Top Law Schools

.

If you missed biglaw, you'd be lucky to start at $65K. Most small law firms will start newbies in the low $40s.

FWIW, I have a few friends who are doing Big Law Lit and it's been VERY difficult for them to find in-house jobs (and one of those friends has a BA and MA from Yale and JD from Stanford, plus she's completely normal and engaging). So, while some practices within Big Law can help with getting an in-house gig down the road, Lit is really hit or miss. I know that wasn't the main focus of your post, but just wanted to share my experience since I have friends in Big Law Lit and I am currently in my second in-house position.

If you really want big law then retake is your best bet and go to a t13. But I don't think your debt levels are terrible at all. If you are ok ending up in small law you'll get that from BC. Money likely will be tight the first couple years. It is all about what you want.

Also, too much tuna is right. Big law lit is almost impossible to go in-house after 2-3 years. You can if you're corporate, but companies usually want senior lit associates. You could lateral into gov't though

Thank you for the responses so far.

As far as earning 65k..I don't think that's unreasonable given that I'm a paralegal at a small firm who makes mid 40s. I understand that lawyer salaries are bimodal, but I think 65k is attainable and that seems to be corroborated by BC's NALP reports that include starting salaries.

To be honest, I think I'm much more likely to go from big firm to small firm..using the big law experience to establish a reputation, pay down loans and put money aside. But I was more mentioning Big law --> in house to emphasize that I would ideally like to keep my options open to some degree. Still, I appreciate your insights Tuna and Trebek