Ask Howard Treesong About Law or Lawyering

[BretWeir]

Where is your brother hoping to practice? If he wants to practice in Canada, then it's a no-brainer--go to one of the Canadian schools.

If he wants to be in the U.S., then a solid middle-first-tier school like GWU is probably going to open more doors than even a top-ranked Canadian school. (Incidentally, if UT and McGill were lumped in to the U.S. market, I doubt they'd be ranked that much higher than 20th.)

Some major U.S. firms might hire an applicant or two a year from top Canadian law schools, but recruiting and alumni networks are much more focused on American schools.

Also, GWU has some very good young faculty members and is aggressively building its reputation. I wouldn't be surprised to see it move up in the rankings over the next few years--I think it'll certainly break the top 20, and may move up to the mid-teens.

No idea what the consequences of breaking a "preacceptance condition" would be. I imagine the school would just blackball you if you tried to reapply in the future; not sure if they'd be able to do more than that.

[MissT74]

HT,

Long time no talk, how the heck are ya??

1. If you're arrested or brought in for questioning for something you didn't do, how long before you should ask for your lawyer?

2. Same question, but you DID do it.

3. El Diablo asked first, but I was going to ask about Law & Order as well.

T

[Howard Treesong]

[ QUOTE ]
HT,

Long time no talk, how the heck are ya??

1. If you're arrested or brought in for questioning for something you didn't do, how long before you should ask for your lawyer?

2. Same question, but you DID do it.

[/ QUOTE ]

On (2), immediately. Prosecutors cannot be trusted to be objective, and you must assume the worst. On (1), I would personally retain counsel immediately for any kind of felony. I would like to think that being up-front with prosecutors is the right move, but Nifong is a good counterexample to that: he simply didn't care that the lacrosse team just didn't commit any crimes. Dealing with that on your own is really tricky, so I'd only try dealing with it on my own if the downside were pretty minor.

[JackInDaCrak]

Howard,

I'm a young attorney, just licensed, and your last job as a civil litigator is exactly what I want to be doing in 5-8 years.

In terms of preparing myself for that, would you say that a job in the DA's office, the City Attorney's office, or a small general practice civil firm would be best?

[Howard Treesong]

[ QUOTE ]
Howard,

I'm a young attorney, just licensed, and your last job as a civil litigator is exactly what I want to be doing in 5-8 years.

In terms of preparing myself for that, would you say that a job in the DA's office, the City Attorney's office, or a small general practice civil firm would be best?

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, that depends. I think I need to know more. There's great variation among each category, but I think I'd tend towards DA. The one downside of starting out that way is that you don't have the time and resources to litigate things slowly and carefully and find your way -- it's more slapdash, which can cause you to learn some bad habits. Small firm can be OK, but you have to find the right spot --quality in terms of care and thought and discipline really does matter.