Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Does a Minnesota law grad really have the same opportunities as grads from the other Top 20 schools?
That was the one that surprised me. I get you probably have lots of opportunities in MN and perhaps the midwest...but are the large coastal firms actively recruiting?
I’m a big law lawyer and participate in my firm’s interview process for law students. No, they do not. And the subset of schools that national/coastal law firms actively recruit from is the T14, not T20 (not sure why it’s 14 as opposed to some other number). That’s not to say a firm would auto-reject a top-performing UMN law student, but most Vault 50-100 firms aren’t recruiting there, so it’s a matter of the student taking initiative or applying through a connection. And they would have to be a tippy top student (top 10% or so, be on law review, etc.) to get an interview, whereas T14 students have a lot more leeway.
Just curious...is a Vanderbilt law grad just as s**t out of luck as the UMN law grad from your perspective?
I’ve worked in both NYC and DC big law, and have seen a few Vanderbilt grads. But the same point - that most major big law firms don’t actively recruit there, and that a student applying on their own initiative would have to be at the top of the class - applies. It doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t be hired, it’s just a much harder road. Law schools’ big law + federal clerkship rates are published on their websites and can give you an idea of the percentage of students that gets those kind of jobs. Just be careful because some schools inflate the law firm number by including regional firms.
I’d actually recommend that if a student is interested in big law and can’t attend a T14, the best route is to attend a decent, well-known local school in the market they’re targeting. Like GW for DC or Fordham/Cardozo for NYC. They’re well known enough that there are a decent number of alums working at law firms, and law firms often do recruit good students there because they’re local and it’s easy. Still have to do really well, but I think it’s a little easier.
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