forums

OT: UM Law School

Advertisement
5Rings&an Asterisk said:
If you’re seriously considering law school this isn’t the place to ask. Job one of someone going to law school is doing their homework. It’s the oldest law school in town, so it has the name, but it’s pricey. I chose FIU because I am 40 years old and needed a school with an evening program. FIU is a lot cheaper, not too far behind in the rankings and has the highest Bar passage rate in the state. I want to stay in South Florida, so either one would do for me but only one had an evening program. If you want to practice “Big Law” you need a high LSAT score to get into a top 15 school. Like others have said, your question is too vague.
Click to expand...
This is good advice. OP, get in touch with some lawyers in the practice area and geographic location you think you might want to end up at. Also check out the following board; it's what I used when I was in your shoes and has tons of useful articles, guides, and information:

Top Law Schools

Free resource to assist students applying to law schools.
www.top-law-schools.com www.top-law-schools.com

Also check out Richard Montauk's "How to Get Into the Top Law Schools" (I read this one over winter break my sophomore year and it helped me strategically plan the rest of my years in undergrad) and Anna Ivey's "The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions" (she's a former dean at UChicago).

Best of luck to you OP!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Katzenboyer said:
Dude. You're not a lawyer and didn't go to UM law. Why are you even in this thread?
Click to expand...

thread was about um law school and if it worth it. People have lots of opinions. I shared mine. Then a bunch on insecure um law grads got butt hurt cause I’m just calling a spade a spade. Never said it was a crap school but disagree with the notion that where you went to law school only matters for your first job.
 
MaximoCane said:
exceptions don’t make the rule. Sure they have fiu kids. The ones that graduated in the top 10. It’s just probabilities. Do you understand basic math? I’m not a lawyer but have hired a bunch, wife is a lawyer, best friend is a lawyer, dad is a lawyer, etc. again, sorry you couldn’t get into a better law school, but let’s not pretend where someone e goes to law school doesn’t matter. It’s on the resume. It matters.
Click to expand...
The name on the degree matters for your first job. The name on the degree will open certain doors, but after a few years, no one cares about the name. They look at your track record.
 
I’m on the plaintiffs side and 10 years into practice. I’m currently in leadership in multiple pharma MDLs. I’ve settled multiple other pharma MDLs for hundreds of millions of dollars. UM set me up for this career because I worked hard and did well there. I don’t know a single person who does what I do on the Plaintiff side that went to an Ivy League school. But lead counsel for all the Pfizer, Bristol Myers, Glaxo, Daiichi, etc., did. So if you want to go the route of insurance defense with massive firms, it makes it a whole lot easier if you did go to a top school.
 
MaximoCane said:
I’m not an average Joe. I didn’t say people who went to so so law schools can’t make a lot of money. I just prefer to manage my downside by not hiring folks from a place like nova. I’d make an exception for a plaintiff lawyer that has consistently won big $$ for clients. But in general, if I have 20 lawyers to choose from and need to whittle the list down then I look at education, law firm, and other variables.
Click to expand...
If you're using an attorney's law school to "whittle the list down" - and you sound like such a profoundly special person that I would assume these are extraordinarily important legal matters which therefore would necessitate a lawyer with years and years of experience in the practice area - then it sounds like you're hiring lawyers you have no relationship or experience with based on a school they attended decades ago. That would actually make you an even bigger idiot than I initially had in mind. Bravo!

Personally, I think you're just an insecure petulant little brat and everything you're saying you do above is BS.
 
5Rings&an Asterisk said:
The name on the degree matters for your first job. The name on the degree will open certain doors, but after a few years, no one cares about the name. They look at your track record.
Click to expand...

lol. only folks who didn’t go to top law schools say stuff like this. It’s like money in the bank - “where you went to school only matters for your first job.” Like measuring track record is easy to do. There is information asymmetry.
 
MaximoCane said:
No need for you to provide tons of details to justify why you went to a so so law school. I’m glad it met “your goals” and people do have different goals. You made deans list at a mediocre school, graduated at the top of your class against weak competition, etc.

In addition to claiming where you went to school doesn’t matter, people with lesser educational qualifications like to make generalizations about people who went to elite schools. It’s all part of how your rationalize your situation. It’s a cognitive distortion. It’s a perfect indication of your intellectual limitations. UM law til you die. Lol.

I’m certainly no kid. I have 20 years of experience hiring lawyers.
Click to expand...
I didn't go to the University of Miami for law school, you clown.

You may have a larger number in age than most kids, but you have the social maturity of a teenager.
 
Advertisement
5Rings&an Asterisk said:
The name on the degree matters for your first job. The name on the degree will open certain doors, but after a few years, no one cares about the name. They look at your track record.
Click to expand...

I graduated from undergrad 17 years ago and from law school 14 years ago. Both elite schools (top 3 undergrad, top 5 law).

To this day where I went to school makes a difference. My other experience matters more, but to say where you want to school is meaningless is incorrect in my experience. It’s not just about getting jobs, but also about how your counter parties perceive you.
 
wspcane said:
I will also say, I do not think this is limited to Miami. I think they are entirely myopic on law firms, failing to recognize that accounting, real estate, finance, etc. companies are many multiples larger than even the biggest of law firms and hire an insane number of people every year. That first job is the toughest to get and you're ultimately in law school to get a job, not learn the Bramblebush. It is a real disservice done to students for them to not emphasize those paths or build relationships with alumni who are moving up at those companies. I hope they are doing better in this regard.
Click to expand...
Very well said, wspcane. My school was the same way. EVERYTHING was about careers with big firms; something I knew I wasn't interested in before I ever set foot in my first class. Heck, I even remember the PR seminar the Bar puts on for all new attorneys. Literally the answer to every ethical question was "Ask a senior partner". I'm thinking "What about the people who don't have a senior partner?!?". Law schools are way too pigeonholed on firm placement.
 
prinmemo said:
I graduated from undergrad 17 years ago and from law school 14 years ago. Both elite schools (top 3 undergrad, top 5 law).

To this day where I went to school makes a difference. My other experience matters more, but to say where you want to school is meaningless is incorrect in my experience. It’s not just about getting jobs, but also about how your counter parties perceive you.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I think in certain types of law/industries it definitely does matter.
 
redcane said:
Very pricey for the reputation. If you are a Miami guy and going to stay in Miami, then the cost may be justified. But if you are looking to work outside S. Florida, I don't think it makes financial sense. They do offer a lot of scholarship money if you did well on LSAT.
Click to expand...
That scholly money has mad strings. be careful. i got caught in that.
 
MaximoCane said:
lol. only folks who didn’t go to top law schools say stuff like this. It’s like money in the bank - “where you went to school only matters for your first job.” Like measuring track record is easy to do. There is information asymmetry.
Click to expand...
Even more so in South Florida, where it’s who you know.
 
5Rings&an Asterisk said:
Even more so in South Florida, where it’s who you know.
Click to expand...

I understand the frustration of Miami grad when it comes to academics. I’m a canes fan cause I grew up in Miami and many of my childhood memories involved those 80s/90s teams. I was proud when the school moved up in the rankings. Here is the deal, Miami is one of the few major metro regions with a truly top notch school. NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, SF Bay Area, Houston, Atlanta (borderline with Emory and GT). UM had a chance but much like the football program the bot botched it. Now the states schools have have stronger reputations. UF is considered a top 10 public school (barf), fiu continues to improve, FSU is no longer a joke, etc. There is nothing worse than wasted potential. That the story on Miami across the board. I’ll be a cane until I die but I’d never pay for my kids to go to Miami unless things get better. I’d sadly rather send them to usc.
 
Advertisement
prinmemo said:
I graduated from undergrad 17 years ago and from law school 14 years ago. Both elite schools (top 3 undergrad, top 5 law).

To this day where I went to school makes a difference. My other experience matters more, but to say where you want to school is meaningless is incorrect in my experience. It’s not just about getting jobs, but also about how your counter parties perceive you.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience as well. Top 10 undergrad, top 3 MBA, and both ivies. It still matters. I graduated over 20 years ago and I’m frankly a bit surprised. Yes, I have great work experience, but people look at the complete package and that includes college. I’ve also been in litigation where opposing counsel openly gushed about my fancy lawyers. It mattered there too.

hey, I’m not saying this is far or anything. I’m not making a judgement. It’s just reality.
 
MaximoCane said:
This has been my experience as well. Top 10 undergrad, top 3 MBA, and both ivies. It still matters. I graduated over 20 years ago and I’m frankly a bit surprised. Yes, I have great work experience, but people look at the complete package and that includes college. I’ve also been in litigation where opposing counsel openly gushed about my fancy lawyers. It mattered there too.

hey, I’m not saying this is far or anything. I’m not making a judgement. It’s just reality.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I also have an MBA from a top 5 program.

I started my own business a few years ago where my counter parties are typically very large global companies. We have a BigLaw firm representing us on our deals. Our lawyers are from the top 5 law schools. Since I am a “small guy”, the big companies look down on us at first. I don’t boast about my background, but when they ask I tell them the truth and when appropriate they’re introduced to my BigLaw attorneys. Trust me, they don’t look down on us after they find out, and take us more seriously than if I were an FIU and Barry University guy.

It is just the reality.
 
CaneOil said:
Nice to see the older Canes helping out the younger Cane, great job guys..
Click to expand...
For the record, this is on the school. I told them repeatedly to have law school students interested in tax or to reach out. Had the ability to pick interview candidates. The school sat on its thumbs and did nothing. They do a terrible job of maintaining an alumni database, engaging alums, reaching out. It is SO easy now with LinkedIn and they do absolutely nothing.
MaximoCane said:
I understand the frustration of Miami grad when it comes to academics. I’m a canes fan cause I grew up in Miami and many of my childhood memories involved those 80s/90s teams. I was proud when the school moved up in the rankings. Here is the deal, Miami is one of the few major metro regions with a truly top notch school. NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, SF Bay Area, Houston, Atlanta (borderline with Emory and GT). UM had a chance but much like the football program the bot botched it. Now the states schools have have stronger reputations. UF is considered a top 10 public school (barf), fiu continues to improve, FSU is no longer a joke, etc. There is nothing worse than wasted potential. That the story on Miami across the board. I’ll be a cane until I die but I’d never pay for my kids to go to Miami unless things get better. I’d sadly rather send them to usc.
Click to expand...
I generally agree with your point but both Emory and GT are much better schools than Miami. Unfortunately even the state schools that we love to mock (Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, etc) have massive alumni networks in Atlanta and other hub cities that really help in recruiting. And those schools do an excellent job of engaging those networks, unlike Miami.
 
Back
Top