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What school is best for environmental law. I know US N&W report ranks Vermont as number one. I find it hard to believe that going to a third tier school like that is actually good. Wouldnt it be better to go to a highly ranked school like NYU or Georgetown. What is better, choosing the best school or choosing the best ranked program?

The best school. Go to NYU and take a few Envi courses. Then go defend BP.

I would never work for BP. I want to work for a NGO or the federal government

lawschoolboundfuture wrote:I would never work for BP. I want to work for a NGO or the federal government

BP is not a governmental entity, hence it is a Non Governmental Organization, or NGO.

In fact, if you really need that training in vermont, you can do a semester abroad there. Not that I'd suggest that.

Ignore program rankings (for all fields, not just environmental law), and go for the best school you can get into.

I would suggest you go to the best school you can get into that ALSO has a good environmental program/course offerings/clinical opportunities/etc. For instance, if you got into Chicago and NYU/Berkeley, it would make very little sense to attend Chi, even though it might be considered the "best" school of the three (to use Cavalier's language).

Also, look at the attorney profiles of organizations you would someday like to work for and see where their attorneys attended law school. And remember that PI/gov't environmental jobs are extremely competitive, probably more so than even BigLaw.

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you have more questions. I'm just in the application process right now too but have invested a lot of time researching environmental law options.

lawschoolboundfuture wrote:I would never work for BP. I want to work for a NGO or the federal government

Whew. For a minute I thought that you were considering working for the BIG BAD oil companies.

If you want the fed you better go to a high ranking school. Ignore the specialty rankings.

Cavalier wrote:Ignore program rankings (for all fields, not just environmental law), and go for the best school you can get into.

This.

Also, if your dream is to "fight the good fight" and make the world safe from the big bad oil companies like BP, I commend you for it, but it may not be the most realistic goal, especially right out of law school. You're going to need great credentials to do that kind of work, especially for the federal government.

Again, I really don't think it makes sense for someone interested in PI environmental to ignore the specialty rankings. Attending a school like Chicago or Cornell is probably not a wise decision if you have other options in the T14 that have better environmental resources (e.g. NYU, Berkeley, Virginia, Michigan, etc.). That said, I'm not recommending attending VLS/L&C/Pace over any of the T14.

ETA: Actually I, too, would say the specialty rankings matter less than actually doing your own research into the specific resources and opportunities available at each school. Also, check out gatorlion's Environmental Law Preference Rankings. And again, good luck!

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 22&t=81575

The biggest part of getting a job is networking. This is more important than rankings. You should see where your professors have worked. One thing that "lower ranked" schools offer is the chance to get to know professors who really worked. So, if you want to go into environmental law, look at the professor biographies of the schools you're admitted to and see if any professors worked the kind of job you want.

Specialty rankings do matter if you want to get Gov't and NGO work. Colorado and Lewis and Clark have excellent programs at a cost far lower than T-14. Make sure to make connections with the Environmentalist elite in those states and above all stay connected and volunteer. Connections trump education in this situation. Out of the T-14, Michigan is the best bet.