question about Law School-does ideology matter?

I am thinking about attending law school next year, and considering George Mason. I recently read in the National Review that the school has a conservative reputation--the article described it as perhaps the next U. of Chicago. For example, lawyers in the faculty came out against the law banning the military from Universities because of "don't ask, don't tell", while most liberal Law Schools were in favor. Does anyone know how much this would really impact one's legal education? I imagine it could impact one's job prospects due to different connections to the faculty.

you do as a student and that you pass the bar exam.

I went to G-town, which is reputed to be pretty liberal faculty-wise, and had Viet Dihn for a class. All he did was draft much of the Patriot Act. Funny, considering the guy forgot to turn off his wireless mike when he went to the bathroom during a break, and the entire class heard him take a leak. You'd think he would have known better...

Some other profs there are excellent, though, for example David Cole.

the deal at George Mason would be good considering I would have in-state tuition. i guess you haven't heard that much about its conservative rep?

In State Tuition, the choice should be easy. You go to the best law school you can get into and afford so you have the ability to take the job of your choice when you graduate. Many bright young legal minds end up working in big law firms to cover the note they took out to get through law school. If you can go to a school with a good reputation and keep your moral compass even if it tilts to the right you will be better off than if you graduate deeply in debt

wing research assistants and they tend to write better recommendations for right-wing students -- these are the type of preferences which can make a big difference in landing a judicial clerkship or a first job out of law school (also, keep in mind that right-wing law professors will be most helpful in finding you post-graduate positions with right-wing judges, firms, administrations, and organizations so if you are not interested in such positions, your law school faculty will be less capable of assisting you find suitable placement). Similarly, right-wing students tend to excel at extracurricular activities (like law reviews) at right-wing schools, which are also important to finding a job you are happy with after law school. I'm not suggesting that there is not the potential for a comparable bias at left-wing schools, but in my experience, most left-wing professors respect the intellectual independence of someone who comes at an issue from an alternative perspective, but right-wing professors seem to lack that appreciation of varying perspectives.

I would strongly recommend against going to a law school where you would be ideologically out-of-step with the overwhelming majority of the faculty or student body. Likewise, if you are interested in public service, I would strongly recommend against going to a law school where you will graduate with a debt that will make public service a difficult choice.

One more thing I would advise to any left-leaning law student. While in law school, I was president of the university chapter of the civil liberties union, and I put that prominently on my resume despite the fact that a few friends and one faculty member suggested that I might be costing myself a few job prospects. My thinking was that any job that I was likely to lose because of my affiliation with the ACLU was a job where I would have been unhappy and, ultimately, that job wouldn't have worked out. That was the best decision I made while in law school.

that is very helpful. i don't know what i will do because I haven't heard from all the schools I applied to yet. I will be taking out a hefty loan if I go, especially if I attend a private school--and am prepared to work at a firm at least for a while to pay off debt. Mason is attractive for the tuition expense but no doubt would be more conservative than I would chose. I'm also considering environmental law which is yet another reason not to attend Mason because it doesn't have environmental law per se. I'm wondering if I could still pursue this field without the specialty. I have significant environmental experience and I imagine I could go into the field even without a focus during law school.

Good news -

Try to get together a list of top lawyers in your town -- folks who are successful, or folks who do a job you would be proud to do, or folks who have been elected or appointed to judicial roles, etc. See where they went to law school. You will find that lots of very successful lawyers went to not-very-prestigious and not-very-expensive law schools. One of my best friends went to Harvard Law School, and six month after graduating, he quit his legal career and took a job delivering packages for UPS. No matter what school you go to, there is room to excel.

Bad news -

Environmental law and environmental protection are two very different fields. 75 percent of environmental jobs are mainly about very legally technical compliance with regulations; they are important jobs, but they tend to be very heavy on the paper work, and some of the most lucrative environmental law jobs involve helping irresponsible corporations skirt the regulations. Even for the good environmental law jobs, you would want to study environmental law because it is such a highly technical field. If you are really interested in this field, you ought to contact the legal editor of the Toxics Law Reporter or some similar publication and ask him what he thinks. I could get you his number if you want. He's a good guy who would take your call and give you straight advice.

if you PM me his contact information that would be great. I'm an environmental engineer and regulatory compliance would be a natural fit I believe. Any idea what percentage of these jobs involve litigation? thanks!