Would going to a certain school increase ones chances in getting a job in the public interest or the government? Forum

[LawMan9000]

Other than HYS, does it matter what T-14 law school one goes to in order to land a job in public interest? How about for clerkships?

[lymenheimer]

Other than HYS, does it matter what T-14 law school one goes to in order to land a job in public interest? How about for clerkships?

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 3&t=170599

[twenty]

This will probably get moved to a different forum, but--

Yes, it does matter, but not in the way you're expecting. There is a pretty steep drop between CCN + Berkeley and the rest of the T14 in terms of high-prestige (ACLU, etc.) PI jobs. That's not to say that people at Duke haven't gotten these positions, but it is definitely easier from one of the above schools.

That said, the fact that you say "public interest or the government [...] How about for clerkships?" is kind of an indicator that you don't know what you want to do. That's okay - most people going in to law school have no idea what they want to do. Do yourself a huge favor, though, and do not make a really expensive and permanent decision based on the possibility of one school placing better in a job you may not even want in a year or two.

[clarion]

Before this gets moved, I agree with most of what twenty said, especially their second paragraph. I will add that although I agree that maybe certain schools do better in certain types of public interest (I don't know what "ACLU, etc." means, but I know little to nothing about ACLU and won't disagree), as a legal honors attorney for the federal government, I can tell you that 3 of the 1x of us LHs went to GULC. Similarly, our General Counsel (largely responsible for hiring decisions) went to HLS and has expressed a preference for HLS grads over the years. Short of GULC and HLS however, none of my fellow colleagues in my honors program even went to a T-14, though the vast majority went to DC area law schools.

In other words, it doesn't really matter in any way that is predictable. Fed gov honors programs anyway, seem to be more about grades/commitment than about CCN+ being distinguishable from the remaining schools. And to the extent you don't already know, Honors programs often have their hiring decisions done at the very top (by the GC), and thus what gets hired from one year to the next will vary along with the GC. Meaning, one GC may well feel that CCN+ is preferable, while another may well feel that Duke is the best school.

So as twenty suggested, "Do yourself a huge favor . . . and do not make a really expensive and permanent decision based on the possibility of one school placing better in a job you may not even want in a year or two."

[LawMan9000]

Thanks guys

[CanadianWolf]

I would include Chicago & Berkeley among your group of H, Y & S for public interest type work.

[Manali]

PD, DA, and Legal Aid will *generally* not care about the rank of your school. It's more about trial experience, volunteer work, commitment to public interest, and foreign language (particularly Spanish) skills. There are some exceptions though. Manhattan DA, for example, is pretty grades/rank-oriented.

[WheninLaw]

I would include Chicago & Berkeley among your group of H, Y & S for public interest type work.

Why include Chicago? I love my alma matter and shill for it whenever possible, but I have never gotten the impression we were held in super high regard with PI orgs.