Top Law Schools

Looking to practice in the pubic sector in CA/PacNW/MtnWest or DC in BigFed
Seeking a clerkship then AG Honor's program or other federal agency/DOJ litigation experience. Interested in consumer protection (FTC), public integrity, and environment/public lands, and ideally ending up as an AUSA in a western jurisdiction.

COA is roughly equiv.

Thoughts?

Lol as I look this subject I also realize this is a classic college football rivalry...ND leads that 47-37...

First thought is that these two schools are unlikely to get you where you want to be.

Those are very lofty goals. I check the employment data from USC and in 2016 only 4 out of 200 students did Federal Clerkships. I would just say you should go to USC, keep those goals in the background, and see if you get lucky and get in the top 10%. If not, they have decent employment outcomes. IF you really want those goals, wait a year, retake and go T13.

Depends on how strong your desire to be on the west coast is. Taking that component out of it, I'd strongly favor ND because of its very strong alumni base. Your odds of reaching your goals from either school are somewhat low but the alumni connections that ND offer gives you a sporting shot if you finish in top 5% of your class. If you strongly favor the west coast, I'd say it is a toss up. Assume UCI is not an option for you at this point (would be a good option given clerkship placements in relatively short time as accredited law school).

I wonder how much of the USC clerkship numbers are self-selecting, given their strong business law focus. They also only have 1 person in a state & local clerkship (& 4 in federal), which makes me think it's less about people applying for federal spots and not getting them (and then pushed to state/local) versus just less people applying because the students overall may be more corporate law oriented. ND has a roughly equal number (8/7), which to me means there are a significant number of folks (~50%) taking state/local because they didn't get federal. Would SSC be more prestigious than USDC? I don't know.

Look at U of Washington, for example, where they have more federal clerks than USC, but WAY more state & local clerks (7/19). Is that a bigger red flag?