Top Law Schools

Schools with COA:
-Loyola LA: Full ride.
-UC Davis: COA~$84,000
-UC Irvine: COA~54,000
-USC:COA~135k
-Hastings:Full Ride.
-How you will be financing your COA, i.e. loans, family, or savings: Loans and $30,000 savings between wife and myself. Wife would be paying for the living expenses while I was in school. Tuition would be covered in loans.
-Where you are from and where you want to work, and other places where you have significant ties (if any): I have significant ties to SoCal but have lived/worked in the central valley/NorCal for 4-5 years. Wife has most of her family up north(CA) and mine is down south(CA).
-Your general career goals: PI or Bust.

Most PI is about dedication/commitment/bilingual abilities. Loyola or Hastings, then work for free for at least a year at a PI shop and see if they give you an offer. Also if you're looking at PI in Cali, you better be bilingual in Spanish (mainly)/Chinese.

BiglawAssociate wrote:Most PI is about dedication/commitment/bilingual abilities. Loyola or Hastings, then work for free for at least a year at a PI shop and see if they give you an offer. Also if you're looking at PI in Cali, you better be bilingual in Spanish (mainly)/Chinese.

Yeah one of the full rides is a must.

Taking LRAP into consideration still take the full rides?

PIlaw wrote:Taking LRAP into consideration still take the full rides?

I paralegal at a PI nonprofit right now and I would definitely take LRAP edit: THE FULL RIDE. I've queried the attorneys here endlessly about this very problem and the collected wisdom is something like this: 1) It is pretty tough to land a PI job, even if you go to a great school. You'll be far less stressed if you take the full rides, which will do wonders for your mental health. 2) Many PI nonprofits care less about where you went to school and more about your demonstrated commitment to the work (as evidenced by intern/externships, clinics, pro bono hours logged, etc.). The place I work at, in particular, regularly takes students for internships/entry level fellowships/staff attorney positions from schools that TLSers would scoff at (and maybe rightly so, given their placement stats).

Perhaps you could take a look at places you'd want to work and see where their attorneys went to school. Take age into account.

Now, if your goal is to work at like, Legal Aid in DC, or PDS in DC, prestige will be more important. But it doesn't make sense to plan around the prestige preferences of a few "elite" offices.

Your choice between Loyola and Hastings depending on where you want to work after you graduate.

PIlaw wrote:Taking LRAP into consideration still take the full rides?

Yes. I don't trust LRAP. Also PI cares a lot less about the school you went to - it's mainly about your dedication, commitment, language abilities, ability to work for free for awhile before getting a paid job.

PIlaw wrote:Taking LRAP into consideration still take the full rides?

Yes, still take the full rides. Plan on LRAP not existing in its current state for very much longer.

twenty wrote:Your choice between Loyola and Hastings depending on where you want to work after you graduate.

This is my thought at well.

OP, how easy will it be for your SO to find a job at either of these places?

My wife has a job set up in either LA or SF. She would basically just be transferring to a different site working her same position.

PIlaw wrote:My wife has a job set up in either LA or SF. She would basically just be transferring to a different site working her same position.

Then just go wherever you like it best. However, do make sure that those full rides don't come with stipulations (beyond say being in good academic standing). Both schools are pretty TTT in this regard.

This isn't even a question. Hastings provides the best options even without the fullride. It's smackdab in the middle of SF, and its grads actually get jobs in the nearby nonprofits and public defender offices. It would be a risk without the fullride, but with it, it is a nobrainer. None of the other schools would give you as good of PI odds anyway.

I think the decision should be made more on the basis of where the OP prefers to live and work long term. If Southern CA, take a Southern CA full ride. If Northern CA, take a Northern CA full ride.