Top Law Schools

I've posted here in the past about my somewhat unique situation, but I've got some additional questions so here's a quick TL;DR:

I enrolled at a T20 five years ago straight out of undergrad. At the time, my stats were 3.77/167. I completed one semester of 1L courses with a 3.76 GPA (put me in the top 5-10% and also got a CALI award for Contracts) but towards the end of second semester I withdrew and have only 'W's for my second semester. I did this for personal reasons, some of which included some mental health issues I've spent the time since resolving, and also some family things that are also mostly resolved by now.

Since withdrawing, I've gotten about 3 years of work experience in higher education (fundraising) and made a lot of strong connections. I've also just started a masters at my employer institution (which is a T14 school, if that's worth anything), but I'm realizing that the salary ceiling for my industry, while nice, isn't anything close to what I hoped to get out of law. There were also a lot of elements of my 1L education that I found intellectually fascinating that aren't present in my current work, and I think working in regulatory/government affairs or in FedGov could be really interesting to me. So now I'm wondering about going back to law school.

My LSAT of 167 is 'expired,' so I know that if I do try to reapply I would have to retake. Worth noting is that I got the 167 with relatively little studying - my weak point was logic games, and while I spent a few months studying, I never really put a schedule or any discipline into it. So maybe my ceiling is higher than that 167? Since I'm currently working on this masters (which is part-time and likely not finished for a few years), I'm guessing it makes sense to finish the degree even if it means I would have to wait until I'm about 30 to apply/go back to law school. My employer is paying for most of the masters and I'm not taking any loans but I still have some debt from my 1L year and UG. I'd hope to get into a school (ideally a T14) where I'd be able to get fairly robust $$$ offer that would minimize or eliminate the need to take on additional debt.

Am I correct that my situation is unique enough - between the 1L grades, some possible C&F questions, the questionable timeline for applying, and the long gap of work experience and graduate work between withdrawing and going back - that I'd be best off hiring a consultant like Spivey or Anna Ivey to help me think through the possibility of applying and how to frame everything if I do? If so, does anyone know how much these services tend to cost? I poked around on both websites and couldn't find anything about pricing - would love to know how big a check I'll have to write to get some good advice.

If you've received law school grades before, you can't reapply as a 1L, you'll have to either resume school at your former school (if they allow it) or apply as a transfer somewhere else. A new LSAT probably wouldn't even be considered.

Do you know this for a fact? Some people have told me something similar before, but I've seen no proof that it's universally true.

There is an ABA rule that says "A law school shall require that the course of study for the J.D. degree be completed no earlier than 24 months and, except in extraordinary circumstances, no later than 84 months after a student has commenced law study at the law school or a law school from which the school has accepted transfer credit." That seems to just say that I only have 84 months from beginning to finish the degree at the same school or 'use' the credits I've earned as transfer. It doesn't say anything about being admitted to a school as a new student.

Does anyone have any definitive information on this and have a source for that information? I understand this situation is unique, which is why my original question was whether or not this would be a situation where a consultant would come in handy and, if so, if anyone knows anything about the pricing for those services.

Thanks!

grtbooks91 wrote:Do you know this for a fact? Some people have told me something similar before, but I've seen no proof that it's universally true.

There is an ABA rule that says "A law school shall require that the course of study for the J.D. degree be completed no earlier than 24 months and, except in extraordinary circumstances, no later than 84 months after a student has commenced law study at the law school or a law school from which the school has accepted transfer credit." That seems to just say that I only have 84 months from beginning to finish the degree at the same school or 'use' the credits I've earned as transfer. It doesn't say anything about being admitted to a school as a new student.

Does anyone have any definitive information on this and have a source for that information? I understand this situation is unique, which is why my original question was whether or not this would be a situation where a consultant would come in handy and, if so, if anyone knows anything about the pricing for those services.

Thanks!

I think that since you only have a semester of reported grades, you can probably reapply (due to the circumstances surrounding your dropping out). But this is precisely why you should hire a consultant. They're going to be in a much better position to tell you exactly what effect this will have on your cycle and whether or not it's even worth applying. I bet that someone like Mike Spivey (I think he gets alerts when his name is mentioned on here) might even provide immediate feedback on the forums...

grtbooks91 wrote:Do you know this for a fact?

I don't, but it seems to be tcr and I'm pretty sure that's how it works. Your former school/prospective schools/ABA would be a good resource.

Cavalier1138, is the best way to get his thoughts to post in the Spivey thread?

grtbooks91 wrote:Cavalier1138, is the best way to get his thoughts to post in the Spivey thread?

Yes, or go to his website and inquire about his services.

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:

grtbooks91 wrote:Do you know this for a fact?

I don't, but it seems to be tcr and I'm pretty sure that's how it works. Your former school/prospective schools/ABA would be a good resource.

You have no idea if what you said is correct. Just seems unnecessary to have said it. I am under the impression that with a term of grades OP could reapply as a new student, although I also have no idea of that is correct so I didn't say anything.

You said they could apply as a transfer with only one term of grades. I'm sure you don't know the answer to this either, but is that actually possible? I have never seen anyone on here talk about transferring after one term. Have you?

guybourdin wrote:

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:

grtbooks91 wrote:Do you know this for a fact?

I don't, but it seems to be tcr and I'm pretty sure that's how it works. Your former school/prospective schools/ABA would be a good resource.

You have no idea if what you said is correct. Just seems unnecessary to have said it. I am under the impression that with a term of grades OP could reapply as a new student, although I also have no idea of that is correct so I didn't say anything.

You said they could apply as a transfer with only one term of grades. I'm sure you don't know the answer to this either, but is that actually possible? I have never seen anyone on here talk about transferring after one term. Have you?

Lots of misinformation flying around here, so let's curb it now.

1. If you didn't complete 1L year and the required 1L classes, the ABA says you can start another program completely redoing your 1L year. You'll obviously have to disclose the grades from the previous law school when reapplying, but it is possible.

2. You can be accepted to transfer with only one semester of grades, but you can't transfer without completing your 1L year as transferring assumes you've already completed the ABA-required doctrinal courses that all 1L students complete regardless of school. The OP wouldn't have done that, and so would be ineligible for transferring.