Couldn't agree more, but the ABA might not agree and withhold "well qualified" or whatever rating for anything outside Harvard, Yale, NYU, Chicago, and Columbia. I'd like to see a state school, even if it is t.u. (long ago racists admissions policies notwithstanding).policywonk98 said:aggiehawg said:
Fifth Circuit, Don Willett. Age 54.
My guess.
The further delution of Ivy Law degrees would be nice. I know that somewhat superficial, but I do think its important for the court to be broken out of its two law school bubble a little.
The dirty little secret is that law school is law school. Almost all the profs went to one of about the same dozen to 15 schools; there aren't more than a few first year course casebooks for each specific court (property, torts, contracts, etc.); the curriculum is as close to identical as it gets in grad school; the only real difference is class rank, who you are up against, and what your school's grading and retention policy is. While I might concede that high honors at Harvard might be better than the same level at, say, OU Law, the top student at OU Law is likely just as well prepared for any kind of legal practice, including the classroom and the federal bench, as any Harvard (or any of the above listed schools) grads. Ben Shapiro has repeatedly said that once he got into Harvard Law, the dean there (now one of the lefties on the USSC; can't recall which one) said, "relax -- now that you're in, that was the hard part." I didn't relax my first year at law school and neither did most people I knew who went, regardless of where they went. The 2 Harvard grads I knew both said they were glad they went to Harvard but the name and not the education was the most important thing. Both were good lawyers but neither were any better than others I've worked with or against (or for that matter, myself).