Lousiana Law Schools Forum

[nola13]

do you think there are certain states that I should go to out of state that are better than others if i plan to come back to the state to practice law?

[justonemoregame]

Outside of the T14, you'd be looking at UT, Vanderbilt, and maybe Alabama? I'd be targeting LSU if I were you, especially if you're not set on practicing in a big firm. They've been generous with full-tuition scholarships in the past.

[olderlawyer]

I would agree with Vanderbilt, UT, and Alabama in that order. I might put Washington & Lee, UNC and maybe GWU ahead of Alabama. The West Coast wouldn't be a good fit, imho.

[nola13]

okay those are all on my list of schools I'm interested in, as well as UNC and UVA.

I'm really interested in UT Austin because I love the city, and I also really like Vanderbilt too.
I'm definitely going to apply to LSU....I don't know what kind of law I want to practice. I feel like if I say one thing now, it's just going to change in a few weeks and when I start law school etc.


I feel like i'm at a disadvantage to basically everyone because I have no one to help me with this process and I'm just kind of feeling around in the dark on my own with everything law school related, so sorry if any of this is kind of dumb!

[olderlawyer]

This is not dumb. It is hard to know what to do. UT Austin is a wonderful school, but I don't think (even though it's not far at all from Louisiana) that it has a particular importance to Louisiana law firms. Louisiana is a very old line place, where until very recently hiring was almost all from in-state schools and from maybe Harvard and UVa. Things have changed, especially, as I have said above, in terms of how LSU is viewed in New Orleans. Now that tuition is so high at Tulane and Loyola, LSU has become a great alternative and even lawyers who went to Tulane applaud their children for choosing LSU.

Now as for out-of-state schools, I think there are two buckets--Harvard and UVa (maybe Vanderbilt, too) in one, and other good law schools in another. The first "bucket" is by far the best of all worlds for practicing in Louisiana. With Harvard you have prestige, with UVa and to a lesser extent Vanderbilt a good ol' boy network of alumni, and firms know you're very smart if you went to any of these schools. In the second bucket they will perhaps wonder why you went those places and want to practice in Louisiana. There are several tax attorneys in Louisiana who went to NYU or GWU for a master's degree so there is a little network there, but it's not strong. Don't make the mistake of going to a low-tier out-of-state school.

YOU MUST DO WELL WHEREVER YOU GO OR YOU WILL NOT GET HIRED IN LOUISIANA. Law firms here don't have as many openings as there are top students applying so you must do well, like top 25% at least. If you don't do well in law school you are pretty much relegated to law practice with your dad if he's a lawyer here or you can hang out a shingle.

Hope this helps.