Is Corporate Law worth it?

Question

I'm currently a junior doing my undergrad & as of right now, I'm looking to go to law school. I have an interest in doing Corporate Law. I have done some research on my own, but I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about the job market for Corporate Law.

Do most people who aspire to be a corporate lawyer find a good job?

With my current undergrad GPA, I'm looking at these law schools: Northwestern, Georgetown, NYU, and Columbia University. Do you think if I end up at any one of these schools and do well, I can get good job? Or do I have to be a Harvard student to be a successful corporate lawyer?

I'm just really freaking out because this field is something that I have a tremendous interest in. But at the same time, I don't want to deal with all of the student debt that comes along with going to law school.

Please, no rude comments. Any useful comments will really help me out!

Answer 1

I'm a corporate lawyer. I went to Harvard Law School, actually; I graduated 15 years ago.



No, you do not need to go to Harvard to be a successful corporate lawyer. Where you went to school counts most only during your first few years out of school; after that, what counts most is how much business you generate from clients.



You'd be in fine shape going to any of those schools. I'd pick Columbia over the other two, but you'd have very good job options coming from any of them. The corporate law job market is pretty rotten these days, so if you don't go to a top-15 school or do well at a lower-tier school, I wouldn't go.