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Students From Lower-Tier Schools Are Happier at BigLaw

By Carolyn Elefant

Great credentials may or may not make better lawyers, but apparently they don't make more satisfied lawyers. That's the conclusion of a study entitled "After the JD" by the American Bar Foundation, which found that those graduates of nonelite law schools who work at Am Law 100 and 200 firms are happier than their colleagues from top-tier schools, and they tend to stick around longer too. The September issue of The American Lawyer (and this excerpt at The Am Law Daily) analyzes the study results. The conclusions reflect common sense: Grads of lower-tier schools often work harder to nab positions at BigLaw and, as a result, they're more grateful for the opportunities. In addition, these grads may have fewer options than their top-tier colleagues so they probably don't suffer from the "grass is greener" syndrome. During boom times just a few years ago, large firms dipped deeper into the law school ranks to meet their demand for associates. Now, with hiring on the decline, firms will likely return to their more selective hiring practices, even though it isn't necessarily in their best interests. As American Lawyer Editor-in-Chief Aric Press writes here: [Hiring students from lower tier schools] is a nice...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on September 04, 2009 (boomark / email).