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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm going to go against the grain on this thread and say prestige is for the birds. I know DCUM is obsessed with it but you can have a completely lucrative career having gone to a public law school. The vast majority of lawyers in this country are not employed at big law and did not attend a top 10 law school.

In fact, most of the attys that I know who started up their own firms and now make $$$ went to public, no name schools. DCUM is a weird place for advice because it slants in one direction only - private, prestigious, big law, money, did I say prestige? In truth, there a multitude of avenues for success.

I went to a public, not highly ranked school[b]. I started up my own practice because I wanted more freedom to raise my kids. I don't make big law money but at $400-500K, I'm doing just fine in a dual income home. [/b]

There are lots of ways to make a living in law, OP, more than gov't and big law. Chances are when your DC gets to law school interests will change. [/quote]
This is really good. Is that your net? What practice area? Are you a solo? Any employees or associates? Any office overhead? ~~Another Lawyer[/quote]

I agree with all of what the first PP said. If you want BIGLAW, then prestige matters. But there are LOTS of ways to have a path in law that involves other than BIGLAW. Government (Federal is a tough entry but not impossible, but state government too). Nonprofit or public interest. Small or solo practitioners. The other options may not be as lucrative at first  but it is doable. And nonprofit/public interest may have some loan replacement.

I'm in government but my experience will not be representative now as I got in 25 years ago. That said, my intent was on one practice area but I took what I could get at the time (BigLaw was not a good fit for me). And I ended up not in the practice area I thought but with a phenomenal mentor (and friend) who set me on a path that was good enough (if not the one I wanted initially). [b]Be flexible.[/b] [/quote]

+1. This. Or just be open to all possibilities. Lawyers, for some reason, have the most narrow views for what their career paths should look like. Maybe we're more rigid and not as creative as other fields but I'm floored by rigidity of the response here. [/quote]The system is remarkably rigid for  entry level employment  That's reality, not DCUM bias.  Once you have 3-5 years of experience under your belt, there are more options.[/quote]

This is accurate advice.

The difficulty is that most recent law grads have substantial student loan debt that requires a high paying position within 3 months of graduation.[/quote]

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