The Secret of My Success: How Status, Eliteness, and School Performance Shape Legal Careers

Abstract

If we study the 40,000 law graduates who join the legal profession each year, how well can we predict their future careers? How much of their future is predicted by their social class? The law school they attend? Their law school grades? This article undertakes the first in‐depth examination of these questions. Drawing on several large and recently released data sets, we examine the role of class, school prestige, and law school grades on the career earnings of lawyers and the success of big firm associates in becoming partners. We find that social class strongly conditions who goes to law school, but no longer predicts much about postgraduate outcomes. Law school prestige is important, but it is generally trumped by law school performance (as measured by law school grades). Law school grades reflect both personal characteristics not well captured by prelaw credentials, and one's relative position in a law school class as measured by prelaw credentials. Our findings suggest that there is little empirical basis for the overwhelming importance students assign to “eliteness” in choosing a law school.

Legal Education in the Corporate University

“…As Henderson and Zahorsky (2012) point out, "Snobbishness and elitism are the last socially acceptable prejudices". In contradistinction, an empirical study by Sander & Yakowitz (2012) found that, generally speaking, grades were a more significant predictor of success in employment than the status of the school attended, although this appears to exclude the Ivy League law schools.…”

Intersecting Disadvantages: Race, Gender, and Age Discrimination Among Attorneys*

“…Other scholars have highlighted the impact of law school prestige on attorneys’ career prospects (Dinovitzer, ). Kay and Hagan (:498–99) conclude that “[t]he contacts that elite law school students make through their schooling play a significant role in shaping their career path.” To account for the influence that law school experiences may play on later professional experiences and career satisfaction, we follow the approach of prior studies by including categories based on the U.S. News and World Report 's law school rankings (Dinovitzer and Garth, ; Dinovitzer, ; Sander and Bambauer, ). These are broken down into six categories, which track the law school rankings, with our excluded category being those considered “fourth tier” (ranked above 150).…”

Hierarchy and Stratification in the Israeli Legal Profession

“…Social class was revealed to be a substantial factor in law school enrollment (Stevens, ). Moreover, as discussed above, the status of law school attended affects the future careers of law graduates (Sander and Bambauer ). Yet, Sander and Bambauer () showed that grades in law school mitigate the effects of law school status and similar trends were also found in the United Kingdom (Nicholson ).…”

“…Moreover, as discussed above, the status of law school attended affects the future careers of law graduates (Sander and Bambauer ). Yet, Sander and Bambauer () showed that grades in law school mitigate the effects of law school status and similar trends were also found in the United Kingdom (Nicholson ). The Canadian structure of law schools is somewhat different, barring comparison on this issue to the United States and the United Kingdom.…”