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(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:48:13 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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Perhaps these statistical data might shed some light as to why people chose particular law schools

Where Berkeley Grads Were Accepted and Enrolled for Fall 2000 at Law Schools
A Sampling:

Law School Accepted Enrolled

Columbia Law 13 1
Cornell Law 8 1
Duke Law 9 1
New York U Law 24 6
Penn Law 4 0
U of Chicago Law 9 0
Northwestern Law 8 1
Stanford Law 8 3
Boalt Law 25 9
UCLA Law 18 7
Yale Law 3 2
Harvard Law 17 9
U of Michigan Law 17 5
Georgetown 22 4

Acceotance Rates of Yale Grads at a
Sampling of Law Schools for FAll 2000

School Acceptance Rate
Boalt 36 %
U of Texas 35 %
New York Law 49 %
Columbia Law 42 %

You can check all the data above with the aforementioned schools or the Law School Admissions Council, I believe my data is accurate. I will deliver my conclusions later.

biaknabato Thursday, June 27, 2002 at 01:48:27 (PDT)

As-Am JD:

What do you think are good areas of law practice for AA's who did not go to the top schools? I'm a licensed attorney but have not practiced for three years since graduation because I do not find areas such as personal injury, immigration, estate planning, etc. intellectually stimulating. I'm sorry, I have more an intellectual-bent than a practical one. I cannot focus my mind on simple, repetitive work.

I value my law school education, though, it sharpened my analytical skills.
Idiot-savant Wednesday, June 26, 2002 at 21:33:58 (PDT)

As-Am JD,

Well said. Speaking as a non-practicing lawyer who still loves the law, but hated the business of law, I agree with you completely. It is not the name of the institution on the diploma that makes a good lawyer. It is the person whose name is on the diploma and his or her character that makes a good lawyer. In my five years of practice, I also found not a single client cared which law school I went to. All they cared about was my reputation, that was how they came to me in the first place.
Now that I am out of the game, and back to my first profession as a Navy officer, I find the study of law has greatly improved my ability to think, deal with abstract situations, and my courtroom experience has allowed me to get my point across even in the most stressful tactical situations. It didn't matter whether I went to Harvard or some second tier school. I have gained as a person.

JD USN Commander Wednesday, June 26, 2002 at 20:00:40 (PDT)

As-Am JD:

The problem is that most of the lawyers you speak of working in immigration or personal injury are not as noble as you make it. Immigration lawyers, IMHO, are the worse better they rip off those new immigrants for basic legal services that you don't really need a lawyer for. In fact, one of my favority activities is pro bono work relating to immigration. Most large firms do this for indigent clients, and my former firm was no exception. Even today, while I am no longer with a firm, many of us continue to do some form of pro bono work.

The personal injury guys are rarely the guy taking on the corporate client. Usually, you see them dealing with car accidents or sending letters to people threatening to sue for car accidents. That's the bulk of personal injury work, in terms of the number of cases.

Large AmLaw10 firms like Cravath and Skadden, while not pleasant places to work at, do provide the best training for corporate/transactional work. You are confusing litigation/trial work that you do with the corporate work that I did. You don't learn complex M&A on the streets of NYC, as you claim.

Therefore, the way to go for young Asian lawyers is to work for the man (the big firms) right out of law school. You get your training, meet the right people, and then you can branch off to doing what you like. There's a time for everything, and sometimes you have to pay your dues working for the man...
Annapolis-Harvard Law Grad Wednesday, June 26, 2002 at 18:07:36 (PDT)

Annapolis-Harvard:
I agree that law school does little to train you for the practice of law but I doubt that the training one may receive at a mega-corporate law firm like Cravath will make you a better lawyer per se. My lawyering skills owe much more to what I learned on the streets of NYC and life before law school than what I picked up in the lecture hall. {My claim to fame in law school was my political activities and facility with the pin ball machines.)
I also concede that Asians, as do all people of color face intsitutional barriers to success. The first crop of As-Am attorneys had to blaze their own trails and some of them pioneered organizations such as Asian Law Cacaus and AALEDF. What's wrong in being able to represent a working class family whose breadwinner has been injured by Cravath's corporate client? And what is so ignoble in reuniting a family that has been separated by decades political strife? And how frequently do the Cravath-type law firms come to the aid of immigrant garment workers held in involuntary servitude by sweat shop owners?
I guess if your agenda requires guarantees of material and social comforts having a top 25 law school diploma is necessary. But there are those of us who seek to honor the sacrifices of our people by aiding their defense and advancement through the laws and courts of this land.
In the final analysis all my law shcool did for me was to take my tuition money and qualify me to take the Bar exam. The state of California made me a lawyer but my inspiration to continue is drawn from the history and struggles of people of color.
For those of you reading this who are comtemplating a career in law take this advice. First, know why you want to BECOME a lawyer [or kind of law you wish to pursue]. If you don't know why you're there you will become a stranger to yourself and a candidate for misery. Two, find a law school that will help you realize your area(s) of interest. If you can't find or get into that school then find some one or thing that will help you keep that dream alive. Three, pass the bar and if you believe in service to the People, I hope to see you on the ramparts/courts- on my side.
Annapolis-Harvard, you can have your club room chair, as for myself-I'd just as soon take on another uphill battle.
As-Am JD, esq. not BFD Wednesday, June 26, 2002 at 01:44:59 (PDT)

As-Am JD:

True, clients don't ask, but your first job is very dependent on which law school you went to. In turn, your first job as a young associate determines the level of training that you get, because let's face it, you don't learn that much from law school.

That's why it's important where you go to school.

It's hard enough for Asians to do well in the legal community. Can you imagine being a fresh out of law school solo practitioner from Southwest College of Law? You face a lot of uphill battles. The kid that come out of Yale working for Cravath has a much better road ahead of him. Otherwise, you get relegated to something like personal injury or immigration law. Like you want to deal with the INS for the rest of your life.
Annapolis-Harvard Law Grad Monday, June 24, 2002 at 19:27:44 (PDT)

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