Top Law Schools

I've heard its UCLA...just wanted some clarification

I'd take USC, because of their certificate and smaller alumni network, but LA is a great capital for entertainment law.

Wisconsin

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flexityflex86 wrote:I'd take USC, because of their certificate and smaller alumni network, but LA is a great capital for entertainment law.

hey i mean in terms of rankings

justwondering123 wrote:

flexityflex86 wrote:I'd take USC, because of their certificate and smaller alumni network, but LA is a great capital for entertainment law.

hey i mean in terms of rankings

Yale.

aliarrow wrote:

justwondering123 wrote:

flexityflex86 wrote:I'd take USC, because of their certificate and smaller alumni network, but LA is a great capital for entertainment law.

hey i mean in terms of rankings

Yale.

oh its just that the people who i've spoke to told me to to UCLA because its well known and respected in terms of entertainment law :S?

justwondering123 wrote:

aliarrow wrote:

justwondering123 wrote:

flexityflex86 wrote:I'd take USC, because of their certificate and smaller alumni network, but LA is a great capital for entertainment law.

hey i mean in terms of rankings

Yale.

oh its just that the people who i've spoke to told me to to UCLA because its well known and respected in terms of entertainment law :S?

The people I've spoken to told me to go to to the best possible school and try for a spot at a big firm that does Entertainment. Therefore HYS would be the best.
But If you have to choose between something like GULC, UCLA, and WUSTL, then UCLA would be the obvious choice, probably even more so than GULC if you're deadset on Entertainment (even though it's just contracts and copyright litigation).

There is no such thing as being respected in entertainment law. Location, school ranking, and networking (which goes along with location I guess) are the only factors. Since USC and UCLA are in LA and are great schools, they would be good options for "entertainment law."

Specialty rankings are only relevant when comparing peer schools. For entertainment law, you'd have to be downright insane to pick USC / UCLA over HYS. But If USC / UCLA is your target range, they'd have the upper hand against Texas / Vanderbilt, and possibly even Gtown.

bhan87 wrote:Specialty rankings are only relevant when comparing peer schools. For entertainment law, you'd have to be downright insane to pick USC / UCLA over HYS. But If USC / UCLA is your target range, they'd have the upper hand against Texas / Vanderbilt, and possibly even Gtown.

i was told to apply due to it being in LA which would be good for networking and that it is one of the best media based cities in the world. Surely having a feature like that would be more advantageous than going to HYS?

bhan87 wrote:Specialty rankings are only relevant when comparing peer schools. For entertainment law, you'd have to be downright insane to pick USC / UCLA over HYS. But If USC / UCLA is your target range, they'd have the upper hand against Texas / Vanderbilt, and possibly even Gtown.

This is right.

justwondering123 wrote:
i was told to apply due to it being in LA which would be good for networking and that it is one of the best media based cities in the world. Surely having a feature like that would be more advantageous than going to HYS?

No.

justwondering123 wrote:

bhan87 wrote:Specialty rankings are only relevant when comparing peer schools. For entertainment law, you'd have to be downright insane to pick USC / UCLA over HYS. But If USC / UCLA is your target range, they'd have the upper hand against Texas / Vanderbilt, and possibly even Gtown.

i was told to apply due to it being in LA which would be good for networking and that it is one of the best media based cities in the world. Surely having a feature like that would be more advantageous than going to HYS?

No.

justwondering123 wrote:

bhan87 wrote:Specialty rankings are only relevant when comparing peer schools. For entertainment law, you'd have to be downright insane to pick USC / UCLA over HYS. But If USC / UCLA is your target range, they'd have the upper hand against Texas / Vanderbilt, and possibly even Gtown.

i was told to apply due to it being in LA which would be good for networking and that it is one of the best media based cities in the world. Surely having a feature like that would be more advantageous than going to HYS?

No. HYS is more likely to get you into entertainment law than USC/UCLA, but neither HYS or USC/UCLA is very likely to get you into "entertainment law" at all. It's an incredibly small niche market and you will probably never actually get to work in it, unless you already have a lot of connections in the entertainment industry (and no, your cousin who does gaff work doesn't count). You should probably not attend law school if your only desired field of work is "entertainment law".

bhan87 wrote:i was told to apply due to it being in LA which would be good for networking and that it is one of the best media based cities in the world. Surely having a feature like that would be more advantageous than going to HYS?

That is not correct. UCLA is good but not better than YHS.

The industry (which does not include the 3-4 big law firms that do entertainment law) don't care if you went to Harvard or Wisconsin they only care who you know and how well you can kiss theirs. I believe the guy who ran William Morris and later Viacom faked a bachelors degree.... USC and UCLA are in the right area to network properly with all the big vaginas so.....

monarchylover wrote:The industry (which does not include the 3-4 big law firms that do entertainment law) don't care if you went to Harvard or Wisconsin they only care who you know and how well you can kiss theirs. I believe the guy who ran William Morris and later Viacom faked a bachelors degree.... USC and UCLA are in the right area to network properly with all the big vaginas so.....

And what, you think you're going to "network" with the bigshots by doing a dinky little internship at Universal alongside hundreds of other desperate coffee-runners? No way boss. Best chance at entertainment law is top school --> biglaw with ent practice (probably starting in another practice area) --> biglaw ent or ent boutique.

If you want to work in "the industry" otoh, just go work at William Morris and don't waste time with law school.

monarchylover wrote:The industry (which does not include the 3-4 big law firms that do entertainment law) don't care if you went to Harvard or Wisconsin they only care who you know and how well you can kiss theirs. I believe the guy who ran William Morris and later Viacom faked a bachelors degree.... USC and UCLA are in the right area to network properly with all the big vaginas so.....

WMA isn't entertainment law and it's in a completely different type of industry.

The entertainment lawyers I know almost all went to pretty unremarkable schools. I know a few guys from Loyola LA, Hofstra et al who are working at Loeb & Loeb and Sheppard Mullin in Hollywood. My impression is that entertainment law isn't nearly as pedigree oriented as the Wall Street firms. It's much more about who you know and your ability to make the right friends in the industry than it is about having top grades at a top school. Entertainment law as well as the business side of Hollywood in general is loaded with people who don't have that kind of background but really know how to deal with other people and make good business decisions. While I wouldn't say UCLA is a "better" choice than Harvard for the field, I don't really think either of them would get you what you want. The real key is for you to get out there and hustle.