Top Law Schools

I am nearing the end of my cycle and have managed to narrow it down to the following options.

I will be financing my education by some savings and my spouse working throughout my schooling. The rest will be loans of the following amounts:

Duke - $90k debt at repayment
Berkeley - $90k debt at repayment
Columbia - No scholarship offer yet, but I'm not assuming much. Let's go with $170k debt at repayment because I won't even consider it if more expensive

I am from a rural-ish state and have no real connections to any good-sized markets. My preferred locations for after graduation are Texas/Chicago/DC/Secondary Market>NYC>LA/SF/SV, but there is nowhere that I am completely against ending up in.

I'm a KJD finishing up my degree in Mechanical Engineering and looking to do patent law (biglaw or boutique upon graduation). I went to the ASW for both Duke and Berkeley. While I liked Berkeley a lot, I feel like I would enjoy attending Duke more for the next three years. The school facilities seemed a lot nicer and more modern, I loved Durham and the surrounding area, and I really got along with all the people there. That said, I could see myself doing just fine at Berkeley as well, and the HH/H/P grading system might be a little less stressful than Duke's more traditional system. I went to Columbia's campus (not an ASW) and liked it and the location as well.

If it weren't for Berkeley being the powerhouse that it is in IP/Patent law, I would most likely choose Duke. Though I know the specialty rankings should generally be ignored, I don't doubt that there is merit to Berkeley's ranking in this field. How much of a difference does Berkeley's IP program make in patent law hiring? Would Columbia's ranking/prestige + biglaw stats make it a reasonable pick over the other two if they pull through with $$? What would you choose in my shoes? Help?

Congrats on your great options!

I think Duke's an easy choice here, personally. With your MechE background, you'll be at a huge advantage for either patent prosecution or litigation from any of the T13. Further, IMO any advantage Berkeley's IP connections offer are negated by your desire to not stay in CA after graduation. (Even the T13 aren't entirely unaffected by region.) To be clear, you'd do fine out of Berkeley, but I just don't see any reason not to go with your gut preference and attend Duke.

Agree with above — with your background and your geographic flexibility, Berkeley and Duke make basically equal sense for your goals. This is a rare, 100% pure follow-your-heart scenario. What fun!

Thank you for the advice!