We want LI to be one of the friendliest places on the internet, where lawyers and law students help each other with their career related queries and occasionally discuss other stuff that might affect their lives too. In other words:
1. Be kind, respectful and helpful to each other.
2. Be bona fide, truthful, genuine and curious.
3. Assume the best intention of others.
Therefore, in using the site, you must agree to do your best to uphold these community guidelines.
Note that what you find here is written and moderated by anonymous people on the internet.
Therefore everything you read here is very likely unverified, rumour, speculation and/or downright false.
In continuing to read anything here, you must therefore agree not to take anything you read here as factual and that you will exercise due caution, diligence and common sense before acting on any information you may come across here.
You also agree to report any inaccurate or malicious comments with the buttons. Moderators take action within 24 hours, as required and appropriate under law.
Our full terms and conditions apply too.
Do you solemnly agree to all of the above?
Sure - the precocious legal stalwarts commenting here that law school does not matter (who are so out of touch with what the industry thinks and for good reason - like it or not) may try and perpetuate the idiosyncratic notion that this is an irrelevant inquiry. It is not.
Where you go to law school does matter. Students at higher regarded (I mean in the sense that the industry regards and not the random rankings that magazines and the like come up) law schools have a higher baseline in terms of intelligence and grit, which is absolutely necessary to do well in good quality teams in Tier 1 firms. Not saying that the CLAT is a perfect predictor of success, or even a particularly effective test of skills necessary for lawyering, but it is the best that we have at present. I'm sorry, but anyone thinking that a median student at say, NLS, is not more intelligent and persistent than a student at some random law school (idk, maybe Lloyd or some such) is delusional and needs to stop smoking whatever he is. The CLAT is hardly a difficult exam (though it is undeniably quite competitive simply because of the volume of applicants relative to the availability of seats -- especially since the desirability of the law as a lucrative career option is increasingly being pushed into the mainstream).
Yes, good students may emerge from sub par law schools - but it's an extremely rarity, and the difference is noticeable. Those who say otherwise are usually folks who have never set foot in a top firm and are just frustrated that the top echelons of legal practice refuse to see past or ignore their mediocrity just to make them feel good. Sure, if one needs to just succeed in district court or somewhere (which I'll admit can potentially make for a far more lucrative career than being a suit), then, maybe going to a random law school doesn't make a difference. But ain't no top client paying to have some mediocre chap work on their files. The risk is too high.
On a side note: if you truly believe (and aren't being delusional) that your CLAT score isn't representative of your abilities - drop a year. Take it again. Study. If you're fairly smart, and have an above average command over English and math (maybe above average is a bit much), then you should be able to get through.