Best School for Tennessee Forum

[hinton2014]

I'm from the Midwest, but long term I'd like to work in Tennessee. I enjoy the ability to get home in a reasonable time frame, I like the culture etc.

I assume Vandy is by far the best, with UTK following, but how much of a difference does it make? I realize that UTK tends to give more scholarship money. I'd like to work in business law, maybe contracts or tax law with my UG education being business.

So, is it worth being in debt at Vandy, or take bigger scholarship at UTK?

These are all hypotheticals, I take my LSAT in June, but my GPA will be around 3.83-3.87.

[zerato5]

Are you looking to practice in TN long term? Career goals?

[cavalier1138]

When you say "business law", are you referring to biglaw?

[hinton2014]

When you say "business law", are you referring to biglaw?

I'm not sure that BigLaw is what I want. I like some of the aspects of BigLaw, but I'd rather work in a smaller firm, with less pay in turn for less billed hours.

[hinton2014]

Are you looking to practice in TN long term? Career goals?

Yes, I want to practice in TN long term. Career goals-- I'd prefer along the lines of a smaller contract or tax law firm. I like the idea of big law, just not the hours. I'd be willing to sacrifice pay for a less grueling schedule.

[floatie]

Are you looking to practice in TN long term? Career goals?

Yes, I want to practice in TN long term. Career goals-- I'd prefer along the lines of a smaller contract or tax law firm. I like the idea of big law, just not the hours. I'd be willing to sacrifice pay for a less grueling schedule.

Vanderbilt is hands down the best school in TN. Other southern T-14s (Duke, UVA) would probably have a good chance of placing there.

[zerato5]

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[hinton2014]

Are you looking to practice in TN long term? Career goals?

Yes, I want to practice in TN long term. Career goals-- I'd prefer along the lines of a smaller contract or tax law firm. I like the idea of big law, just not the hours. I'd be willing to sacrifice pay for a less grueling schedule.

Vanderbilt is hands down the best school in TN. Other southern T-14s (Duke, UVA) would probably have a good chance of placing there.

I figured as much. I didn't know if since I knew I wanted to practice there long term if it would be a wise decision to take what is more likely a full scholarship at UTK if I get accepted at Vandy and have little to no debt vs taking on what could be a sizable amount.

[cavalier1138]

I figured as much. I didn't know if since I knew I wanted to practice there long term if it would be a wise decision to take what is more likely a full scholarship at UTK if I get accepted at Vandy and have little to no debt vs taking on what could be a sizable amount.

Get a good LSAT and avoid having to make that decision at all.

[hinton2014]

Are you looking to practice in TN long term? Career goals?

Yes, I want to practice in TN long term. Career goals-- I'd prefer along the lines of a smaller contract or tax law firm. I like the idea of big law, just not the hours. I'd be willing to sacrifice pay for a less grueling schedule.

You're top 75% GPA for Vandy. This heavily depends on your LSAT. Might be better to worry about it once you have your scores

Vandy is definitely the goal. My diagnostic was around 153, but that came with the vast majority of my misses in LG and only -6 total on LR.

[floatie]

Are you looking to practice in TN long term? Career goals?

Yes, I want to practice in TN long term. Career goals-- I'd prefer along the lines of a smaller contract or tax law firm. I like the idea of big law, just not the hours. I'd be willing to sacrifice pay for a less grueling schedule.

You're top 75% GPA for Vandy. This heavily depends on your LSAT. Might be better to worry about it once you have your scores

Vandy is definitely the goal. My diagnostic was around 153, but that came with the vast majority of my misses in LG and only -6 total on LR.

That's not a bad place to start out, if you're going for a June retake.

[hinton2014]

Are you looking to practice in TN long term? Career goals?

Yes, I want to practice in TN long term. Career goals-- I'd prefer along the lines of a smaller contract or tax law firm. I like the idea of big law, just not the hours. I'd be willing to sacrifice pay for a less grueling schedule.

You're top 75% GPA for Vandy. This heavily depends on your LSAT. Might be better to worry about it once you have your scores

Vandy is definitely the goal. My diagnostic was around 153, but that came with the vast majority of my misses in LG and only -6 total on LR.

That's not a bad place to start out, if you're going for a June retake.

Actually, June will be my first take. My 153 was a cold diagnostic I took with 0 studying beforehand. I graduate this upcoming Fall so I can take June, September and December.

[poptart123]

Are you looking to practice in TN long term? Career goals?

Yes, I want to practice in TN long term. Career goals-- I'd prefer along the lines of a smaller contract or tax law firm. I like the idea of big law, just not the hours. I'd be willing to sacrifice pay for a less grueling schedule.

You're top 75% GPA for Vandy. This heavily depends on your LSAT. Might be better to worry about it once you have your scores

Vandy is definitely the goal. My diagnostic was around 153, but that came with the vast majority of my misses in LG and only -6 total on LR.

That's not a bad place to start out, if you're going for a June retake.

Actually, June will be my first take. My 153 was a cold diagnostic I took with 0 studying beforehand. I graduate this upcoming Fall so I can take June, September and December.

Great. If you don't perform up to par then you have some time to study and retake. Or, if you're not comfortable taking in June, you have time to postpone. Your diagnostic isn't a bad place to start. Good luck!

[zerato5]

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[zerato5]

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[tncats]

I would come back and look at this more closely once you have a reportable LSAT score. So much can happen between now and your application cycle.

I'm a 0L, but I work in the legal community in Tennessee, so make what you will of what I'm saying. UTK is definitely respected through the state, especially at small to midsize firms, but I can't speak to business law specifically. If you have the opportunity to go to Vandy on a good scholarship, that would obviously be the better choice, but UTK is not a bad school in general for someone who wants to stay in the state and practice at a small firm.

You have so much time and so much research you can do. Do you have connections in the legal community for the type of law you want to practice? Chatting with some of those folks could be helpful when it comes to decision time too.

[hinton2014]

I would come back and look at this more closely once you have a reportable LSAT score. So much can happen between now and your application cycle.

I'm a 0L, but I work in the legal community in Tennessee, so make what you will of what I'm saying. UTK is definitely respected through the state, especially at small to midsize firms, but I can't speak to business law specifically. If you have the opportunity to go to Vandy on a good scholarship, that would obviously be the better choice, but UTK is not a bad school in general for someone who wants to stay in the state and practice at a small firm.

You have so much time and so much research you can do. Do you have connections in the legal community for the type of law you want to practice? Chatting with some of those folks could be helpful when it comes to decision time too.

I have interned with a prosecutor, and may this summer with a District judge in my state who did business law, but again I'm not from Tennessee, so I don't have those connections. Ultimately, business law is the ideal, but I would certainly not be against a small to medium size litigation firm either. Essentially, I like law, but I want to make a decent living with it.

[deadpanic]

I practice in TN. I would say if you can go to Vandy for 60-90k total COA, go that route. If you can't, but can go to UT for 30-50k total COA, that might be the way to go.

A couple of caveats: a lot of the smaller firm jobs, especially in East TN, will go to natives. It is a pretty insular market that really cares where you grew up. Nashville is slightly better with many transplants, but every city is very tie-sensitive so I would keep that in mind. Also, which area of TN do you want to practice? Memphis is a whole other world than Johnson City.

It seems like you are separating business law from any litigation, i.e. you are talking about corporate transactional work. That will be big/mid law. BigLaw is really more all midlaw here. The few good business deals go to a handful of firms. If you land top 10-20% at UT, you will have a shot to interview for these firms, but there are not many slots. Not sure what the cut-off is at Vandy; they will go deeper in the class, but not sure how much.

Most of the other firms you will probably be doing personal injury, insurance defense, family law, criminal defense, or a mix of all of the above (well, not insurance defense and PI, obviously).

PM me if you want more info.