What is the best Law School in California for public interest law? Why?

Answer 1

Apply to Berkeley and Stanford and the rest of the top CA law schools. Then apply for financial aid and compare their packages. Then compare their loan forgiveness programs (which help pay back your loans if you go into public interest law).

I would go to Stanford out of the CA schools. It's the best school, and if you change your mind partway through law school and decide you want to pursue a different track, it's the school that gives you the most options. Berkeley would be my second choice in California.

Public interest jobs, despite the low pay, aren't easy to get if you're looking for a particular one, so prestige of your school and your grades still matter. That's another point in Stanford's favor.

Stanford gets yet another point because, from what I've heard, it has a very good loan forgiveness program (which it can afford to do more than Berkeley can because it's a private school and it has a much larger endowment). This ensures that even with law school debt, you can still afford to take a low-paying job out of law school.

Good luck!

Answer 2

UC Hastings is good because of its location in the center of San Francisco. However, I'd have to say Boalt Hall at Berkeley is a better choice. Not only is Boalt consistently in the Top 10 rankings among law schools, it's BERKELEY, the land of progressive politics and social justice. At Boalt, you will have countless opportunities to work in legal clinics for the socioeconomically disadvantaged, write for legal journals devoted to social justice and public interest topics. And lord knows, when the weather is nice, someone somewhere is going to be protestings or taking action against something.

One of my best friends graduated from Boalt last year. She passed the 2006 Bar Exam, and now she's doing public interest law. It's doesn't pay so well, but if you're in public interest law, you should know to expect that.

Answer 3

UC Hastings. Check out the link below to find out why.