Top Law Schools

Does anyone know how judges view schools that don't rank? Especially for someone who wasn't on a journal?

Mine was a good school, but we didn't have real grades. I'm worried that, due to the number of people we have every year, there are hundreds of us toting the same school name, and I was that stupid 22 year-old kid that didn't know how important journals were until it was too late. As much as I like biglaw, I feel like I'd do better if I clerked (see how the sausage is made, or so the saying goes.) How do I go about conveying to judges the above without sounding naive?

Thanks.

Anonymous User wrote:Mine was a good school, but we didn't have real grades.

Say wha??

Most top schools don't rank, it doesn't phase judges.

What are you trying to convey without sounding naive? That you want to clerk to get an inside view on the process?

Toni V wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Mine was a good school, but we didn't have real grades.

Say wha??

We've basically narrowed it down to HYSB, right? All those schools are "viewed" in a positive light by judges. And I'm pretty sure B lets students put down class rank on clerkship applications. (Or at least general categories of ranking--e.g., "top 10%", top 3). And H and S do have real curved grades--judges can figure out your approximate rank. It's really only Y that doesn't rank and doesn't have curved grades. If you had the misfortune of going to Y, you're just going to have to apply and hope and against hope that you somehow land a clerkship.

bk1 wrote:Most top schools don't rank, it doesn't phase judges.

What are you trying to convey without sounding naive? That you want to clerk to get an inside view on the process?

OP here

That I didn't know enough about the legal profession during my 1L summer to try for law review, or any journal. Essentially, I don't have a rank, and I don't have a journal. I do have academic publications, just not in a legal journal.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here

That I didn't know enough about the legal profession during my 1L summer to try for law review, or any journal. Essentially, I don't have a rank, and I don't have a journal. I do have academic publications, just not in a legal journal.

Well you don't have to explain that on an application. If the judge ever asks why you weren't on a journal during an interview (which I don't think is likely, but I could be wrong), just explain that you were more focused on X, Y, or Z. Any judge that wouldn't hire someone who wasn't on a journal (if there are any, they are probably an extreme minority) isn't going to interview you.

Anonymous User wrote:

bk1 wrote:Most top schools don't rank, it doesn't phase judges.

What are you trying to convey without sounding naive? That you want to clerk to get an inside view on the process?

OP here

That I didn't know enough about the legal profession during my 1L summer to try for law review, or any journal. Essentially, I don't have a rank, and I don't have a journal. I do have academic publications, just not in a legal journal.

Your grades and class rank are more important than your lack of a journal. And unless you're at Yale or at a non-accredited law school, you have grades and an informal class rank. Judges will know where you stand.

My school has grades but doesn't rank until graduation. Our careers office has a memo that estimates standing based on GPAs of previous graduating classes. If you have grades, your career office probably has a similar memo; use it. Personally, I included the estimate after my GPA on my resume: "X.XXX (historically within the top Y% of graduating classes)."