where to go? Forum

[laweagle]

My letters of acceptance/rejection are still coming in. My undergraduate GPA 3.45 (institutional 3.75). I am a non traditional student who went back to college with the intention of going to law school 2.5 years ago. I graduate this summer. My LSAT 140 first try no studying 150 second try studied for one month with Blueprint. I have been accepted at Mercer, Loyola New Orleans and Charlotte. Charlotte has offered 25k per year scholarship with an additional 5k first year leadership scholarship. Mercer said they would run my application through the scholarship pool next week. I have not called Loyola yet to see if there is any scholarship money available there. All three schools cost 38k per year to attend. I live in Georgia and have been a paralegal here for the past 12 years. I would like to eventually become licensed in GA, NC and SC. My goal is to open up my own practice somewhere on the coast.

[Ti Malice]

Everyone here is going to tell you that you should retake (only after studying for far longer than a month) or not go to law school. Assuming you plan to eat and live indoors, all of them will cost more than $38K per year to attend. Employment outcomes do not justify the expense at any of them.

All are bad, but for-profit shithole Charlotte is one of the very worst law schools in the country. A maximum of only 35% of 2012 grads have found FT/LT JD-required work (the actual percentage is likely significantly lower, since few grads reported data). No doubt your scholarship comes with onerous stips that will make it difficult to retain.

[WisemanAEKDB]

If you improved 10 points in one month, think about what another 2 to 3 months of studying would do for you... Wonders... You won't regret it.

[Nova]

Dont go to any of those schools under any circumstances.

Spending one month on a test that is more important than 4 years of undergrad is extremely short sighted.

Study right. Retake in October. Get into (AT LEAST) UNC/Wake/UGA/GSU/Emory with a substantial scholarship or dont go.

[timbs4339]

I'm with retake here. 10 points in one month is a great increase and you likely have a lot more in the tank.

[romothesavior]

I'm with retake here. 10 points in one month is a great increase and you likely have a lot more in the tank.

Yep.

Dont go to any of those schools under any circumstances.

And yep. Check out the job data:

http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=charlotte
http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school= ... neworleans
http://www.lstscorereports.com/?school=mercer (I was actually fairly surprised by this data, it's better than I expected, but still not worth anywhere near the debt.

[DoveBodyWash]

I'm with retake here. 10 points in one month is a great increase and you likely have a lot more in the tank.

+100

[canarykb]

Isn't the equation different given that OP would like to start their own practice and has 12 years in the industry? BigLaw and clerkship stats may not be as relevant, although COA certainly is. Putting together a small business requires a different set of skills & resources than finding a BigLaw job.

These are just musings based on working at a small firm in my area, and seeing a lot of new attorneys who are making it on their own: I think it's key here to work your network. You must know many attorneys at this point - set up meetings to get their advice on how to start your own practice. Many established attorneys at smaller local practices are very willing to help out newbies. I have seen people get associate gigs that were not advertised just because they met & got along well with an attorney. [And the information gained from them will be WAY better than from randos on an online forum.]

In my experience with client intake, success at smaller firms is all about your reputation in town and who you know. A school with more prestige might give you a boost but I've never had someone ask what school the lawyer graduated from when screening potential clients. New clients come in from basic advertising, but I'd say the majority come in through word of mouth: referrals from other attorneys and referrals from past clients. So I'd say: stay in Georgia, continue to build your network in Georgia, and go to school as cheaply as possible.

tl;dr - Get off TLS & talk to attorneys who started their own firms in your area, they will be able to give you advice on how they made it locally, and may also give you some help.

[DoveBodyWash]

Isn't the equation different given that OP would like to start their own practice and has 12 years in the industry? BigLaw and clerkship stats may not be as relevant, although COA certainly is. Putting together a small business requires a different set of skills & resources than finding a BigLaw job.

These are just musings based on working at a small firm in my area, and seeing a lot of new attorneys who are making it on their own: I think it's key here to work your network. You must know many attorneys at this point - set up meetings to get their advice on how to start your own practice. Many established attorneys at smaller local practices are very willing to help out newbies. I have seen people get associate gigs that were not advertised just because they met & got along well with an attorney. [And the information gained from them will be WAY better than from randos on an online forum.]

In my experience with client intake, success at smaller firms is all about your reputation in town and who you know. A school with more prestige might give you a boost but I've never had someone ask what school the lawyer graduated from when screening potential clients. New clients come in from basic advertising, but I'd say the majority come in through word of mouth: referrals from other attorneys and referrals from past clients. So I'd say: stay in Georgia, continue to build your network in Georgia, and go to school as cheaply as possible.

tl;dr - Get off TLS & talk to attorneys who started their own firms in your area, they will be able to give you advice on how they made it locally, and may also give you some help.

But why not re-take and go to a better school? It's not like going to a better school and having small-firm chops are mutually exclusive.

[canarykb]

Isn't the equation different given that OP would like to start their own practice and has 12 years in the industry? BigLaw and clerkship stats may not be as relevant, although COA certainly is. Putting together a small business requires a different set of skills & resources than finding a BigLaw job.

These are just musings based on working at a small firm in my area, and seeing a lot of new attorneys who are making it on their own: I think it's key here to work your network. You must know many attorneys at this point - set up meetings to get their advice on how to start your own practice. Many established attorneys at smaller local practices are very willing to help out newbies. I have seen people get associate gigs that were not advertised just because they met & got along well with an attorney. [And the information gained from them will be WAY better than from randos on an online forum.]

In my experience with client intake, success at smaller firms is all about your reputation in town and who you know. A school with more prestige might give you a boost but I've never had someone ask what school the lawyer graduated from when screening potential clients. New clients come in from basic advertising, but I'd say the majority come in through word of mouth: referrals from other attorneys and referrals from past clients. So I'd say: stay in Georgia, continue to build your network in Georgia, and go to school as cheaply as possible.

tl;dr - Get off TLS & talk to attorneys who started their own firms in your area, they will be able to give you advice on how they made it locally, and may also give you some help.

But why not re-take and go to a better school? It's not like going to a better school and having small-firm chops are mutually exclusive.

Yeah, I still think retake here is probably the right way to go, especially to bring in more $$$. I was more reacting to the "don't go to any of those schools under any circumstances" comments.

[romothesavior]

Isn't the equation different given that OP would like to start their own practice and has 12 years in the industry? BigLaw and clerkship stats may not be as relevant, although COA certainly is. Putting together a small business requires a different set of skills & resources than finding a BigLaw job.

It might change the equation some, but if that's the case, OP should be going for free in the region where his connections are. Going solo right out of law school is a risky endeavor that requires some serious capital and some serious patience. Having a bunch of LS debt would be very imprudent.

[canarykb]

Isn't the equation different given that OP would like to start their own practice and has 12 years in the industry? BigLaw and clerkship stats may not be as relevant, although COA certainly is. Putting together a small business requires a different set of skills & resources than finding a BigLaw job.

It might change the equation some, but if that's the case, OP should be going for free in the region where his connections are. Going solo right out of law school is a risky endeavor that requires some serious capital and some serious patience. Having a bunch of LS debt would be very imprudent.

Yep that's why I said "stay in Georgia, continue to build your network in Georgia, and go to school as cheaply as possible." I would also assume OP has some $$ saved up given 12 years as a working FT(?) paralegal.