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If you look at the US news rankings you'll see that while Yale is their #1 it was not for the subcatagories I checked out. Intellectual Property, tax law, international law.
it seems to me that getting ahead in the legal world means going to the law school where you will be in the top 10% if you work like crazy and have a talent for the law. Recruitment is from the top of the class only. The C student at Harvard Law is not asked to interview as a 2nd year, but the top-of-class students from "the rest of the schools" may be interviewed.
Dont' know if all do this but the ones I heard of grade on the curve, so some students in each class at Harvard are going to get a D. it's required.
scary, eh?
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<p>I have to back up jonri on this one. I have never heard of a policy at HLS where some students are required to get D's. If you have information that such a policy exists, please present it.</p>
<p>"The C student at Harvard Law is not asked to interview as a 2nd year"</p>
<p>This is false. First of all, employers are not permitted to see HLS students' transcripts before interviewing them on campus -- anyone can interview with any employer. So you always have a chance to win them over in the first interview. Second, while there are some firms that care about HLS students' grades, there are many more that do not, especially outside of NY and DC. An HLS student with a C average (if there are any) can find a job with a respected, high-paying as long as he interviews well.</p>
<p>"Dont' know if all do this but the ones I heard of grade on the curve, so some students in each class at Harvard are going to get a D. it's required."</p>
<p>Not so. Some professors curve, but they usually curve around a B+ and the grades are pretty tightly clustered. A B-minus is considered a very low grade at HLS. My second year, a visiting professor gave out a large number of C's in Evidence and it was a small scandal. After first year, you choose all of your own classes and professors, so it would be easy to select professors based on their grading policies if you wanted to.</p>
<p>Just came across an article from the National Law Journal dated 1/10/07- which listed the schools where the 250 biggest law firms hire their first year associates. The top 5 schools were listed as Columbia-U of Penn-U of Chicago-Harvard and Duke. The next 5 follow as NYU-Cornell-Stanford-U of Michigan and UVA. Yale came in as # 15.<br>
Don't know if this means anything- but thought the info might be interesting to some.</p>
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Just came across an article from the National Law Journal dated 1/10/07- which listed the schools where the 250 biggest law firms hire their first year associates. The top 5 schools were listed as Columbia-U of Penn-U of Chicago-Harvard and Duke. The next 5 follow as NYU-Cornell-Stanford-U of Michigan and UVA. Yale came in as # 15.
Don't know if this means anything- but thought the info might be interesting to some.
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<p>I believe that much of this can be attributed to the fact that a disproportionate percentage of YLS grads take clerkships upon graduation (43% according to USNews Premium Edition). I believe most firms provide seniority for clerkship time such that when you do get hired by a firm after clerking, you will no longer be considered a 'first-year-associate'.</p>
<p>Sakky is right. The ranking also doesn't take into account that recent YLS grads who neither clerk nor work at big firms are almost universally doing something that's MORE selective and impressive than working at a big firm -- like finishing their PhD, working for the ACLU, or completing a prestigious public-interest fellowship.</p>
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Sakky is right. The ranking also doesn't take into account that recent YLS grads who neither clerk nor work at big firms are almost universally doing something that's MORE selective and impressive than working at a big firm -- like finishing their PhD, working for the ACLU, or completing a prestigious public-interest fellowship.
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<p>Or working in a highly prized government job, i.e. the DoJ or the staff of a Representative/Senator/President. I believe a disproportionate percentage of YLS grads are aiming for future elected office, and so working for the government is a way to establish your name and get the ball rolling.</p>