For NYC - McGill or Cardozo Forum

[aidez-moi]

Random question I know, but for the city which would lead to the best employment? (Or any employment stateside for that matter..) EDIT: Or for any employment, period.

I'm an American by the way, if that matters. And yeah I know I'm kind of ******

[MrAnon]

If these are your only options I would find another career. This is like starting your career in law off on the wrong foot.

[CanadianWolf]

McGill.

[dooood]

Please don't go. To either of these schools.

[dooood]

Please don't go. To either of these schools.

[Hannibal]

Did you all seriously say that? There's nothing wrong with taking a free degree. 60k debt at Cardozo ain't bad either.

[aidez-moi]

Please don't go. To either of these schools.

I could see that for Cardozo. But McGill? If I wanted to stay in Canada my understanding is I'd be fairly set. I might literally freeze to death, but whatever.

[thexfactor]

mcgill is 2nd in placement to canadian and us biglaw firms.
UToronto is number one i think.
I would take mcgill.
You have a good chance of getting biglaw in canada, and a decent chance at biglaw ny.
In this market, think job prospects over location...

[ran12]

McGill is one of the best law schools in Canada. If you don't mind practicing in Canada for a while then trying to get to NY, it's not a bad option. Plus, you would be qualified to practice in Canada, US, and UK. Cardozo is overrated. A lot of the kids who go there already have some sort of connection.

[AssociateX]

How can you say 60k debt? Does the scholarship renew automatically each year? Are you going to be living in student housing ? Are you assuming you can pay for tuition with a summer associate gig?

Is there a way you can choose other schools? I only know 1 McGill grad who worked with me, and even though she was smart her first lawyer job was a pathetic 37k/year.

[dooood]

Please don't go. To either of these schools.

I could see that for Cardozo. But McGill? If I wanted to stay in Canada my understanding is I'd be fairly set. I might literally freeze to death, but whatever.

Right, but the thread title says you want NYC. The subsidy for Cardozo helps, but IMO it's really still not worth it

[CanadianWolf]

NYC firms recruit at McGill as do many major European firms. Cardozo is not in the same league as is McGill in the eyes of major law firms.

P.S. A more reasonable debate might be between McGill & Georgetown or McGill & Duke or McGill & Fordham with money, for example.

[mtl116]

McGill is very well respected internationally. NY firms recruit at McGill and U of Toronto. Plus at McGill you get both a civil and common law degree, if you're ever interested in practicing in Quebec or Europe. But don't forgot 1/3rd of your classes are in french.

[aidez-moi]

Thanks for all the replies. I was leaning McGill before this thread due to the likelihood of employment after graduation (knowing full well that the majority of the prospects will be in Canada). I figured it would be better to be employed up north than to be waddling around NYC with a semi-useless Cardozo degree given the large chance that I won't be in the top 10 of the class.

[justhoping]

Canadian here, and definitely job prospect is very good from either U Toronto or McGill, IN CANADA. Your Canadian law degree is not extremely portable is what I've been hearing. But if you don't mind staying in Canada, McGill is a very good choice.
Also, where are you from (in the US?). Montreal is extremely cold and not as safe as other Canadian cities (I've heard a few cases of stolen cars among friends) but probably safer than a lot of American ones? Anyhow I'd say McGill or retake/reapply!!!

[CanadianWolf]

McGill law degrees are portable to Europe & NYC.

[adt231]

McGill DOMINATES Cardozo in the prestige factor.


(unless you are talking about other Yeshiva schools vs. McGill -- e.g. Einstein School of Medicine is badass).

[Noval]

Prestige: McGill wins out.
Overall job prospects: McGill wins out.
Overall job prospects in U.S.: Cardozo wins out.
Cost: McGill wins out.

If you don't mind practicing in a way less saturated market(Canada) with a fairly good chance to hit biglaw directly or indirectly, go to McGill, you'll still have the chance to try for Boston/NYC BigLaw(But only Top-20-30% gets it from McGill unless you got a killer connection).
You civil law degree will also allow you to practice in Quebec or in Europe, AND if you fall in love with Quebec, you can become a Civil Law Notary(Civil Lawyer that works mainly in quebec, enjoys great prestige, salary and amazing job prospects).

McGill Law grads are known to place well in MTL BigLaw, even those with so-so grades, that's why you see students with a 2.7 getting call backs from the biggest firms in Montreal...

Not to mention that amount of Asian firms recruiting in McGill OCI as well (You need to master one of the languages though...)

You'll also have a shot at International Court Clerkships since McGill sent a lot of them there already...

As you can see from your research, it's far from being a bad Law School, even though it lacks funding, you'll definitely find your kind of job easier than going to Cardozo, and you if you don't make it big in BigLaw, you won't have to move back to your mom's basement and work at starbucks for the rest of your life as there's little to no debts and maximal job prospects.

[adt231]

Overall job prospects in U.S.: Cardozo wins out.

If you don't mind practicing in a way less saturated market(Canada) with a fairly good chance to hit biglaw directly or indirectly, go to McGill, you'll still have the chance to try for Boston/NYC BigLaw(But only Top-20-30% gets it from McGill unless you got a killer connection).

These seem like inconsistent claims since Cardozo's biglaw placement is only about 13%.

[JusticeHarlan]

NYC firms recruit at McGill as do many major European firms. Cardozo is not in the same league as is McGill in the eyes of major law firms.

P.S. A more reasonable debate might be between McGill & Georgetown or McGill & Duke or McGill & Fordham with money, for example.

The only NYC firms NALP (LinkRemoved) have listed as recruiting at McGill (Paul Weiss, Ropes, and MoFo) are also listed as recruiting at Cardozo.

[adt231]

NYC firms recruit at McGill as do many major European firms. Cardozo is not in the same league as is McGill in the eyes of major law firms.

P.S. A more reasonable debate might be between McGill & Georgetown or McGill & Duke or McGill & Fordham with money, for example.

The only NYC firms NALP (LinkRemoved) have listed as recruiting at McGill (Paul Weiss, Ropes, and MoFo) are also listed as recruiting at Cardozo.

Haha, that's a pretty sweet pic.

[IzziesGal]

Are we all sure that OP wouldn't need an LLM or something if he went with McGill? Would the law degree directly transfer over? If OP would need another degree after law school, then I think Cardozo would be the better option.

[ballpop]

Canadian here, and definitely job prospect is very good from either U Toronto or McGill, IN CANADA. Your Canadian law degree is not extremely portable is what I've been hearing. But if you don't mind staying in Canada, McGill is a very good choice.
Also, where are you from (in the US?). Montreal is extremely cold and not as safe as other Canadian cities (I've heard a few cases of stolen cars among friends) but probably safer than a lot of American ones? Anyhow I'd say McGill or retake/reapply!!!

Anecdotal evidence is garbage. Montreal is the safest large city in Canada.

[ballpop]

McGill DOMINATES Cardozo in the prestige factor.


(unless you are talking about other Yeshiva schools vs. McGill -- e.g. Einstein School of Medicine is badass).

McGill also owns the Einstein School of Medicine. The McGill hospital system is one of the best in Canada and you have institutes like the MNI that are absolutely groundbreaking.

[aidez-moi]

Are we all sure that OP wouldn't need an LLM or something if he went with McGill? Would the law degree directly transfer over? If OP would need another degree after law school, then I think Cardozo would be the better option.

I know that McGill grads can sit for the bar in NY and MA. (How they perform, however, is another story...I checked the bar statistics and it just groups international students together - and their bar passage rate barely ever exceeds above 50%.)

So I guess it comes down to whether or not I want to 100% stay in the US, or not. Thanks guys for the help.