTL or OP getting well-paying diplomatic/scholarly international human rights work from a T2?

[BeautifulSW]

Notre Dame offers LL.M. and J.S.D. programs in International Human Rights. The OP is talking about his J.D. but maybe the presence of the graduate program means that there is an opportunity for J.D.s as well.

[mrvinyl007]

Some of us are unable to score in the 95th percentile to be accepted into a top tier law school. Like the OP I am also looking for a school that is strong in International Law/Human Rights. As far as I can tell through researching a lot of this stuff is that American would be the best prospect for a person with a somewhat low LSAT score and GPA. I'm talking like 163 and 3.2. According to some rankings they are ranked 5th in the country for this sort of concentration in law, which isn't too shabby. However, I'm nor sure what this type of concentration on law is like as you keep going down the list of law schools in the 2nd tier. I would definitely be looking at American. That is certainly the school that I'm aiming for currently.

[kalvano]

Some of us are unable to score in the 95th percentile to be accepted into a top tier law school. Like the OP I am also looking for a school that is strong in International Law/Human Rights. As far as I can tell through researching a lot of this stuff is that American would be the best prospect for a person with a somewhat low LSAT score and GPA. I'm talking like 163 and 3.2. According to some rankings they are ranked 5th in the country for this sort of concentration in law, which isn't too shabby. However, I'm nor sure what this type of concentration on law is like as you keep going down the list of law schools in the 2nd tier. I would definitely be looking at American. That is certainly the school that I'm aiming for currently.

Define "international law".

[mrvinyl007]

Some of us are unable to score in the 95th percentile to be accepted into a top tier law school. Like the OP I am also looking for a school that is strong in International Law/Human Rights. As far as I can tell through researching a lot of this stuff is that American would be the best prospect for a person with a somewhat low LSAT score and GPA. I'm talking like 163 and 3.2. According to some rankings they are ranked 5th in the country for this sort of concentration in law, which isn't too shabby. However, I'm nor sure what this type of concentration on law is like as you keep going down the list of law schools in the 2nd tier. I would definitely be looking at American. That is certainly the school that I'm aiming for currently.

Define "international law".

Laws that govern the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another. It differs from other legal systems in that it primarily concerns the rights and liabilities of sovereign states rather than private citizens

[romothesavior]

*DISCLAIMER*
What is about to follow is not my attempt to be a jerk. It is simply the blunt truth.

Some of us are unable to score in the 95th percentile to be accepted into a top tier law school. Like the OP I am also looking for a school that is strong in International Law/Human Rights.

If you are unable to get into a top tier law school, then you shouldn't plan on going into international law or human rights law. Those fields are small and are very prestige focused. Even a student at a T14 school would have trouble getting into these fields. The big names like Harvard and Yale dominate those areas.

I would strongly, STRONGLY recommend re-taking the LSAT.

As far as I can tell through researching a lot of this stuff is that American would be the best prospect for a person with a somewhat low LSAT score and GPA. I'm talking like 163 and 3.2.

American is an overpriced school in a high cost-of-living city with horrible job prospects. They market themselves as having a niche in international law, but that's all it is: marketing. International law is not a realistic goal for someone going to American, as only the cream of the crop in their classes will have a shot at it.

According to some rankings they are ranked 5th in the country for this sort of concentration in law, which isn't too shabby. However, I'm nor sure what this type of concentration on law is like as you keep going down the list of law schools in the 2nd tier.

Specialty rankings are seriously worthless. Median at American should be worried about getting ANY job to pay off their 200k+ debts, not worrying about how to represent Palestinian refugees in the Middle East or how to get in with a firm in Europe.. The U.N. ain't gonna be kicking down the door trying to get anyone at American.

I would definitely be looking at American. That is certainly the school that I'm aiming for currently.

Please don't pass horrific advice to other people if you haven't done the research and don't know what you are talking about.

[mrvinyl007]

Thanks for the education!

[kalvano]

Laws that govern the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another. It differs from other legal systems in that it primarily concerns the rights and liabilities of sovereign states rather than private citizens

And you, as a newly minted lawyer, are going to be the one breaking in to this field instead of the people with 30+ years of legal and political experience, who have Yale, Harvard, and Stanford on their JD? Because something like that is 95% political, 4.9% luck, and .01% law. Or, for some reason, they are going to hire an AU grad to work with French law or German law instead of a lawyer from those countries?

News flash: "international law" is a scam program from universities to sucker you in and get your money.

[SecondAidenn]

Kalvano and Romothesavior, thank you, those were very good points. I hadn't even taken the time to consider the political ramifications from that angle, and it makes sense that strong human rights and international law programs with any decent prospects are relegated to the T14 schools. I'll definitely have to keep that in mind. My hope IS to be admitted to NYU or Harvard, but given the difficulty of that I was also trying to cement some back up plans, but it looks like back up plans for human rights law are a little more difficult than I thought. Thank you for the help.

[mpasi]

American has a really good one. If my GPA was better, I'd put it on my list of schools to apply to.

[romothesavior]

Kalvano and Romothesavior, thank you, those were very good points. I hadn't even taken the time to consider the political ramifications from that angle, and it makes sense that strong human rights and international law programs with any decent prospects are relegated to the T14 schools. I'll definitely have to keep that in mind. My hope IS to be admitted to NYU or Harvard, but given the difficulty of that I was also trying to cement some back up plans, but it looks like back up plans for human rights law are a little more difficult than I thought. Thank you for the help.

What are your numbers?