Top Law Schools

Interested in hearing from those who spent time working in direct legal services. Specifically interested in exit options, mentoring, and general satisfaction with the work. Feel free to send a PM if you prefer.

I was just going to make this thread as well regarding exit options/career development.

I am specifically interested in exit options for those in civil fields like landlord/tenant, employment, public benefits, etc. For instance, if you have a T14 background can you eventually end up at a decently regarded plaintiffs firm and increase your earnings potential, or did that ship sail if you didn't do that straight from law school?

I imagine a lot of people end up at nonprofits/government in positions related to whatever their area of expertise was, but like the OP I am interested to hear stories. It seems like many people remain staff attorneys for a large part of their careers, but if you live in a high COL city, this may not be the option it once was for previous generations. The managerial positions at these organizations are obviously limited, so it's difficult to count on getting one of those.

We obviously didn't choose this field for the money, but I am curious about how likely it is to increase earnings potential as your career develops. Anyone have anecdotes on this?

Also interested, as a few legal aid opportunities have opened up in my area. There seems to be a dearth of information re: legal aid on TLS.

Bump

One option might be as a law school adjunct prof running law school supported clinics.

CanadianWolf wrote:One option might be as a law school adjunct prof running law school supported clinics.

That would be more of a supplement to a legal services job rather than a full-time alternative, though -- correct? Any idea how many years of experience you'd need for something like that to be an option? I'm assuming trying to publish scholarship could help?

-1:30 anon

Running a law school clinic is usually a full-time job, because it's a lot of work, though it might depend on the school/nature of the clinic (I think the person who ran our appellate clinic practiced as an appellate attorney as well). Clinic profs aren't usually tenured/tenure-track, but they're full time. Scholarship isn't as pertinent as experience - I'm not sure how many years would be necessary, but the clinical profs at my school usually had a lot of experience with clients/in court, and many had been local practitioners so they knew the local courts/administrative agencies. (Since they're not tenured, faculty scholarship isn't part of their evaluations, so not necessary in the way it is for doctrinal profs.)

Edit: at least, based on the profs at my school. Again, YMMV.

Ah, OK. Thanks. That was helpful.

From what I've seen adjunct salaries are pretty comparable to (large market) staff attorneys with 5-10 years of experience, though (mid- to high-five figures). Does that square with your understanding as well?

- 1:30 anon

The clinical profs at my school made about $90k, based on the most recent listing of salaries I could find (yay state school).