FWIW, and speaking with a broad brush, I am of the view that regardless where you are (geographically), whether in the private sector (e.g., a major law firm), or public sector (e.g., government or other PI), that if you graduated from one of HYS, you will receive plenty of respect within the profession. The three are typically seen as equals, as the US News poll of lawyers and judges reflects. This "respect" is simply for earning a HYS degree (and the recognized "weeding out" process that went along with being accepted to at least one of those three). Having said that, I will also note that other top schools, particularly schools like Columbia--if you practice on Wall Street--and to a lesser extent, Chicago, can produce a similar respect, especially in the right environment. This is just based on observation, and I think it also corroborates the view of Lawyers and Judges in the US News survey.
But I have three other points relating to the subjects raised in this thread. One is that once you're in the door (and, obviously, one of the great benefits of a top law degree, which would include certainly more than just HYS degrees, is the opening of doors), this "halo effect" will slowly dissipate should you not do good work--no matter whether you work in the private or public sector. This should really go without saying, but ultimately, people value a top-quality lawyer. HYS (and a few others) can help you tremendously, and can also help a great deal in lateral moves, but if ultimately you're not a good lawyer, or good at whatever you choose to pursue, no one is going to justify a poor work product by noting that you're a HYS grad. Again, this should be obvious to anyone who thinks about it, but is sometimes forgotten by certain HYS grads who feel they've "got it made" simply by making it past admissions and earning the degree. (And, the bar examiners couldn't care less where you went to law school; if you fail the bar exam in CA or DC or NY or ILL, you'll re-take it, regardless whether you're a HYS grad.)
Second, again, painting with a broad brush, I do feel there is something to the (I think pretty widely held) view that although HLS has a very large alumni base, there appears to be a "closeness" to the YLS and SLS alums that is probably a product of being much smaller schools. There will be exceptions to this, and I can't prove it (no one can), but if you think about group dynamics, a smaller, more intimate group of people (even across classes) often tend to feel more of a "bond" to each other than (and thus more willing to help a fellow grad), than a larger, more impersonal group. I also think some of this--if true--can be tied to the fact that YLS and SLS grads, years later, express more satisfaction and happiness with their law school experiences--on average--than HLS grads do. Again, I think this is at least partly related to class size and closer interaction with professors and fellow students. Also, my sense is that the "cultures" of these three are notably different, with SLS and YLS having a closer environment than that of HLS. But much of this is just perception, and hard to quantify.
As a result, the best advice I ever heard--and I think stands up well to those considering different schools--is, if possible, go visit the school. And talk to the students. If you can, talk to some of the grads. Don't take the carefully-crafted "presentation" at ASW at face value. Go into the library, the dorms, the classrooms (even ones they may not have on their "tour") and talk to students and professors. You'll get a true "feel" for the school, the culture, the students, and whether they're enjoying their experiences (all things considered). Walk outside. Look around. Are people generally happy? Do professors seem to genuinely like students approaching them with questions? Each of HYS, for example, is not the same. They may provide equal "prestige" and "respect" within the profession, but your experience at each may differ. There is no requirement that you have to look back on law school as some of the worst three years of your life. And then, based on how happy, satisfied, and productively challenged you think you would be, would you be more likely to want to help your fellow students/grads/fellow-alums once you leave the school?
Third, and lastly, I do think the "lay prestige" discussion, which arises from time-to-time--and was raised again in this thread--frequently veers off base, at least from a practical perspective. I think the "HLS has greater lay prestige, so it would afford you greater non-legal opportunities" is simply overblown, and perhaps even unfounded. Just my opinion. HLS does have, by far, the largest law school class. It's 3X the size of each of SLS and YLS. You can decide for yourself if you think that's a positive or a negative.
But we need not, in this instance, go into anecdotes about what our uncle's new girlfriend thought about the relative prestige of H,S,Y (as institutions) when passing the cranberry last Thanksgiving. As has been posted on this board previously, the Gallup Organization, probably the most widely-respected entity in national polling and statistical analysis, has provided the answer--and I'll link it below. But before I do, let's note that it overrides all conversations someone had on an airplane with a random passenger once during drink service. By definition, a scientific, national, statistically-significant poll conducted by Gallup is the "best evidence" we have on this subject.
And while each of you can read it, I'll make a few points. As we would all expect, with the general population--which obviously includes people who never went to college (in fact, it would obviously include people who didn't graduate from high school)--Harvard finishes first, with Stanford and Yale tied for second. Harvard has a comfortable lead in that poll, as I think we'd all expect. And, people can see the regional differences (again, as you'd expect, given the group being polled). But, as Gallup notes, Harvard, Stanford and Yale are the three (as institutions, including the law schools) that stand out across all regions of the country--they are the top three for truly national lay prestige.
But then the question becomes, what does this lay prestige--at this level--really mean for you? And I mean this for any of HYS. The issue was raised that perhaps HLS might provide better "non-legal" opportunities due to its greater lay prestige. This may prove to be true if you were to run for public office, given that every citizen (over 18) has the right to vote. But in the current political environment, I'm not even convinced that having a degree from HYS would be all that helpful, depending upon where you were seeking office, and the anger of the electorate. For what it's worth, Harvard and Stanford grads (in that order) are the most represented in Congress.
But while Harvard and Stanford and Yale all have the highest lay prestige, nationally, according to Gallup, I think the better question regarding these "non-legal" opportunities people have referenced, is how do the people who would potentially be the gatekeepers to these opportunities view the top schools? If you were attempting to bring in clients to your law firm, aren't they more likely to be college graduates? If you wanted to move from private legal practice to a start-up business opportunity, wouldn't you most likely be approaching a college graduate? If you wanted to raise money from venture capitalists for a business idea, wouldn't most VCs be at least college graduates? If you wanted to raise money for a political campaign, wouldn't most of the people you would be approaching be college graduates? If you wanted to work for a large non-profit organization, wouldn't a college graduate most likely be doing the interviewing and hiring? Wouldn't the vast majority of future opportunities you chose to pursue outside of the law likely involve college graduates?
In other words, if you choose to value "lay prestige," outside of possibly the ballot box (and I think studies show that the educated tend to vote more--and are more likely to make political donations--than the less educated, so arguably the college educated are disproportionately important here, as well), isn't it more important to know what college graduates consider to be the most prestigious/best universities? Isn't this really the more relevant, the more important variant of "lay prestige"?
I think so. And, apparently Gallup thought it very important as well, because in their study, they also conducted a separate (second) randomized, national poll consisting solely of college graduates (with at least some graduate school, but not necessarily a graduate degree), to determine the schools with the highest "lay prestige" within this more educated group. In this second study, Harvard and Stanford finished in a statistical dead heat (within the margin of error) at #1, with Yale a distant 3rd, and MIT and Princeton (and a few others) well behind. (The two studies from 2003 are contained in one article linked at the bottom of this post.)
In sum, at this level, I don't think "lay prestige" is very important when evaluating law schools. But some posters here seem to think it is, and by doing so, they inevitably make the argument that that's why they think people should attend HLS. I think that's a silly reason. And, as the second Gallup study shows, it isn't even accurate when it comes to college graduates--those with whom most law grads will be dealing with both professionally and socially throughout much of their lives.
If you are sufficiently fortunate to be accepted to any of HYS, go visit the schools--if you possibly can--and look to see where you think you'll be the happiest, the most satisfied and where you'll most enjoy three important years of your life. You can't go wrong with any of them.
Here is the Gallup Study link:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/9109/harvard ... ublic.aspx