Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L? Forum

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School choice?

Harvard/Stanford (cost: $212K)
12
44%
NYU/Duke (cost: $120K)
4
15%
Cornell (cost: $56K)
11
41%
 
Total votes: 27

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radio1nowhere

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Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by radio1nowhere » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:15 pm

Thanks for the input all!
Last edited by radio1nowhere on Wed Apr 15, 2015 7:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Emma.

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by Emma. » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:18 pm

The chances of landing one of these positions from any school is so vanishingly small (and depends on so many factors completely separate from what school you attend) that this aspiration almost certainly shouldn't factor in your decision.

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zombie mcavoy

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by zombie mcavoy » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:18 pm

tag

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KMart

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by KMart » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:19 pm

H/S are going to give you the best people to become friends with for your future position.

I don't think it's something to base a school decision off of, as the thread title suggests, though.

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KMart

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by KMart » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:20 pm

zombie mcavoy wrote:tag
I hope it turns into a Brainiac-type thread :D.

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rpupkin

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by rpupkin » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:20 pm

Emma. wrote:The chances of landing one of these positions from any school is so vanishingly small (and depends on so many factors completely separate from what school you attend) that this aspiration almost certainly shouldn't factor in your decision.

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A. Nony Mouse

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:30 pm

rpupkin wrote:
Emma. wrote:The chances of landing one of these positions from any school is so vanishingly small (and depends on so many factors completely separate from what school you attend) that this aspiration almost certainly shouldn't factor in your decision.
^This.

I'm also not sure wanting to be an AIII judge for better work-life balance makes a lot of sense, honestly.

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starry eyed

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by starry eyed » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:31 pm

tag, this one has potential

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UnicornHunter

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by UnicornHunter » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:36 pm

A. Nony Mouse wrote:
rpupkin wrote:
Emma. wrote:The chances of landing one of these positions from any school is so vanishingly small (and depends on so many factors completely separate from what school you attend) that this aspiration almost certainly shouldn't factor in your decision.
^This.

I'm also not sure wanting to be an AIII judge for better work-life balance makes a lot of sense, honestly.
This. The Federal Judges I've encountered are incredibly busy. Seems like professor is a much better and slightly less impossible work/life balanced path. And it pays better (source: COA Judge who also teaches).

e. also, it's not happening. Sorry.

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MarkfromWI

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by MarkfromWI » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:49 pm

radio1nowhere wrote: I haven't been able to find any aggregate data on which schools federal justices attended
There are only 9 federal justices. Five of them graduated from Harvard, three from Yale, and the Notorious RBG went to Harvard before transferring to Columbia.

For federal judges, I doubt there is any sort of aggregate data. But food for thought, just last week I applied to a federal judge who went to Tulane, and I've got my eye on another who went to Nova Southeastern. Just saying...

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radio1nowhere

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by radio1nowhere » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:54 pm

MarkfromWI wrote:There are only 9 federal justices.
:oops: fixed.

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radio1nowhere

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by radio1nowhere » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:54 pm

Well, that was easily answered! So forgetting about judgeship crap, do you guys have any suggestions about which school to attend for clerkship --> BigLaw? I still need help with the choice. The clerkship numbers at all those schools are pretty similar, with the exception of SLS's insane 30%.

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MarkfromWI

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by MarkfromWI » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:07 pm

How debt averse are you? 200k is a ton of debt, and only you can decide if $3k-$3.5k in payments EVERY MONTH for the next ten years is worth it.

If I were you, I'd take the Cornell offer. Solid biglaw placement, with a pipeline into NYC, plus its clerkship rate is higher than both Duke and NYU (though admittedly not by a large margin).

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starry eyed

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by starry eyed » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:16 pm

OP basically its a gamble. On one hand you take the almost guaranteed big law job out of cornell and don't pay 3k a month for 10 years but you might wonder what would have happened had you gone to Harvard. The other is you go to Harvard, more than likely not end up with a federal clerkship, regret not going to Cornell, and get reminded every month of your bad decision when you write that student loan check
Last edited by starry eyed on Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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BVest

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by BVest » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:19 pm

MarkfromWI wrote:For federal judges, I doubt there is any sort of aggregate data.
Judicial Yellow Book has an index by law school, I think. That would be at least informative.
Last edited by BVest on Sat Jan 27, 2018 5:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Judgeships too unicorn to even think about as a 0L?

Post by jbagelboy » Sat Apr 11, 2015 11:50 am

Harvard and Yale are dominant overall. After that, it takes on a heavily regional character.

In the northeast (1-3 Cir, SDNY, EDNY, EDPA, DNJ, DConn, DNH, ect), a lot of judges went to Columbia or NYU. In the midwest (7th and 8th Cir, N.D. Illinois, ect) a lot of judges went to Northwestern or UChicago or Michigan. In California (9th, CDCA, NDCA) Stanford and Berkeley are best represented. In the South (4-6, 11 Cir and districts within), a lot of judges went to Duke and Virginia.

There's absolutely no point in attending law school based on where federal judges went to law school 30-50 years ago.

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