Emory, Tulane, local TTT for public defense or plaintiff law Forum

[lawdog37]

Please share whatever thoughts you may have! Right now I'm fairly confused...

Here's the school info:
Emory (60k scholarship, no stips)
Tulane (75k scholarship, top 3/4)
Local TTT (1/2 scholarship=7,500/yr, top 1/2)

Here's my info:
Want to work as either a public defender, plaintiff lawyer (but preferably not low level ambulance chaser), or in legal aid/similar. Would also be happy with other gov't or PI.

Constraints:
A husband who lives in the city of the local TTT (Memphis) and whose job is not easily transferable to another city, so I would want to work here after law school. We've only lived here 9 months so I have few established connections. I will also be a non-trad student.

Please help!

[lawdog37]

Please also let me know why you are voting one way or another! Thanks!

[david787]

Emory seems like a no-brainer. Just because you think you want a certain career now doesn't mean that will be what you want in three years. There's no reason to pick Tulane over Emory, period (unless you love NOLA and want to stay there or in LA forever). Add to the fact that a top 3/4 isn't going to be easy compared to Emory's no stips, easily worth the 15k difference.

I don't think you have the reasons to pick a local TTT over a T30, especially since there isn't a big financial gap. Emory isn't Harvard but an Emory degree has legs, you could easily bring it back to Memphis if you want. It doesn't sound like you must stay in Memphis either, your husband has only been there 9 months, doesn't seem like major ties to the area to me. Perhaps you can explain more about what his job circumstances are, if he's making $200K a year and couldn't make anything close to it if he moved ok maybe that's a reason to stay. If he's making $15 a hour it doesn't matter, move to ATL.

[lawdog37]

Thanks for the advice David. My husband is a tenure-track professor at a university here. Unfortunately with academic jobs you have very little say as to where you end up, unless you are a superstar and have a giant amount of publications. So even if he tried to get another academic position, he likely wouldn't end up in ATL or New Orleans as those universities may not be hiring at the time, in his specialty, etc.

As for the my eventual job, I am certain I don't want to do corporate defense, ie big law. Anything else is open...

The local TTT would be much cheaper...I'd only end up with 60-80k in loans, versus 150k from Emory.

[david787]

Interesting. I think you and your husband need to decide who is going to have the dominant career. If you decide it's him, then you probably need to stay where you are and go to the TTT (the reduced $ is a benefit of course), unless you think you could do long distance for 3 years minus winter break (most people can't). If you're going to be the one with the dominant career then I'm not sure why he settled down with a job like that before you knew where you were going to school (sounds like he has the dominant career).

[forty-two]

The local TTT would be much cheaper...I'd only end up with 60-80k in loans, versus 150k from Emory.

Are you basing this off of Emory's estimated COA? If so, you should know that the school greatly overestimates it. Most of the people I know ended up being about 5-8k under their estimated COA this year. Also, how well respected is the local TTT (they're not all created equal and some have pretty good reputations in their area, but many don't)? Is your husband definitely going to want to stay there, or will he want to move later if a better opening comes up somewhere else? If he definitely wants to stay and the local school has a decent reputation/not much competition, it might make the most sense to go there (even though I hate scholarship stipulations, but top half doesn't seem too too terrible). If the two of you want more mobility long term, Emory might make more sense. I think it just depends on your particular circumstances. Sorry if this wasn't very helpful...

Also, I just finished my first year at Emory, so feel free to ask me questions about the school/city if you have any.

[lawdog37]

The local TTT has a good rep and network within Memphis. The competition is Ole Miss (equal rank, less network here) and Vandy (but only a few grads want to come here). So it's a viable option. My husband might want to try to get a better position elsewhere at some point, which is the complicating factor. I do think we could survive 3 Years apart especially as his summers are flexible so we could at least be together 3-4 months of the year, plus some weekends, breaks, etc.

Forty-two, how portable do you think the Emory degree is to Memphis and other places? Do you know of any concrete measures to improve their rank and employment stats? Is Career Services as bad as they've been made out to be?

[Stringer Bell]

Six figures in loans for a JD from Emory or Tulane would not be worth it for me to live apart from my SO for three years. I personally would go with the TTT.

[lawboy81]

I vote Memphis...

Public defenders office/ public interest care more about committment to their causes than school rank. And they obviously dont' pay well so why spend the extra money?

Plus, even if you're cool with not living with your husband for 9 months of the year for 3 years maybe he isn't...

[Aberzombie1892]

I vote Memphis...

Public defenders office/ public interest care more about committment to their causes than school rank. And they obviously dont' pay well so why spend the extra money?

Plus, even if you're cool with not living with your husband for 9 months of the year for 3 years maybe he isn't...

Um...PD offices are very aware of what schools their interns go to. The Orleans Public Defenders has roughly 60 interns with 7 from Tulane, none from Loyola, a couple from Southern and a couple from LSU. You can imagine where the rest came from. Here is a hint - 7 are from NYU.

OP - I would go with the the TTT. Neither Emory nor Tulane are worth $100,000+ worth of debt.

[lawdog37]

Thanks for the feedback! Luckily, my husband is completely on board with whatever I decide is best.

I guess I should check where the Memphis PD interns come from. Any ideas how to do this? Just call?

Also, COA is the worst case scenario--with contributions from parents/husband it could be 10-20k less per year. But it's hard for me to know 100% beforehand. I have two small dogs and if I go to Emory or Tulane I will need housing that accommodates them so I'm thinking possibly $1,000/mo in rent.

Aberzombie, I see you are currently at Tulane with 75k. What price do you think it's worth from your experience?

[jigalion]

Six figures in loans for a JD from Emory or Tulane would not be worth it for me to live apart from my SO for three years. I personally would go with the TTT.

What was it like getting shotgunned by Omar? I, for one, would consider it a honor.

[Aberzombie1892]

Aberzombie, I see you are currently at Tulane with 75k. What price do you think it's worth from your experience?

Like almost every law school, the exact value of the degree can vary dramatically depending on short/long term career goals, pre-law school connections, etc.

I will say that I believe a Tulane law degree is worth $75,000 worth of debt, and that I wouldn't recommend $100,000+ worth of debt for anything outside of the very top schools (for reasons you can PM me about). Is $75,000 how much debt I'm going to have after graduation? No, but I believe that saying so will remove any preconceived notions of bias due to my situation. Feel free to PM me if you have any more specific questions.