Why do lawyers in my field insist on listing their Alma maters on their resumes, even after they’ve been practicing for

[Anonymous]

I’m old now and early retired, but I was an associate and then counsel and eventually made (equity) party on one of the top DC law firms by every measure.

I still vividly remember when going through the senior associate evaluation process with partnership on the line seeing the list of associates in the process and their law schools and graduation years next to their names, including mine. I attended a T20 but not T14 school (but kicked ass in it) and when I was first going through the process the large majority of the equity partners weren’t just T14 but T5.

I thought it was egregiously unfair. After 5+ years as an associate in the firm the only thing that should matter is the work, not the school, and we all know that senior old fart white guy partners from Harvard and Yale or whatever are always going to assume that graduates of their schools are by definition smarter and better, at least subconsciously. I raised this with a member of the evaluation committee and not soon after they discontinued the practice.

Lawyers are a school prestige obsessed bunch. No doubt about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's standard in the field -- not sure why you don't understand this. The biggest context for bios is website copy written for clients. Clients want to see where the lawyers went to law school. Legal culture in general follows -- bios for CLE presenters, etc.

Doctors and dentists do this as well -- people look at that info when choosing a provider.

That you "find it embarrassing" is definitely about you, and not about the phenomenon.

Just because it is standard doesn’t make it any less dumb.

I really have no idea where my dentist went to school. Or my doctors.

Not wise to be uninformed as many physicians attended foreign med schools with much lower standards than US medical schools. And, yes, I understand that they all must pass the same licensing exam, but licensing exams are designed to test for basic competency--nothing more.

[Anonymous]

Lawyers are incredibly status conscious, especially when it comes to credentials. Even people who go into public interest law are like this. I think it's because the work is cerebral and, unless you are a trial attorney, happens quietly in offices out of sight. So I think people feel like they have to prove how smart they are. So yes they can be obsessive about alma maters, the firms they work for, the people they know, etc.

I am a lawyer by training but went into business for myself and never really practiced, so I don't feel this pressure to prove my worth by listing my credentials. It's just not part of the culture of where I work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? Clients care or no one would do it. Even a partner 25 years out. Corporate clients want to see a resume they expect. They could be open to alternatives but most want central casting. It explains who they are getting.

I am a corporate client. I do not care where my OC went to college and what they majored in. And I don’t care about their law school either. I care that they have deep SME

Please learn to write without the use of silly acronyms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is this little group that is getting together? That’s the issue.

Lawyers. All very senior. It just struck me bc I recently had to do a bio exchange for an industry event with non lawyers. Everyone highlighted their actual work.

I’d understand if it was a recent grad event.

You really didn’t provide much info. I’m a lawyer, very senior, which is why I asked. So this is some random networking thing of outside counsel who don’t know each other? Nowadays I’m supposed to list my pets and hobbies, along with a “lifestyle” photo. I prefer the days when I could just say where I went to law school and we could talk about how the renovated library is amazing. So I just see listing school as a way to start connections and conversations, not as way to brag about your 20s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? Clients care or no one would do it. Even a partner 25 years out. Corporate clients want to see a resume they expect. They could be open to alternatives but most want central casting. It explains who they are getting.

I am a corporate client. I do not care where my OC went to college and what they majored in. And I don’t care about their law school either. I care that they have deep SME

Please learn to write without the use of silly acronyms.

I’m an OC. I have never heard the acronym OC. (Outside counsel).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah but if someone from T20 law school has a BA in English from T10 and someone else has an SB in physics from T10 guess who I pick all else being equal.

Hopefully, it's the English major as the primary function of an attorney is to effectively communicate their clients' positions & concerns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? Clients care or no one would do it. Even a partner 25 years out. Corporate clients want to see a resume they expect. They could be open to alternatives but most want central casting. It explains who they are getting.

I am a corporate client. I do not care where my OC went to college and what they majored in. And I don’t care about their law school either. I care that they have deep SME

How would you know whether or not the attorney has subject matter expertise ? And what is more important--subject matter expertise or legal skills & knowledge ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who knows anything about hiring qualified counsel understands that professional reputation absolutely trumps school.

+100

[Anonymous]

Law is all about credentials. Every law firm website bio has an education section. LinkedIn has an education section. This is not new.

[Anonymous]

Now, more than ever, law school admission is based on one's LSAT score, which is an extremely hard standardized test.

So where one went to law school is a very good proxy for intelligence.

If you look at this data from 2020, you'll see that there are only 7 schools where at least 75% of the enrolled students scored at least the 90th percentile (167), another 6 schools where at least 75% scored at least the 85th percentile (164), and another 14 schools where at least 75% scored at least the 75th percentile (160).

In short, to get into college, you need good grades, good test scores, and connections. But you can brute force your way into a good law school with just good grades and good test scores.

Where you went to law school is a very good proxy for your verbal and spatial IQ.

https://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/1/desc/LSATLow?name=&state=

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? Clients care or no one would do it. Even a partner 25 years out. Corporate clients want to see a resume they expect. They could be open to alternatives but most want central casting. It explains who they are getting.

I am a corporate client. I do not care where my OC went to college and what they majored in. And I don’t care about their law school either. I care that they have deep SME

Please learn to write without the use of silly acronyms.

I’m an OC. I have never heard the acronym OC. (Outside counsel).

np here, I’ve definitely heard of OC. IHC for in house counsel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? Clients care or no one would do it. Even a partner 25 years out. Corporate clients want to see a resume they expect. They could be open to alternatives but most want central casting. It explains who they are getting.

I am a corporate client. I do not care where my OC went to college and what they majored in. And I don’t care about their law school either. I care that they have deep SME

That’s because OC is what in house attorneys say internally. I’m new on in house side.

Please learn to write without the use of silly acronyms.

I’m an OC. I have never heard the acronym OC. (Outside counsel).

[Anonymous]

Yeah I’m new on the in house side and we use the term OC internally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, yes. Law. But it’s so odd. No one else I know in the business world really does this. They’d list their accomplishments, work focus. They wouldn’t devote equal space to undergrad school and major, and law school.

It's not odd. It's standard. It's what Martindale-Hubbell has used for decades. It's to generate interest from clients. Who are you to criticize?