Duke Class of 2013 Forum

[thickfreakness]

To think, I *almost* applied to law school straight from undergrad and would have been c/o 2011. Dodged that bullet, and I hope now to only suffer a slight graze.

+1. I was going to go to Emory last year but decided to take a year, retake the LSAT, and now I'm at Duke with almost the same scholarship as I had from Emory.

[paralegal]

To think, I *almost* applied to law school straight from undergrad and would have been c/o 2011. Dodged that bullet, and I hope now to only suffer a slight graze.

similar situation......been working for three years.... was told law schools prefer post-UG work experience in the admissions process... really glad I waited ITE.

[los blancos]

To think, I *almost* applied to law school straight from undergrad and would have been c/o 2011. Dodged that bullet, and I hope now to only suffer a slight graze.

similar situation......been working for three years.... was told law schools prefer post-UG work experience in the admissions process... really glad I waited ITE.

I would've done that if it was an option for me. Too bad I ended OCR unemployed.

[Reedie]

Interesting fact:

Duke is closer to DC than Stanford or Berkeley are to LA. Curious how little then that DC seems to be a home market for Duke, eh?

I think the legal economy will rebound fairly well. The law isn't getting less complicated and the stakes involved aren't getting any lower.

[Jericwithers]

Woo, got my apartment finalized this morning. I will no longer be the homeless law school student! I got a hell of a deal too; I was bumped up to a better floor plan for the lower price since they ran out of the smaller units. I have to get liability insurance on my apt though; is that a law in NC or just a peculiarity of my apt complex?

[paralegal]

Curious how little then that DC seems to be a home market for Duke, eh?

Wish there were some current 2L and 3L students lurking to answer this....but I'll try to give it a shot based on my research re Duke's placement...

The largest percentage of Duke's graduates place into NYC with a close second into DC - this primarily by self-selection. Rather than saturating or dominating a particular market (enough to be considered a "home" market) Duke has more of a "national" reach...and even an "international" reach into foreign countries...

I can only speak to my limited experience with the hiring practices of the V25 law firm here....which hires a few graduates from a handful of top law schools - Duke included as one of those schools....diversity is the key - one school does not dominate this firm. Coming from Duke with the small class size, one will be at an advantage in DC in comparison to Georgetown with a HUGE class size which saturates the DC market...point being - our DC office doesn't hire more graduates from Georgetown just because the school is in DC.....

[Reedie]

Woo, got my apartment finalized this morning. I will no longer be the homeless law school student! I got a hell of a deal too; I was bumped up to a better floor plan for the lower price since they ran out of the smaller units. I have to get liability insurance on my apt though; is that a law in NC or just a peculiarity of my apt complex?

My complex appears to require that as well. Of course, we could be talking about the same complex...

[thickfreakness]

Woo, got my apartment finalized this morning. I will no longer be the homeless law school student! I got a hell of a deal too; I was bumped up to a better floor plan for the lower price since they ran out of the smaller units. I have to get liability insurance on my apt though; is that a law in NC or just a peculiarity of my apt complex?

My complex appears to require that as well. Of course, we could be talking about the same complex...

My place won't let us move in without proof of renter's insurance.

EDIT: By the way, you should read through your renter's insurance policy when they mail it to you. Ours had some really comical sections about nuclear war, rioting, and the like.

[Reedie]

The largest percentage of Duke's graduates place into NYC with a close second into DC - this primarily by self-selection. Rather than saturating or dominating a particular market (enough to be considered a "home" market) Duke has more of a "national" reach...and even an "international" reach into foreign countries...

That definitely seems to be the case. Duke doesn't really have a home market that dominates their recruiting. I'm guessing that students who choose to go to Duke are fairly flexible geographically. Most of the people in this thread seem to be.

Now that I think about it, maybe DC really doesn't have a hometown school in the same way Chicago (Northwestern), New York (NYU, Columbia, Cornell) , or California (Cal, Stanford, SC, UCLA) do. Georgetown is in DC, but don't [strike]most Georgetown grads wind up working in NYC[/strike] more Georgetown grads wind up working in NYC than DC?

[paralegal]

Georgetown is in DC, but don't most Georgetown grads wind up working in NYC more Georgetown grads wind up working in NYC than DC?

A while back on TLS, I actually saw a graph of the percentage of Georgetown grads into specific markets.....even if we go with your assumption "that more place into NYC'..... Georgetown certainly saturates the DC market simply by their HUGE class size and by their DC location -

considering the diversity preference in this firm - hiring from a handful of top law schools -the preference that one school does not dominate, coming from Duke with the small class size, in the DC market, I think you're going to have an advantage....

[Reedie]

considering the diversity preference in this firm - hiring from a handful of top law schools -the preference that one school does not dominate, coming from Duke with the small class size, in the DC market, I think you're going to have an advantage....

Agreed.

[los blancos]

Any other Northerners in here really happy about not having to deal with winter anymore?

[thickfreakness]

Any other Northerners in here really happy about not having to deal with winter anymore?

I'm worried about dealing with the winter in North Carolina. There's actually an expectation that it will snow at least a little bit every single year.

[Jericwithers]

Any other Northerners in here really happy about not having to deal with winter anymore?

I'm worried about dealing with the winter in North Carolina. There's actually an expectation that it will snow at least a little bit every single year.

With how much its been snowing in my parts of Texas in recent years I am not really too worried about the snow (kind of excited). However, you will see me on the news promo about cars sliding into ditches because they don't know how to drive in the snow.

[paralegal]

I think the winters in NC will be very mild..... I'm the exception....love the snow and New England winters....

[ObviouslyMasochistic]

Curious how little then that DC seems to be a home market for Duke, eh?

Wish there were some current 2L and 3L students lurking to answer this....but I'll try to give it a shot based on my research re Duke's placement...

The largest percentage of Duke's graduates place into NYC with a close second into DC - this primarily by self-selection. Rather than saturating or dominating a particular market (enough to be considered a "home" market) Duke has more of a "national" reach...and even an "international" reach into foreign countries...

I can only speak to my limited experience with the hiring practices of the V25 law firm here....which hires a few graduates from a handful of top law schools - Duke included as one of those schools....diversity is the key - one school does not dominate this firm. Coming from Duke with the small class size, one will be at an advantage in DC in comparison to Georgetown with a HUGE class size which saturates the DC market...point being - our DC office doesn't hire more graduates from Georgetown just because the school is in DC.....

Since you all seem to be worried about placement across the country, I've compiled stats of where folks are spending their 2L summer right now. Enjoy.

Code: Select all

CA	10.76%
DC	16.14%
FL/GA	7.62%
IL	3.14%
NY	16.59%
NC	18.83%
PA	1.79%
TX	8.07%
Other	17.04%

[paralegal]

Masochistic -

Thanks for always "showing up" on our class thread to post great statistics re Duke!!!!!

I'm sure we'll have more questions.....

[paralegal]

Came across this.....notable alumni.....

Bill Brown -

Duke University School of Law - J.D., Editorial Board, Duke Law Journal
MIT - B.S. Biology, Political Science

Visiting Professor, Duke University School of Law
Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets, Corporate Finance

Co-founder - Palmer Labs, LLC and 8 Rivers Capital, LLC
financing and commercializing technologies related to biomedical devices, traditional energy, alternative energy

Managing Director, 1997-2008 (11 years)
Morgan Stanley & Co.

Senior Vice President, 1996-1997
AIG

Executive Director, 1990-1996 (6 years)
Goldman Saks & Co.

Partner, 1984-1989 ( 5 years)
Sidney Austin LLP (Vault 15)

[ObviouslyMasochistic]

Yeah, Bill Brown is insane. I've heard that if you have a chance to take his classes (I don't think he teaches anything 1L related), you definitely should.

[prezidentv8]

Yeah, Bill Brown is insane. I've heard that if you have a chance to take his classes (I don't think he teaches anything 1L related), you definitely should.

Guess who signed up for one of his classes this year?!

[Reedie]

Curious how little then that DC seems to be a home market for Duke, eh?

Wish there were some current 2L and 3L students lurking to answer this....but I'll try to give it a shot based on my research re Duke's placement...

The largest percentage of Duke's graduates place into NYC with a close second into DC - this primarily by self-selection. Rather than saturating or dominating a particular market (enough to be considered a "home" market) Duke has more of a "national" reach...and even an "international" reach into foreign countries...

I can only speak to my limited experience with the hiring practices of the V25 law firm here....which hires a few graduates from a handful of top law schools - Duke included as one of those schools....diversity is the key - one school does not dominate this firm. Coming from Duke with the small class size, one will be at an advantage in DC in comparison to Georgetown with a HUGE class size which saturates the DC market...point being - our DC office doesn't hire more graduates from Georgetown just because the school is in DC.....

Since you all seem to be worried about placement across the country, I've compiled stats of where folks are spending their 2L summer right now. Enjoy.

Code: Select all

CA	10.76%
DC	16.14%
FL/GA	7.62%
IL	3.14%
NY	16.59%
NC	18.83%
PA	1.79%
TX	8.07%
Other	17.04%

NC numbers are higher than I expected. I wonder if this is reflective of the shite state of the law economy nationally.

[paralegal]

The bigger picture though...is that the statistics are "spot on" to our earlier discussion re Duke's "broad" national reach into several US legal markets.....

[Reedie]

The bigger picture though...is that the statistics are "spot on" to our earlier discussion re Duke's "broad" national reach into several US legal markets.....

Oh, definitely. I'm with you--even though there is some tradeoff--a small class size is definitely beneficial overall.

[paralegal]

the bigger picture - national placement into several US legal markets

is why at the end of Masochistic's post of the stats, he writes...."enjoy."

[ObviouslyMasochistic]

the bigger picture - national placement into several US legal markets

is why at the end of Masochistic's post of the stats, he writes...."enjoy."

Sure, I was actually encouraged by the statistics. They are certainly a bit different than the stats from previous years, but let's face it, this is a very different legal market than law students faced in previous years. I'm encouraged by the fact that 65% of the 2L class got firm jobs with about 40% landing V100 gigs.

What that should translate to for all you up and coming 1Ls is that if you land somewhere around median, you have a pretty damn good shot at breaking into BigLaw (if that's your goal).