Law School Question Forum

[machinebreakfast]

Hello,

A bit about me, I have middle of the road GPA and LSAT and I am currently active duty. I am currently intending to go to Law School in the Fall of 2016, as that is when I discharge from the military. I currently have acceptance to several Top 100 schools and I am trying to decide on which to go with, but I am becoming disheartened the more I read these forums in that it seems there is no point in attending a school if it is not T14 or you want to work in that state/region. Is this really that accurate? If so is it due to lack of other work experiences or do most law firms or hiring bodies not care about other work experience? If not, do other language fluencies help in the job hunting process? I am proficient in Mandarin and may pick another language up before I graduate, whether through classes or a MA in addition to my JD in East Asian Studies or language, and was curious if that was worth it? Would the dual degree be worth it? The majority of my tuition is covered by the Post 9/11 and Yellow Ribbon programs at the schools I have applied to so it would not be too hard for me to get a loan for another year or couple of semesters if I go over Summer. Further is it worth it to get a joint degree at all or would I be better in picking one up from an unrelated field than my language skillset?

Sorry for the rambling and length. Thank you for your answer

TL;DR - Not T14 that crippling for career? Mandarin Chinese offset lower ranked schools? Joint Degree in language, nother field or none at all?

[h2go]

Why are you going to law school? Do you have any idea of what area of law you want to practice? If you want to work in a large law firm or for the federal government, then I would say T20 is necessary or things become difficult. If you aren't interested in that route, there are jobs out there, but the market is still competitive. You will be paying out $200K to compete for jobs that pay in the $50-100K range.

Language skills are only a minor consideration for jobs. It is not worth it to get another liberal arts degree. It won't really help your job prospects in anyway unless you plan on doing something related to it. Don't do it unless you are genuinely interested in the subject and/or can do so without acquiring debt or lowering your GPA.

[machinebreakfast]

Thank you for your response.

I have not decided on a school yet. I am not sure on which area of law I want to practice in either international of some sort or possibly working for the government/national security as that is what my background is in. Where are you getting the paying $200k from? Due to my Post 9/11, as I mentioned earlier, I would at most have to pay for one year out of pocket as it covers 36 months of school which should be no more than $70-100k. For the Federal government only hiring T20 are there statistics on that, and is that for people with no experience fresh out of school? I am a non-traditional student at 30 and have several years of experience behind me, or would that mean nothing as it is not law experience?

[h2go]

Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were talking about the government covering your undergraduate education or law school. That's definitely a plus.

It's not that the federal government only hires out the T20, but that federal government hiring is more competitive than biglaw hiring. There are plenty of applicants for them to choose from out of the top schools, so it's much harder if you are at a lower ranked school. Unless you are interested in and have work experience in a particular niche area, your work experience isn't going to be a huge factor. Law school tier + law school GPA are generally the predominant factors in hiring.

Is there a particular reason why you want to be a lawyer? It seems like you already have a promising career filling other roles in the government.

[totesTheGoat]

Law school tier + law school GPA are generally the predominant factors in hiring.

I think this is overstating it a little bit, but not by a ton. If you're at a T1 school (~top50) you can self-select into government positions by tailoring your resume to those positions. You still need a good/great GPA, but the statistics don't always tell the whole truth. There are many students who would be eligible for gov't positions, but don't apply for them. h2go is absolutely right that the combination of the quality of your law school and your law school GPA has to be at a certain level to even be considered for these jobs. Going to a T2 school and getting a median GPA will not cut it.

Is there a particular reason why you want to be a lawyer? It seems like you already have a promising career filling other roles in the government.

This is an important question. Even with a portion of law school paid for, you're investing large amounts of time and effort into an undertaking that many people come to regret. It's generally a bad idea to go to law school without doing extensive research into salary distributions, chances of getting your dream job, and the work that an attorney does in your field of interest. If you've done that research, great! Do everything you can to get into the best school possible, and have fun! If you haven't done that research, now is the time to do it. I'd hate for you to make such a large decision without all of the information.