William & Mary Law School Forum

[LaBarrister]

Can anyone provide their experience at William & Mary Law School?

[kuttlefish]

I'm a 0L looking at different schools including W&M. Here are some threads I started that might help you out:

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 4&t=200110

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=201508

[LaBarrister]

K-fish,

Are you not also interested in George Mason and University of Richmond?

I know someone at the University of Richmond now who got into several higher ranked law schools who loves her experience there. Also, she says she knows several patent attorneys (what I am interested in becoming) who are doing well out of that law school in the Virginia market. I'm a little skeptical of that point, and coming from my chemical engineering background, I don't know how well I will do particularly in VA, but still. From her personal experience, and she is doing an IP concentration there, University of Richmond doesn't seem like it should be entirely ruled out for those interested in patent/IP.

For others, well, George Mason is ranked right there with W&M.

Just curious. I'm not expecting anyone else to really comment on this thread, so I might as well chat it up with you.

Edit: Great links, btw. Thanks a lot for taking the time to share them.

[LaBarrister]

I am personally interested in patent prosecution with two undergraduate degrees in English and chemical engineering and patent examiner experience, plus a bit of networking in the VA area. But I'm not looking to go to UVA even if I get in. I just want to get a scholarship to W&L, George Mason, U of R, or W&M and then get into a small to middle size boutique patent firm.

I also have experience showing my interest in patent law for many, many years, so that may help, too. (I hope.)

[EMH99]

.

[LaBarrister]

Just basically considering a market for writing patents for a living. My undergraduate will be in chemical engineering, and I've heard that Texas has one of the best markets for chemical patents, so I may go to law school there. But I also want to stay out of the South and head toward Virginia/D.C. if I can. I want to be around the Patent Office.

So, I probably will be mostly considering between W&M and George Mason, and probably won't know which to attend until I know about my scholarship opportunities. I won't go to VA, GULC, or anything like that because the debt will not be worth it, since I am without a doubt going into patent law if I do go to law school.

So, yeah. Nothing too complicated, here. If you are also pursuing IP/patent law, I will send you a PM!

Edit: I will also be giving W&L a look over. I don't like the atmosphere at that school as much, but it is ranked higher than W&M and George Mason, so if I get a good scholarship there I will definitely give it a second glance.

[akasabian]

I have a question not directly related to this, but it is a W&M question:

I've seen the stats on Clerkships, but what is the actual reputation of W&M in terms of getting clerkships? And where do they tend to place said clerkships? I'm assuming most aren't Art. III judges

[Green Crayons]

I have a question not directly related to this, but it is a W&M question:

I've seen the stats on Clerkships, but what is the actual reputation of W&M in terms of getting clerkships? And where do they tend to place said clerkships? I'm assuming most aren't Art. III judges

Graduating 3L here.

If you are at the top of your class (top 5%), you have a shot at an Article III DC clerkship. If you have connections, you have a shot at an Article III DC clerkship. If you are truly a spectacular snowflake, you might be able to pull off a Circuit Court clerkship -- but this has not happened for a few years now. We place mostly on the East Coast, and particularly in Virginia. The same judges keep hiring W&M graduates, so our clerks are doing their jobs proficiently.

It's difficult for me to provide much more than that, as I know my class in particular ignored the clerkship route altogether (so not even that many attempted and struck out). That said, I think federal court clerkships are generally more popular than state court clerkships (I think this is may simply be the result of those persons who are actively seeking out clerkships are those students who already have the grades and connections, and therefore self-select into getting federal court clerkships), but I know a handful of people over the past few years who have gone the state clerkship route.

[lethe405]

I have a question not directly related to this, but it is a W&M question:

I've seen the stats on Clerkships, but what is the actual reputation of W&M in terms of getting clerkships? And where do they tend to place said clerkships? I'm assuming most aren't Art. III judges

Graduating 3L here.

If you are at the top of your class (top 5%), you have a shot at an Article III DC clerkship. If you have connections, you have a shot at an Article III DC clerkship. If you are truly a spectacular snowflake, you might be able to pull off a Circuit Court clerkship -- but this has not happened for a few years now. We place mostly on the East Coast, and particularly in Virginia. The same judges keep hiring W&M graduates, so our clerks are doing their jobs proficiently.

It's difficult for me to provide much more than that, as I know my class in particular ignored the clerkship route altogether (so not even that many attempted and struck out). That said, I think federal court clerkships are generally more popular than state court clerkships (I think this is may simply be the result of those persons who are actively seeking out clerkships are those students who already have the grades and connections, and therefore self-select into getting federal court clerkships), but I know a handful of people over the past few years who have gone the state clerkship route.

This response isn't entirely accurate. According to the clerkship spreadsheet that OCS makes available to students, about a half dozen from the Class of 2012 got federal district court clerkships, mostly on the east coast. Two got federal CoA clerkships. Another 20ish got federal administrative court or state court clerkships.

If you're in the top 10% of the class and are on Law Review, a federal district court clerkship is a real possibility. If you're not, W&M grads have decent placement in the state courts as well.

[Green Crayons]

I rechecked the OCI spreadsheet that I haven't looked at in several months, and you are correct. I misremembered one of those 2012 grads going to a COA as being from a previous year. The other was accepted to clerk when the judge was in the DC, with the judge being appointed to the COA after that student's clerkship was already secured. Regardless, I should amend my statement about lack of COA clerks: for the past few years there is, on average, about two persons per year going to a COA clerkship. Not exactly stellar odds, but hey! Someone's got to be that special snowflake.

With how W&M does its rankings, Top 5% can more than cover a half dozen of students. I stand by my Top 5% or connections for an Art. III DC clerkship.



Edit: just so this isn't simply all about clerkships --

Can anyone provide their experience at William & Mary Law School?

If you have already decided that law school (and being a lawyer) is for you, then W&M is a great place. I don't know if I would choose it over a T14, but I did pick W&M over a T20 and don't regret it at all.

[akasabian]

If you have already decided that law school (and being a lawyer) is for you, then W&M is a great place. I don't know if I would choose it over a T14, but I did pick W&M over a T20 and don't regret it at all.

But why did you make that decision beyond mere $$$? And whats your take on W&M vs. W&L

[Green Crayons]

I personally made the decision because a close member of the family alum told me his experiences and that did it for me. Cost of living was also an issue, assuming you don't wrap that up into the money sunk into attending school.


If I were to ask what I think separates W&M apart from other schools, I would say it's your peers. This is beyond the fact that there isn't cut throat competitive bullshit (not to say that there isn't some competition). Instead -- and exceptions aside -- the community itself is what clinches it.


I don't know much about W&L. I always think of it as the conservative-leaning version of the liberal-leaning W&M.

[wired]

If you are at the top of your class (top 5%), you have a shot at an Article III DC clerkship. If you have connections, you have a shot at an Article III DC clerkship. If you are truly a spectacular snowflake, you might be able to pull off a Circuit Court clerkship -- but this has not happened for a few years now. We place mostly on the East Coast, and particularly in Virginia. The same judges keep hiring W&M graduates, so our clerks are doing their jobs proficiently.

Also W&M 3L here. I think you might be playing it a little tough here, though that's probably good to give people an idea of how difficult clerkships are to get from Non Top-14 schools.

We have had students at the circuit level each of the past five years (I didn't look back any further than that). But to be fair, it's only been one to three students in each of those years.

As for District Court, we have a few judges who like to hire from W&M specifically. And they're in the EDVa which is typically considered a more difficult district to land in. The WDVa likes us too, but students tend not to apply there as much.

I also know within the past two years we've had a student outside the Top 10% land an Art. III DC clerkship without a pre-existing relationship, but there's no way in hell I'd ever bank on that. For every student like that, there's at least another three who won't hear a peep from judges. Those in the Top 5-10% tend to land District Court interviews.

We also have some relationships with a federal judge or judges in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida, but we're not consistently feeding people to them.

[wired]

I personally made the decision because a close member of the family alum told me his experiences and that did it for me. Cost of living was also an issue, assuming you don't wrap that up into the money sunk into attending school.


If I were to ask what I think separates W&M apart from other schools, I would say it's your peers. This is beyond the fact that there isn't cut throat competitive bullshit (not to say that there isn't some competition). Instead -- and exceptions aside -- the community itself is what clinches it.


I don't know much about W&L. I always think of it as the conservative-leaning version of the liberal-leaning W&M.

Definitely agree on the part about student atmosphere. Easily the best part is the atmosphere of non-douchery. Carry your weight decently, be good to other students, and everyone will do the same back.

[LaBarrister]

I personally made the decision because a close member of the family alum told me his experiences and that did it for me. Cost of living was also an issue, assuming you don't wrap that up into the money sunk into attending school.


If I were to ask what I think separates W&M apart from other schools, I would say it's your peers. This is beyond the fact that there isn't cut throat competitive bullshit (not to say that there isn't some competition). Instead -- and exceptions aside -- the community itself is what clinches it.


I don't know much about W&L. I always think of it as the conservative-leaning version of the liberal-leaning W&M.

Definitely agree on the part about student atmosphere. Easily the best part is the atmosphere of non-douchery. Carry your weight decently, be good to other students, and everyone will do the same back.

That's really cool. I'll definitely give that place a visit next time I head east.

[akasabian]

I'm visiting here next week and I'm hoping to check out some good places to live. Any recommendations?

[RagingChipmunk]

I went to W&M for my undergrad degree and lived in some apartments called Spotswood Commons off of Longhill Rd. They're a little pricey, but very nice and the management there is great. It's about a 10 min drive to campus (just b/c of stop lights) and your close to shopping, resturants etc. There's also an apartment complex called Steeplechase that's fairly nice. Check the college's ULoop website for postings on places too. Let me know if I can be of any other help.

I'm visiting here next week and I'm hoping to check out some good places to live. Any recommendations?

[drinion]

Are there any advantages to having a pc rather than a mac laptop? Less specific to W&M, but I'm still curious: is there a laptop size that most people find best for taking exams?