BYU gets a lot of respect from recruiters, especially since we are the hub of one of the largest and most powerful attorney networks in the world: the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. We have JRCLS members working in every major firm and in every market from Hong Kong to New York. The Society also includes hundreds of U.S. Circuit and District Court judges, law professors, government officials, and military officers. For example, the top Supreme Court litigators at Latham & Watkins, Sidley Austin, and Winston & Strawn all have connections to the JRCLS. Sandra Day O’Connor frequently attends our JRCLS conferences, and last year Chief Justice Roberts visited the school for several lectures and Q&A sessions.
The school was founded 30 years ago by Rex E. Lee, one of the most respected U.S. Solicitors General in American history, and the relationships he built for the law school still run deep throughout the country. We are ranked 13th for U.S. Supreme Court clerk placement, and 18th for U.S. Circuit Court clerk placement. As I mentioned above, nearly all of the top V25 firms come to campus, and certainly every respectable firm in the Western United States recruits at BYU. I obviously think highly of the law school, but it’s admittedly not a Harvard or Chicago and will never match the career opportunities available at those schools. Nonetheless, the USNWR ranking does not correspond with the career opportunities available at BYU. I think, realistically, the opportunities at BYU compare with the T15-25 schools, whether it be clerkship placement, BIGLAW career prospects, or government service.
As for comparing BYU with UCLA or Texas, I think the BIGLAW GPA cutoffs are probably similar for all three schools, though probably lower for UCLA and Texas. BYU may have a better national network, however, than both UCLA and Texas. While those schools do extremely well in their home states and regions, BYU’s connections to diverse markets like New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Phoenix offer consistently broad opportunities throughout the country.
BYU is an interesting school, however, because many people are not as interested in major markets, opting instead for their hometown markets in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orange County, Seattle, Portland, Boise, and of course, Salt Lake City (more than 40% of graduates stay in Utah, and about 70% stay in the Mountain West). A lot of students turn down offers at T14 schools to attend BYU because the low tuition gives them the opportunity to accept work in their hometowns (where salaries are lower) with regional firms and government agencies. If everyone were gunning for top markets, I am sure we could place a more substantial portion of the class with V100 firms in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, but… some people just want to stay local.
I interviewed in Washington, DC, Orange County, and Los Angeles (since I have a family, I don’t want to work for the sweatshops in New York or Chicago). The opportunities in all of the markets were great. I had callbacks and offers with the top three firms in each city, and ended up going with the firm I preferred before the recruitment season began. Source:
Law School Discussion
