<p>Does Tiers matter for a prospective criminal attorney? I pose this question because I can't think of any benefit to attending a highly ranked(expensive school) if you're not looking to get into academia or corporate law. I just did a quick search of the best criminal attorneys in my area they all went to Tier 4 and Tier 2 schools with a few attending IU-B and one attending Notre Dame.</p>
<p>It is silly to suggest that you can’t get a job in criminal law unless you have a degree from a prestigious university. However, if you do choose to forgo an education at a T14 you will close many doors for yourself (at least in the first few years after graduation). That means less flexibility if your preferences happen to change (they often do). For example, you might want to do tax law instead of criminal law after a riveting clinic at your law school. If you turned down NYU to go to Florida International University and your preference has changed then you are in a rather poor position to get a job in tax law (by going to FIU you lost considerable flexibility and potential earnings). Essentially, don't put your "eggs in one basket" by attempting to save money by going to a lower tier school just because criminal law isn't as competitive as corporate law (in certain senses). Simply put, a degree from a prestigious university equates to higher earnings (initially at least) and greater geographical flexibility. A T14 degree opens doors; a degree from a fourth tier will restrain you to practice within a certain jurisdiction (for the first few years at least). In short, its bad to make a law school decision simply based off of costs, (very few law schools are “cheap), you have to consider the flexibility a degree gives you and what it will do for your initial earning potential (if you make 125k coming from a good school then the debt won’t be as big of a problem).</p>
<p>Well. I'm not going to a T14 law school I highly doubt I'd get the LSAT scores require to merit admission. Clearly, a T14 is more portable, and that is a considerable advantage. However, is nearly free law school at a tier 1 really that bad, at say IU-B? Or even IU-I? Just wondering if I really want to commit to a six figure debt like those at prestigous private universities.</p>
<p>I assume you mean Indiana U-Bloomington. If you want to stay in Indiana, then IU-B is fine. Note though that there is a bit of a split between criminal lawyers in state courts--who litigate state crimes,which can include serious crimes like murder but also start off with a lot of misdemeanors--and defense counsel in federal courts, who will litigate things like bank embezzlement, securities fraud, etc. These are more likely to be national law school grads. I suspect though that if you do well at IU-B that won't be an issue as long as you are willing to spend the rest of your career in Indiana.</p>
<p>IU and Notre Dame, would have a much better national reputation than say IU-I or Valpo?</p>