Top Law Schools

Recent graduate.

Working somewhere outside of Nebraska as an attorney in a firm (I'd prefer not to be specific).

Taking any questions.

I am a big believer that you'd have to be nuts (or deliberately self delusional as to your personal exceptionalism) to attend any law school in 2011-2012 (except HYS). But if you're going to be stupid, you should probably attend Nebraska. It's only about 12k a year in state, is a state flagship school, in the Big Ten, etc. That way, when you graduate with no job, you'll have at least a sliver of hope of being able to eventually recover financially from your stupid decision to go to law school.

Nebraska pros:
*Low tuition
*Small school (only about 400 students)
*Students are not cutthroat, but are friendly, helpful midwesterners
*Nebraska football
*Most of the faculty are approachable and very helpful. I had a very positive experience with faculty who were willing to help me one on one. As a matter of fact, one faculty member in particular essentially salvaged my 1L year by identifying how awful my approach to certain aspects of studying was.
*Lincoln is a family town.
*The current administration, lead by Dean Poser, seems to be very diligent and aggressive in improving the school in substance and in reputation. I am very impressed by these efforts.
*Excellent facilities. The library is spacious, was recently renovated and is a great place to study. The school has been nearly completed remodeled. There is also ample parking right next to the building, which is often uncommon on many campuses.

Nebraska cons:
*The weather in Nebraska sucks about 10 months of the year. Winters are icy and brutal. Summers are hot and humid.
*If you're from out of state, private firms in Nebraska won't give you a sniff, even if your grades are solid.
*The Career Services Office is not very helpful, though I don't know that this is really unique. If you're not in the top 10%, you're pretty much on your own. Sure, they'll give you advice (which will be pretty obvious), but when push comes to shove, it's 100% up to you to find a job (again, I don't know that this is really unique).

lol Dean Poser

I'm assuming this was meant for prospectives to ask you questions, rather than other law students. Moved.

RoscoePoundEsq wrote:Recent graduate.

Working somewhere outside of Nebraska as an attorney in a firm (I'd prefer not to be specific).

Taking any questions.

I am a big believer that you'd have to be nuts (or deliberately self delusional as to your personal exceptionalism) to attend any law school in 2011-2012 (except HYS). But if you're going to be stupid, you should probably attend Nebraska. It's only about 12k a year in state, is a state flagship school, in the Big Ten, etc. That way, when you graduate with no job, you'll have at least a sliver of hope of being able to eventually recover financially from your stupid decision to go to law school.

Nebraska pros:
*Low tuition
*Small school (only about 400 students)
*Students are not cutthroat, but are friendly, helpful midwesterners
*Nebraska football
*Most of the faculty are approachable and very helpful. I had a very positive experience with faculty who were willing to help me one on one. As a matter of fact, one faculty member in particular essentially salvaged my 1L year by identifying how awful my approach to certain aspects of studying was.
*Lincoln is a family town.
*The current administration, lead by Dean Poser, seems to be very diligent and aggressive in improving the school in substance and in reputation. I am very impressed by these efforts.
*Excellent facilities. The library is spacious, was recently renovated and is a great place to study. The school has been nearly completed remodeled. There is also ample parking right next to the building, which is often uncommon on many campuses.

Nebraska cons:
*The weather in Nebraska sucks about 10 months of the year. Winters are icy and brutal. Summers are hot and humid.
*If you're from out of state, private firms in Nebraska won't give you a sniff, even if your grades are solid.
*The Career Services Office is not very helpful, though I don't know that this is really unique. If you're not in the top 10%, you're pretty much on your own. Sure, they'll give you advice (which will be pretty obvious), but when push comes to shove, it's 100% up to you to find a job (again, I don't know that this is really unique).

Recently was admitted to Nebraska Law. I do have a few questions since you are now employed and have been through Law School at Nebraska. It is obviously difficult to land a job in this economic climate for the majority, so, what set you apart from others in your class? Were you top of the class? Interned at the firm you are currently at?

Also, based on your post, you obviously feel that it is not a great idea to attend law school at this juncture; however, you were able to find a job after Law School. The economy is hard to judge, but does not appear it will be a whole lot worse in three years than its current state, so why are you so negative in this regard? I ask with no harm, but just wondering if there are other reasons besides the poor economy and number of attorneys in the market you feel this way?

Last, how competitive was your class at Nebraska? Was it difficult to stand apart from your peers? Would you go to Nebraska again if you could do it all over again?

Thanks for taking questions.

eagles123 wrote:
Recently was admitted to Nebraska Law. I do have a few questions since you are now employed and have been through Law School at Nebraska. It is obviously difficult to land a job in this economic climate for the majority, so, what set you apart from others in your class? Were you top of the class? Interned at the firm you are currently at?

I had very average grades (top half). I obtained my job through social capital I had built prior to law school. There is no way I would have found a job based upon my grades alone. Most people do not have the social capital that I do.

I interned in Nebraska, but not at the firm I work at now. If you are from out of state, you will find it very difficult to get an internship in Nebraska, even if have excellent grades.

As to the economy, it's important to remember the gross over production of JD's was not caused by the recent recession, it was only amplified by it. Approximately 45,000 JD's are minted every year. There are approximately 20,000 jobs available for them, although Paul Campos makes a compelling argument that there are zero jobs available. http://insidethelawschoolscam.blogspot. ... -jobs.html

eagles123 wrote:
Also, based on your post, you obviously feel that it is not a great idea to attend law school at this juncture; however, you were able to find a job after Law School. The economy is hard to judge, but does not appear it will be a whole lot worse in three years than its current state, so why are you so negative in this regard? I ask with no harm, but just wondering if there are other reasons besides the poor economy and number of attorneys in the market you feel this way?

Again, it is crucial to remember that the overproduction of JD's has very little to do with the current recession. There are about 1.2 million JD's. 700,000 of them are lawyers, 500,000 are not. This is not a surplus that can be corrected by even the most robust of economic recoveries. Even if the economy recovers by the time you would graduate, it is unlikely that your job prospects would be significantly different than they were for the Class of 2011.

eagles123 wrote: Last, how competitive was your class at Nebraska? Was it difficult to stand apart from your peers? Would you go to Nebraska again if you could do it all over again?

Thanks for taking questions.

My classmates were genuinely nice, good people, mostly midwesterners. The only way to set yourself apart is to finish in the top 10% and qualify for law review. I would guess that about a third of my class had lawyer jobs at graduation, probably a little less (that made graduation kind of a downer, BTW).

As to whether I would go to Nebraska again, that is a difficult question. With hindsight, probably. I have a good paying job. But if I had understood the true risk of what I was doing (assuming high five figure, nondischargeable debt for about a 30% chance at becoming an attorney), there is simply no way I would have gone. It was a really stupid, reckless decision that just happened to work out in spite of very bad odds. I often feel like someone who unwittingly played and survived Russian Roulette with four out of six chamber loaded.

Law schools will be forced to undergo major structural changes in the coming years. I would strongly suggest waiting 2-3 years to see where the dust settles. Plus, in the mean time you may find something else that does not have five figure non-dischargeable debt and scant career prospects.

Now, if you're going to go to law school anyway, I would suggest going to Nebraska because it is (RELATIVELY) cheap. Go for one year (they don't give out official grades at the end of Fall Semester like most schools). If you finish in the top 10%, continue on. If you don't, cut your losses and begin to repay your $15-$20k in student loans. That's an amount of debt one could theoretically recover from in a couple of years. BUT... be absolutely disciplined about this. If you don't finish in the top 10%, your chances of getting a job as an attorney are not good. Promise yourself that you will leave and not do permanant damage. You need to cut your losses and go at that point.