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Do you really need a HLS degree if you want the ACLU? Would a Columbia degree also be as effective?

Anybody from a T14 school has a decent shot of working at the ACLU if that’s what they really want to do. But your odds go up when you go to a higher ranked school. All else being equal, you are probably better off as a generic HYS grad than a generic CCN grad—but it’s not really different than any other competitive post-grad position.

I feel like there are two possible questions really at work here:

“Am I shut out of working for the ACLU if I don’t get into HLS and only get into CLS?” - no, of course not.

“If I have acceptances to both HLS and CLS, which one is better for working for the ACLU?” - depends on a lot of personal factors

Anecdotally, I'm at a boutique plaintiff employment firm and we work with the ACLU national office on a couple of class actions. I've worked closely with a few of their attorneys and a few people from my firm previously jumped over to work for them. Given some comments made from some of them to me, I think it'd be pretty easy for me land a gig with the ACLU if I wanted it, although I personally wouldn't pursue it for financial purposes.

I went to a t20 and gunned for employment law since 1L summer, so I'm guessing it'd be doable from any other top ranked school if you show interest in an area that the ACLU is known to advocate for and work for a firm that is co-counsel or has some ties with the ACLU.

Main point is it's doable, but HYS may give you a more direct and easy route in, rather than having to research firms that work with the ACLU or having other contacts to network with that can help you out. Fwiw, most of the people that I've personally seen and worked with from ACLU NY office went to Harvard.

You're fine to work at the ACLU from either HLS or CLS. All things equal, I'm sure HLS is better, but CLS will do just fine.