<p>So i will more than likely be doing my undergrad at U.Houston(tier 4), i am planning to go to Law school. I plan to work in Texas in either Dallas or Houston. Assuming i choose to stay in Houston should i go to the University of Houston Law Center???</p>
<p>The law school is ranked 55 on USNR according to LSN.(the website) , i read on here that you shouldnt go to Law school unless its T14 is this true? I figured if i work in Houston or Dallas i would have a good shot at getting a job coming from UH Law(houston) or SMU(dallas). BTW SMU is ranked 46, so slightly higher than UH.</p>
<p>No sense discussing this until you have an LSAT score and we know what the economy looks like in a few years. This could all be moot, one way or the other.</p>
<p>Depends on what kind of job you want out of Houston. As it stands, only people at the T14 with good grades and/or strong Texas Ties, or people from UT Law, have a decent shot at the big Texas firms (i.e., V&E, F&J, Baker Botts, Haynes and Boone, etc.). These firms do hire out of UH, I believe, but not in any significant number to make UH a sure bet for them. Thus, I think attending UH under the expectation that you’ll land a job at one of those places is foolish at best.</p>
It’s pretty much true if you want to do BigLaw, especially BigLaw out of your region. SMU-Dedman may have a crack at BigLaw jobs in Texas, but UHLC most likely will not.</p>
<p>It is argued that the cost of going to T2 schools doesn’t outweigh the gain, since the starting salaries is mediocre past T1.</p>
<p>Even if the economy picks up, I don’t foresee the job market getting much better at the T2s. There’s a backlog of T1 (and T14) lawyers trying to get a job. The supply of lawyers simply outstrip the demand for lawyers.</p>
<p>Well Houston and Dallas are the 4/5 largest legal markets respectively. So what makes you think i wont get a job coming from either school? And you dont have to work at a BIG law firm to make a good living. Im not going to Law school just to work at some BIG firm. If i go to SMU its because i want to work in Dallas, and UHLC because i want to work in Houston.</p>
<p>I was never under the impression that i would get a job at a BIG firm out of UH or SMU. I just think the playing field changes, when you mix a large legal market into the mix. UHLC is suppose to be the most respected Law school in Houston. I realize that UTs school owns both, but i would much rather go to school where i plan to work. </p>
<p>I would think someone living in Texas and going to Law school in Texas would have a better shot at getting a job in Texas, than someone on the other side of the country.(assuming applicant has very similar stats/ experience)</p>
<p>btw UH and SMU are Tier 2 schools? it says their Tier 1’s.</p>
<p>Generally people refer to tiers as follows (not the usnews does) but theres the t14, then tier 1 is generally 15-50, tier 2 is generally 51-100, and then 101 on is don’t go to law school.</p>
<p>And as a note, if you really want to work in Texas, you would be foolish not to shoot for UT even if you know its a longshot. Basing a decision on where to go to law school by saying you would like to continue to live in the same place is nonsensical especially considering the limited opportunities your likely going to have out of those other two schools. If you finish below median you may not find ANY job and if you finish 50-70th percentile you may have to relocate anyways to find a job. So saying I should go to houston instead of UT because I want to work in houston is a REALLY bad idea.</p>
<p>Well im not sure where i want to work just yet. More than likely i would like to stay in Dallas(SMU). UH isnt to far from being Tier 1 then, but SMU is already Tier 1. Of course UT would be my top choice, but these to are next in line. </p>
<p>i am planning to work extra hard these next few years, slacking in HS got me nowhere. So i plan to do well above the median at whatever i do. </p>
<p>What gives someone coming from another state an edge over anyone in TExas?(UT,SMU,UH) As far as finding a job?</p>
<p>i meant “these two”, but my goal is UT Law. I would think that i would have an edge over UT at UH/SMu, just because i would be able to line up things 3 years ahead of time. UT is borderline T14, who thinks that it will be T14 in 4 years?</p>
<p>Basically the answer is implicit in Patriot’s most recent post.</p>
<p>You should go to the highest of Patriot’s tiers that you can get into. Within each tier, it’s usually best to go to the school that is closest to where you want to work.</p>
<p>(The exception is the T14, where you should just ignore geography.)</p>
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<p>Again, this is absurdly premature. You need an LSAT score before this discussion makes any sense. You might be too low to get into UH. You might be too high such that going to UH might make no sense. This is all moot until you know what kind of law school you should legitimately be aiming at.</p>
<p>yea hopefully i beast on the LSAT, when exactly should i start preparing myself for it?(i take practice questions online from time 2 time, i definitely need practice though)</p>
<p>I was under a slight impression that you (BDM) went to medical school. Must have been one of the likely options for you back in the day of critical decision making?</p>
<p>You’ve forgotten about Baylor which is THE school for litigators in Texas.</p>
<p>Be careful not to over generalize on the other Texas schools; for example, UH has an excellent and highly regarded program in Intellectual Property and it’s grads often end up in Big Law. On that same note,Texas Tech is a great school for Oil and Gas Law with its grads getting BIG jobs in the oil and gas industry mainly in Houston but also in Dallas.</p>
<p>eadad, your post is somewhat misleading. I’m willing to bet that the big Texas firms handling oil and gas work (i.e., V&E, F&J, BB) won’t dip below the top 15% at schools like UH and Baylor. So yes, to say “grads” from these schools get these jobs is technically correct. But to go to the schools and expect to get these jobs is foolish. The reality is that you need at least to go to UT to have a good shot at these places. And there are several T14s where, if you have the requisite market ties, you can get a job at these places with merely a pulse.</p>