Advice for Environmental Law

jesshoff12

Hi!

I am planning to apply to law schools this upcoming cycle and was wondering if anyone could give me advice. I know that I primarily want to practice Environmental Law and have been doing a lot of research on which schools would be best. The top environmental law programs according to the US News rankings are not always T14 schools. I have been reading that to get a good Environmental Law job (working for EarthJustice, NRDC etc.) they often hire from T14 schools. Does anyone have any advice on if I should focus on only T14 schools or schools that rank highest in my area of interest?

Mellow_Z

I think attending a T13 is definitely safer in the long run. If you attended, lets say Duke, and a peer attended Vermont (it looks like they have a top rated Environmental Law program from google), I'd be willing to bet that the Duke lawyer gets hired every time. You will end up with a better education overall, the network of peers and alumni will be more expansive, and you will have opportunities that just aren't available to TTT schools.

A middle ground would be to look up the top environmental programs and see if any of them overlap with the T13. According to USNews (which is anything but accredited), Berkeley, Georgetown, Duke, Harvard all have top 15 ranked programs in environmental. If you think this is something you want to pursue I would recommend reaching out to those schools specifically for more info. In general though, T13 > school specializations.

jesshoff12

@Mellow_Z Thank you! That is very helpful advice. I really appreciate your input.

Mellow_Z

@jesshoff12 said:
@Mellow_Z Thank you! That is very helpful advice. I really appreciate your input.

You're welcome! Good luck with your cycle!