Top Law Schools

.

.

It's hard to get an answer with such a long post. Also, well done on the research. I went to UCI, so I can answer a couple of things that stood out from your post:

1. You're correct about clerkship folks already having biglaw offers.
2. I know the school funds one year fellowships that are counted as law school employment. I forget now, so this could be entirely wrong, but I remember that OCDA has fellowships and they pay the school which then pays the student. I know there was a reason for this agreement, but I can't remember. Anyway, I used to say that I preferred having the option of being placed somewhere for one year than not. But also, one-year fellowship sucks because you still have to look for employment.
3. There are quite a bit of UCI students gunning for public service/interest.

But more importantly, what is it that you want the statistics to tell you?

Hi PO, thank you so much for posting your researches on employment statistics. I was granted offer to attend UCI this year and find your researches very informative.

zot1 wrote:It's hard to get an answer with such a long post. Also, well done on the research. I went to UCI, so I can answer a couple of things that stood out from your post:

1. You're correct about clerkship folks already having biglaw offers.
2. I know the school funds one year fellowships that are counted as law school employment. I forget now, so this could be entirely wrong, but I remember that OCDA has fellowships and they pay the school which then pays the student. I know there was a reason for this agreement, but I can't remember. Anyway, I used to say that I preferred having the option of being placed somewhere for one year than not. But also, one-year fellowship sucks because you still have to look for employment.
3. There are quite a bit of UCI students gunning for public service/interest.

But more importantly, what is it that you want the statistics to tell you?

I am a international student and have concerns on UCI's focus on public interests. Is it true that it is quite impossible for non-citizens to find judicial clerkship or government positions?

wrt to federal clerkships, non-citizens can't get paid for clerking in the lower 48 states (apparently Alaska and Hawaii don't count? And then there are the territories like the Marianas Islands and such that have clerks). Re: federal government jobs, yes, you need to be a citizen (at least, every one that I've seen). I don't know if state clerkships or state government jobs have the same restrictions.

.

I second Nony's comment on Fed clerkships/government jobs--to my knowledge, if you're not a citizen, you can't get hired.

To OP, I think I posted a link in the UCI applicants' page listing UCI's placements. That should give you an idea.

That aside, you have some conflicting goals. You want to be in public interest or government in SoCal but you want to make a bit of money. Well, most state and federal jobs are in DC, a those are off the table because not in SoCal (most state government jobs are in Sacramento). And public interest attorneys don't make a lot of money (to begin with). You might be looking at 35k to 55k/year.

I know we have alumni working at several fed agencies (DOJ, DOL, HUD, SEC, etc.) but also working for California government (attorney general's office, and other California departments). As for PI, I know people working for the usual spots: legal aid, Public Law Center, public counsel, etc.

I would say it's more accurate to say biglaw is accessible to the top 50%. But also, I know people right below the top 50% that got midlaw making 100k/yr.

The thing is that your goals are scattered. I guess in a way that's good because you have more odds at getting one or the other. But also, it'll make it harder to get focused and get what you want... which I don't think you necessarily know what that is.

Anyway, I'm not sure if this helps. If you want more info, feel free to pm me.

.

I doubt changes in UCI's LSAT median or U.S. News ranking will affect employment outcomes.