Top Law Schools

Didn't see any threads on the first few pages for UF students. Ask away.

A lot of threads on TLS say that after the T14, UF is the way to go for Florida, as long as you're fine with being geographically limited to Florida. My brother-in-law, who is an attorney in St. Pete, says basically the same thing: that UF Law has a lot of respect within the state, but the degree won't really travel well.


Having said all that, why is UF's employment score on LST (barely about 50%) so low? I know there are a ton of TTTs in Florida pumping out way too many lawyers, but I would imagine they're so far below UF that you're not really competing for the same stuff. The only competition within Florida, as far as I can tell, should be FSU and maybe UM for South Florida.

Yeah I think even with the employment numbers as they are, people generally consider UF as the best law school in the state. With a significant scholarship to UF (splitter) and facing sticker at T14 down if accepted, I feel comfortable looking for a job at a medium size firm in Florida after graduating with minimal debt.

That being said, I'm not sure why we are only at 56% on LST. I think it is slightly misleading given that of the 20.7% not employed in last year's class, only 8.7% are considered unemployed - seeking. I think FSU also has a higher score because 30% are in public service, as opposed to 17% at UF. More people are graduating from UF than FSU and are looking for cutthroat firm jobs, ending up under-employed (27.6%).

I think TCR is still UF for private practice, FSU for gov/PI. If one is noticeably cheaper, go there. If you like one significantly more than the other, go there.

I don't think Miami is worth going to over UF/FSU unless you have a full ride. Even if you had a $75k scholarship to UM, FSU/UF at sticker would be cheaper (half the tuition, much cheaper residency).

So what is your assessment of the employment situation for a median student? Do you think LST is overly pessimistic?

TheSpanishMain wrote:So what is your assessment of the employment situation for a median student? Do you think LST is overly pessimistic?

I think LST is overly pessimistic in general because it assumes everyone is going to law school at sticker. Don't go to UF at sticker. I think at median you aren't making your life very easy but if you are realistic about your options, you will be able to find something. It's tough to get many OCI interviews if you are outside the top 25% so you have to resort to mass mail and other connections. We did have 100% employment of our Law Review, Moot Court, and Trial Team members last year, and I know at least a few of those kids were around median. I think once you are in the bottom 25% it becomes incredibly difficult, if not impossible, but that's pretty much the assessment at every lower T14 and below.

UF_Law wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:So what is your assessment of the employment situation for a median student? Do you think LST is overly pessimistic?

I think LST is overly pessimistic in general because it assumes everyone is going to law school at sticker. Don't go to UF at sticker. I think at median you aren't making your life very easy but if you are realistic about your options, you will be able to find something. It's tough to get many OCI interviews if you are outside the top 25% so you have to resort to mass mail and other connections. We did have 100% employment of our Law Review, Moot Court, and Trial Team members last year, and I know at least a few of those kids were around median. I think once you are in the bottom 25% it becomes incredibly difficult, if not impossible, but that's pretty much the assessment at every lower T14 and below.

Living in South Florida, I can definitely say UF has a VERY strong presence in the area but it still seems like UM is king down here and Nova might even have a better network down here than UF. In what part of the state do you really see UF grads getting jobs? I would think Central Florida (Orlando area) is littered with UF grads no?

TheSpanishMain wrote:A lot of threads on TLS say that after the T14, UF is the way to go for Florida, as long as you're fine with being geographically limited to Florida. My brother-in-law, who is an attorney in St. Pete, says basically the same thing: that UF Law has a lot of respect within the state, but the degree won't really travel well.


Having said all that, why is UF's employment score on LST (barely about 50%) so low? I know there are a ton of TTTs in Florida pumping out way too many lawyers, but I would imagine they're so far below UF that you're not really competing for the same stuff. The only competition within Florida, as far as I can tell, should be FSU and maybe UM for South Florida.

FIU in soflo is also catching up to UM pretty rapidly for only being around for 10 years. It's really all about UF, FSU, UM, and FIU in Florida. All the other ones are $$$ trap schools, with MAYBE the exception of Stetson.

holysheed wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:A lot of threads on TLS say that after the T14, UF is the way to go for Florida, as long as you're fine with being geographically limited to Florida. My brother-in-law, who is an attorney in St. Pete, says basically the same thing: that UF Law has a lot of respect within the state, but the degree won't really travel well.


Having said all that, why is UF's employment score on LST (barely about 50%) so low? I know there are a ton of TTTs in Florida pumping out way too many lawyers, but I would imagine they're so far below UF that you're not really competing for the same stuff. The only competition within Florida, as far as I can tell, should be FSU and maybe UM for South Florida.

FIU in soflo is also catching up to UM pretty rapidly for only being around for 10 years. It's really all about UF, FSU, UM, and FIU in Florida. All the other ones are $$$ trap schools, with MAYBE the exception of Stetson.

I can confidently say Nova grads are in a better position to land jobs than FIU grads. FIU has a growing reputation in Miami but UM and Nova cover the tri county area pretty well

Many firms in Miami would pick an FIU grad over a Nova grad. I've seen it first hand. The only reason Nova grads are more prominent is because they admit more people than FIU and they have had a longer time to spread around Miami since FIU is relatively new.

holysheed wrote:Many firms in Miami would pick an FIU grad over a Nova grad. I've seen it first hand. The only reason Nova grads are more prominent is because they admit more people than FIU and they have had a longer time to spread around Miami since FIU is relatively new.

In Miami probably. Broward and Palm Beach probably not.

UF_Law wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:So what is your assessment of the employment situation for a median student? Do you think LST is overly pessimistic?

I think LST is overly pessimistic in general because it assumes everyone is going to law school at sticker. Don't go to UF at sticker. I think at median you aren't making your life very easy but if you are realistic about your options, you will be able to find something. It's tough to get many OCI interviews if you are outside the top 25% so you have to resort to mass mail and other connections. We did have 100% employment of our Law Review, Moot Court, and Trial Team members last year, and I know at least a few of those kids were around median. I think once you are in the bottom 25% it becomes incredibly difficult, if not impossible, but that's pretty much the assessment at every lower T14 and below.

.

What does it take to get actual Biglaw at UF? Where do people get it, Miami? Orlando/Tampa?

it seems like biglaw is limited to about the top 5% in the class, more or less. it seemed like the same 20 people got every biglaw screener at oci.

i know people who got biglaw in all of the following:

atlanta
miami
tampa
orlando
jacksonville
ft lauderdale
new york and DC [rare]