This is very ahead of time and I have no need to determine if such schools match my scores as they don’t exist yet, but can anyone throw out any names.
the best law schools (for any and all kinds of law) are the so-called T14. They can be affordable if you have great numbers and earn a merit scholarship.
All schools teach criminal law. Some may have clinics that work with criminal law, and several have Innocent Project clinics.
For criminal law, find a law school with an active criminal defense clinic & prosecutorial clinics. No need to attend a top ranked law school.
First, check out the clinical offerings at your state supported law school. This should be a reasonable cost option.
T-14 law schools primary function is to place its grads in big law firms which focus on civil law, not criminal, and to get some grads into federal judicial clerkships.
For public defenders, it is all about commitment & dedication to the cause. Law review & top quarter of the class is not valued for this practice area.
Some of the T-14 have special programs to eliminate debt accrued while attending, if you go into public interest or government work. A little research on their websites will tell you if they have a program. If you go into Big Law, you will earn enough to pay off the debt in short order. The T-14 prep you for Big Law, esp the top five,
To get into a T-14, get good grades (3.7 or higher) and practice your LSAT until you can score over 170. You can start practicing now. The more you practice, the higher you will score. Also, in choosing your major, you can major in anything, so to improve your chances of getting a high GPA maybe take something that you know you will do well in.
I caution against the advice given above of just going to your local law school, because in lower-tier law schools a smaller percentage of the graduating class gets jobs that require a law degree – and indeed few practice law at some schools. If you go to a lower-tier law school you will need to graduate in the top sliver of students in order to guaranteed employment. All students graduate with debt, however.
The ABA requires that law schools place information on their websites with stats about what percentage of students work after law school and what kinds of work. In general the T-14 provide the highest likelihood of getting a job, in law, after graduation, that can service the debt, either through a loan-forgiveness program (for PI and gov work) or through a salary sufficient to pay down the debt.
In general, perhaps true. But if you want to gun for Criminal in the:
(1) USAO
(2) State appellate division
(3) Federal Public Defender
(4) White Collar defense at mid level or boutique firm, or
(5) Criminal law based on SEC violations
…then Prestige matters.
Interesting post above (#5).
AUSAs often are from prestigious law schools. If I recall correctly, top 20% standing is a threshold requirement–although I am not certain as to whether it is strictly enforced. I know several who attended elite law school, were hired into big law & after a few years became Ass’t US Attorneys.
Most of the US Attorneys & AUSAs I know were active in Republican politics.
With respect to (2), (3) & (4) in post #5 above, they are not accurate in my experience so it may vary by location.
Typically, Federal Public Defenders do not care about law school attended, but do want 5 years experience as a state or local public defender.
To become an SEC attorney in their criminal division, one should take securities law & related courses while in law school, criminal law & criminal procedure courses as well. The attorneys whom I know in this field had internships with the SEC during law school.
Post #4 above is, in my opinion & based on my experience & knowledge of others’ careers, a bit misguided & suggests to me that that poster may be unfamiliar with the realities of entering into the practice of criminal law–especially for criminal defense or for state & local level prosecution & public defense positions.
Many aspiring prosecutors get experience in their law school’s prosecutorial clinic. After graduation, working in the local or state DA’s office is common. Often, aspiring prosecutors will work for free for six months or a year in order to get experience when local & state governments are experiencing funding shortfalls. Not typical for PDs as their service stems from a constitutional requirement of the right to counsel.
Your local state supported law school may be best for aspiring criminal defense lawyers at any level & in any type of firm–white collar defense or public defense or solo & small firm practice.
Many, maybe most, AUSAs come from biglaw & biglaw attorneys tend to come from the top ranked law schools.
An interesting aspect to consider: Once a prosecutor, one is damaged goods with respect to becoming a public defender. May happen, but rarely if ever. (But former prosecutors do end up in private practice as criminal defense attorneys quite often.)Yet prosecutorial offices often are very willing to hire attorneys with criminal defense experience.
Public defense is a religion. PD offices like, and sometimes demand, “religious zealots” .
Many prosecutors who leave the office go on to very successful careers in private practice on the defense side.
With regard to AUSAs, the ones I know did NOT go to T14 schools.
And that is my point in post #8 regarding the “damaged goods” comment. PRIVATE PRACTICE as they are unlikely to be considered by any public defender’s office or clinic at any level.
It may be helpful for readers to understand the difference in tuition at state flagship law schools versus tuition at a Top 14 law school.
Often the Top 14 law school’s tuition for one year of law school, approximately $65,000, is more than triple a year’s tuition at one’s state flagship law school. Law school is three years for one attending full time.
It would be foolish for one to pay for a T-14 law school degree if set on a career in criminal law. Also, for one who has the option of a top 14 law school versus a state flagship law school, it is likely that that person could secure a very substantial scholarship at the state flagship or private non-T-14 law school. This makes attending the non-T-14 law school an even more attractive option for one seeking a career in criminal law.
Again, this conversation seems to be based on personal experience. The younger AUSAs I know (all friends of my S, JD2013), all attended T-14 schools (mostly T-6), clerked at multiple levels and, in some cases, did litigation or white collar work at Biglaw firms before going to the US Attorney’s Office. They are insanely competitive positions and none of these lawyers are Republicans, for another data point. The competition to get work with local PD offices, not to mention the Federal Defenders, is fierce. Depending on where you want to live, it can take top grades from a top school , along with a ton of clinic and summer experience, to get into a PD office. If you want to do private non-white collar criminal defense in a local firm, then I agree with whomever is suggesting that you don’t need a top school, or top grades, or law review. If your goal is one of the positions I mention above, I wouldn’t make that assumption.
Actually, great conversation about just this on Law School Life in the Employment Section - Government and Public Interest. Real live young lawyers discussing what it takes to get a job as a PD in major markets.
Choose a school with a robust clinical program in the state where you want to practice. Any law school can teach you the Model Penal Code and the common law, but you want hands on experience with the Penal Code & precedents in your state. If I bring you in as an extern or intern or law clerk, I do not necessarily have the time to teach you our code or the nitty-gritty of sentencing, so I am a big fan of our local law schools – and some of my best hires have been the #1 or #2 at a school that is not even T100, because they’ve been in the trenches during law school and are ready to contribute from day one. That said, if you want to be an AUSA or a federal PD, the school will matter, and I do not really disagree with what has been said above. My street cred? I’ve run a high volume judicial legal staff for 26 years.