Top Law Schools

My goal is to do corporate law for a few years and then switch to government work- and as of now I would like that to be in the DC/NYC region. I got $60K at Emory and have not gotten scholarship info from the other two yet, but I'm not very debt averse. I would ideally have liked to stay in DC where I work now and went to undergrad, but i'm on the waitlist at GW and Georgetown, both of which I plan on riding out. Living in NYC would be great too, though. I've never been to either Boston or Atlanta, and I've heard good things about both cities, but I kind of hate the thought of living so far from home and unless I end up really liking them, I dont think I would want to work in those cities. What do you guys think??

I would say if you're certain that you want to work in NY then Fordham might be the school to go to.

dpk711 wrote:I would say if you're certain that you want to work in NY then Fordham might be the school to go to.

+1

also, feel comfortable asking fordham if they can offer some money in light of the 60 from Emory.

tourdeforcex wrote:

dpk711 wrote:I would say if you're certain that you want to work in NY then Fordham might be the school to go to.

+1

also, feel comfortable asking fordham if they can offer some money in light of the 60 from Emory.

Thanks for the responses! I definitely prefer the NYC location, because the other two are so far away, and I love nyc, but both BC and Emory are ranked a little better- as far as job prospects and reputation do you think the rankings matter enough for me to seriously consider BC or Emory over Fordham?

ls24 wrote:Thanks for the responses! I definitely prefer the NYC location, because the other two are so far away, and I love nyc, but both BC and Emory are ranked a little better- as far as job prospects and reputation do you think the rankings matter enough for me to seriously consider BC or Emory over Fordham?

Rankings are meaningless at these schools - they're all peer schools, each with an emphasis on a different region. Go to the one that is the best fit, is the cheapest, and places the best in the region you want to work in. If the answer to those three questions diverge, then you'll have a tough choice to make, but whatever you do, don't go by rankings between these schools.

Also, Fordham and Emory are tied at 30.

Employment prospects generally (and probably in DC) go like this: BC > Fordham >> Emory.
Employment prospects in NYC, specifically, go more like: Fordham > BC >> Emory.

If you could see yourself living in Boston at all, I would go to BC. Otherwise, Fordham.

Attorney wrote:Employment prospects generally (and probably in DC) go like this: BC > Fordham >> Emory.
Employment prospects in NYC, specifically, go more like: Fordham > BC >> Emory.

That's absurd.

What makes it absurd? It does seem really simplistic though. Law school selection is rarely formulaic, especially with regard to employment prospects.

Metaread wrote:What makes it absurd? It does seem really simplistic though. Law school selection is rarely formulaic, especially with regard to employment prospects.

True... really it all depends on what one wants to do and where they want to do it.

Metaread wrote:What makes it absurd? It does seem really simplistic though. Law school selection is rarely formulaic, especially with regard to employment prospects.

absurd in that the "xx > xx >> xx" graph is based completely off of TLS "wisdom" and not on reality

DC: # of lawyers
Emory - 375
Fordham - 326
BU - 742

Martindale shows BU ahead by a wide margin, with Emory slightly ahead of Fordham
The DC market is notoriously hard to break into, though, and I would think long and hard before committing to any of these schools if your goal is to get there

f0bolous wrote:

Metaread wrote:What makes it absurd? It does seem really simplistic though. Law school selection is rarely formulaic, especially with regard to employment prospects.

absurd in that the "xx > xx >> xx" graph is based completely off of TLS "wisdom" and not on reality

DC: # of lawyers
Emory - 375
Fordham - 326
BU - 742

Martindale shows BU ahead by a wide margin, with Emory slightly ahead of Fordham
The DC market is notoriously hard to break into, though, and I would think long and hard before committing to any of these schools if your goal is to get there

Where did you get the DC # of lawyers from? I got into BC not BU by the way.. I'm not the waitlist at BU :/

ls24 wrote:

f0bolous wrote:

Metaread wrote:What makes it absurd? It does seem really simplistic though. Law school selection is rarely formulaic, especially with regard to employment prospects.

absurd in that the "xx > xx >> xx" graph is based completely off of TLS "wisdom" and not on reality

DC: # of lawyers
Emory - 375
Fordham - 326
BU - 742

Martindale shows BU ahead by a wide margin, with Emory slightly ahead of Fordham
The DC market is notoriously hard to break into, though, and I would think long and hard before committing to any of these schools if your goal is to get there

Where did you get the DC # of lawyers from? I got into BC not BU by the way.. I'm not the waitlist at BU :/

I'll trade you my BU for your BC

ls24 wrote:

f0bolous wrote:

Metaread wrote:What makes it absurd? It does seem really simplistic though. Law school selection is rarely formulaic, especially with regard to employment prospects.

absurd in that the "xx > xx >> xx" graph is based completely off of TLS "wisdom" and not on reality

DC: # of lawyers
Emory - 375
Fordham - 326
BU - 742

Martindale shows BU ahead by a wide margin, with Emory slightly ahead of Fordham
The DC market is notoriously hard to break into, though, and I would think long and hard before committing to any of these schools if your goal is to get there

Where did you get the DC # of lawyers from? I got into BC not BU by the way.. I'm not the waitlist at BU :/

Martindale

BC is at 476
which really goes to show how much crap gets passed around as fact on tls

f0bolous wrote:

ls24 wrote:

f0bolous wrote:

Metaread wrote:What makes it absurd? It does seem really simplistic though. Law school selection is rarely formulaic, especially with regard to employment prospects.

absurd in that the "xx > xx >> xx" graph is based completely off of TLS "wisdom" and not on reality

DC: # of lawyers
Emory - 375
Fordham - 326
BU - 742

Martindale shows BU ahead by a wide margin, with Emory slightly ahead of Fordham
The DC market is notoriously hard to break into, though, and I would think long and hard before committing to any of these schools if your goal is to get there

Where did you get the DC # of lawyers from? I got into BC not BU by the way.. I'm not the waitlist at BU :/

Martindale

BC is at 476
which really goes to show how much crap gets passed around as fact on tls

Where on Martindale? I'm new to the site and don't know my way around it too well... or are those numbers just from data mining all the firms in the directory?

Also - As far as a prospects and the actual ability to get a job in DC if one wants go, I think there is truth in Fordham >> Emory. Fordham just has a much more desirable home market so many more self-select to stay in NYC whereas Emory grads are more anxious to get out of GA, therefore it is more competitive to actually get those DC jobs.

http://www.martindale.com/Find-Lawyers- ... Firms.aspx
just do a search on attorneys by school in DC

Although I disagree with your assessment, the fact is that none of these schools place well in DC, and if DC is the target market, I would think long and hard before committing to any of these schools.

f0bolous wrote:http://www.martindale.com/Find-Lawyers- ... Firms.aspx
just do a search on attorneys by school in DC

Although I disagree with your assessment, the fact is that none of these schools place well in DC, and if DC is the target market, I would think long and hard before committing to any of these schools.

Thanks.

And the second part is true, none of these schools would be a good choice for someone who is DC or bust. Even GW and GULC grads are having a tough time in the DC market right now. But OP seems pretty open minded to living somewhere else (which is most likely going to happen). Don't be afraid to branch out and leave the nest when it comes to launching a successful career. If you have the time and money then visit Boston and Atlanta to see how you like the cities and determine whether or not you would be satisfied spending the next 5-10 years there. I personally would pick Fordham, it has the strongest market overall, it's still fairly close to DC, and would probably give you the greatest overall opportunities which would at least allow you to later lateral to DC if you don't get it right out of the gate. Plus NYC is just awesome.

That's a pretty lofty goal. Do you have a backup plan or any preference as to your fallback? The answer here matters a fair amount, as none of these schools offer rosy odds of achieving your stated goal (BigLaw or government) at the moment.

For what it's worth, you mentioned that you're pretty sure you wouldn't want to live in Boston or Atlanta. That means you should either go to Fordham or find something else to do--neither BC nor Emory can reliably offer you the kind of mobility you're looking for.

Schools are different sizes, and some of the lawyers you are finding on martindale are single practices that don't/won't really matter.

If what you want is biglaw, use the NLJ250 stats (http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNL ... hbxlogin=1) and use your geographic preferences.