Top Law Schools

I've noticed a lot of of biglaw related advice when choosing schools, but haven't seen anything related to public interest/government. If anyone can speak to that, I'd very much appreciate it.

Specifically, what are the factors for placement in competitive public interest/government jobs (e.g. ACLU, Fed agencies, DA)? And how much does your school matter?

And more specifically, if my ideal city to practice is DC, would attending GW/GMU/AU be better than any school ranked higher than it respectively (e.g. UNC over AU, UCLA over GW, etc) or is the placement opportunity and networking much more advantageous in a DC school?

Thanks!

If you're going outside the T-14, it's almost always going to make more sense to attend a school in the vicinity of where you'd like to practice. If you aren't from the mid-Atlantic, it can be difficult to get DC even if you went to a t-14 like Northwestern or Cornell because people will question your connection to the city.

School rank and grades still factor in for PI and government, though likely more for the latter than the former. At many schools those positions are best case scenario. The only difference is that with a demonstrated interest and hustling, it's easier to get PI positions with a weak school/weak grades.

If you're speaking about competitive PI/government jobs like being an ADA or working for the Fed, these positions are often more difficult to get than big law and school rank is even more important.

To answer your question regarding choosing schools, you're probably correct with the caveat that you'll have to perform well above median to get the kinds of positions you're striving for.

ProfessorFrink wrote:my ideal city to practice is DC

Then school rank matters. DC defenders, prosecutors, etc. are all federal. They are extremely competitive offices. And while they often care more about commitment to the relevant field more than (for example) class placement, they can afford to hire most of their people from top schools. And since you mentioned prosecution, DDC is like most other competitive USAOs. They pull a large portion of their hires from biglaw.

ProfessorFrink wrote:I've noticed a lot of of biglaw related advice when choosing schools, but haven't seen anything related to public interest/government. If anyone can speak to that, I'd very much appreciate it.

Specifically, what are the factors for placement in competitive public interest/government jobs (e.g. ACLU, Fed agencies, DA)? And how much does your school matter?

And more specifically, if my ideal city to practice is DC, would attending GW/GMU/AU be better than any school ranked higher than it respectively (e.g. UNC over AU, UCLA over GW, etc) or is the placement opportunity and networking much more advantageous in a DC school?

Thanks!

For the kinds of competitive PI jobs you're interested in, the exact ordering differs somewhat but you'll still want to attend a T13, the higher up the better (i.e., the best school to attend for ACLU/BigFed is Yale by a country mile). The T13 also have LRAPs that are invaluable in helping folks pursue PI careers. Absolutely do not attend GW/GMU/AU if your goal is prestigious PI.

Thanks all. Just to clarify though, would the marginal increase in school rank be worth it over the location of the school?

ProfessorFrink wrote:Thanks all. Just to clarify though, would the marginal increase in school rank be worth it over the location of the school?

No. But as mentioned, you should be aiming higher for your goals.