Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions Forum

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call-me-bubbles

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by call-me-bubbles » Fri Mar 24, 2017 10:10 am

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by Serett » Fri Mar 24, 2017 10:47 am

lymenheimer wrote:
proteinshake wrote:is it a big deal if you miss the faculty reception during ASD?
No. It was cool to meet other students and a professor or two, but some of the faculty looked like theyd rather be elsewhere and were only there for the booze. But if it's in Nasher, they probably have the exhibits open. That part was cool.
Adding to this, I skipped it entirely. Didn't matter.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by BansheeScream » Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:58 am

Would it be reasonable to live in a house in Trinity Heights or the surrounding area? Is that something law students do? Not crazy about apartment living and the houses in that area are relatively nice and very cheap from what I've seen.

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lymenheimer

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by lymenheimer » Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:09 pm

BansheeScream wrote:Would it be reasonable to live in a house in Trinity Heights or the surrounding area? Is that something law students do? Not crazy about apartment living and the houses in that area are relatively nice and very cheap from what I've seen.
Short answer: yes. But it's kind of a silly question. it depends what you're potentially concerned with. If you get a little more specific it'll be easier to address.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by BansheeScream » Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:27 pm

lymenheimer wrote:
BansheeScream wrote:Would it be reasonable to live in a house in Trinity Heights or the surrounding area? Is that something law students do? Not crazy about apartment living and the houses in that area are relatively nice and very cheap from what I've seen.
Short answer: yes. But it's kind of a silly question. it depends what you're potentially concerned with. If you get a little more specific it'll be easier to address.
Mostly concerned with the distance to the law school (is a ten minute drive too far) and if they'll be other students in the area or is it mostly locals. I haven't been to Durham in a couple of years and don't really know what the neighborhood is like. Are there any notable downsides to living in a house closer to downtown than one of the typical apartment complexes that law students usually live in?

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by grades?? » Fri Mar 24, 2017 12:32 pm

BansheeScream wrote:
lymenheimer wrote:
BansheeScream wrote:Would it be reasonable to live in a house in Trinity Heights or the surrounding area? Is that something law students do? Not crazy about apartment living and the houses in that area are relatively nice and very cheap from what I've seen.
Short answer: yes. But it's kind of a silly question. it depends what you're potentially concerned with. If you get a little more specific it'll be easier to address.
Mostly concerned with the distance to the law school (is a ten minute drive too far) and if they'll be other students in the area or is it mostly locals. I haven't been to Durham in a couple of years and don't really know what the neighborhood is like. Are there any notable downsides to living in a house closer to downtown than one of the typical apartment complexes that law students usually live in?
No. A good portion of the 2l/3ls have houses in trinity heights/trinity park.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by lymenheimer » Fri Mar 24, 2017 1:08 pm

grades?? wrote:
BansheeScream wrote:
lymenheimer wrote:
BansheeScream wrote:Would it be reasonable to live in a house in Trinity Heights or the surrounding area? Is that something law students do? Not crazy about apartment living and the houses in that area are relatively nice and very cheap from what I've seen.
Short answer: yes. But it's kind of a silly question. it depends what you're potentially concerned with. If you get a little more specific it'll be easier to address.
Mostly concerned with the distance to the law school (is a ten minute drive too far) and if they'll be other students in the area or is it mostly locals. I haven't been to Durham in a couple of years and don't really know what the neighborhood is like. Are there any notable downsides to living in a house closer to downtown than one of the typical apartment complexes that law students usually live in?
No. A good portion of the 2l/3ls have houses in trinity heights/trinity park.
This. Also, some of the apartments Duke suggests are >10 minute drive away. But that's all preference. I have a friend 30+ minutes out. He makes it work. Trinity neighborhood is decently nice. Fairly safe. You go too far east and you get into the less safe portion, but I also have friends further over/up closer to geer street and downtown and ride their bikes to school from out that way. Lots of people rent places in that area. Check hotpads/zillow for reference (some listings may not be up yet though).

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by call-me-bubbles » Sun Mar 26, 2017 4:28 pm

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by lymenheimer » Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:07 pm

call-me-bubbles wrote:Hey guys, it's me again. For anyone who is doing the JD/LLM in International & Comparative Law or who is familiar with it, a simple question: Why did you (or why do students) choose to take part in this program, and what are your (or participating students') goals? Is the LLM a credential that is really that beneficial/necessary to have when trying to work internationally? Is it that big of a "plus"? It seems like a lot of international legal jobs are obtainable without an LLM, but any insider perspective would be great. Looking to work in the US for a couple years after graduation before moving to Europe and was recently accepted to the JD/LLM program.
Depends what you want to do in Europe. I know a couple people (just JD) who are spending/have spent 2L summer in London with a firm, and also worked there after graduation. You don't need LLM to do that. A lot of my friends in the program have an interest in international law, mostly PI stuff ("international human rights"), or have worked for nonprofits abroad before law school, and I think the LLM is just a way to get structurally involved in those things from a legal side, with loads of faculty support. The summer institute thing seems like a cool way to spend the summer, but again it depends on your interests and your goals.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by Stephylynette » Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:17 pm

Can anyone explain what the fall LARW writing week is about? Like is it a real break or do you just spend all week writing w/ no classes?

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by lymenheimer » Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:21 pm

Stephylynette wrote:Can anyone explain what the fall LARW writing week is about? Like is it a real break or do you just spend all week writing w/ no classes?
It's just fall break. But you will have an assignment due the week afterwards, so a lot of time is spent on the paper. But if you finish it before then you can do whatever. I spent plenty of time relaxing before working on my paper over that week.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by Stephylynette » Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:26 pm

lymenheimer wrote:
Stephylynette wrote:Can anyone explain what the fall LARW writing week is about? Like is it a real break or do you just spend all week writing w/ no classes?
It's just fall break. But you will have an assignment due the week afterwards, so a lot of time is spent on the paper. But if you finish it before then you can do whatever. I spent plenty of time relaxing before working on my paper over that week.
Okay great. Thanks!

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by TLS_Dreamer » Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:15 am

I'm trying to decide between Duke and UVA at essentially the same cost. Can someone talk about what kind of person might fit in better at Duke than UVA, or how Duke's culture or Durham might be better than UVA for some people?

Also if you have any thoughts on going to Texas for biglaw from Duke/UVA that would be great!

Edit: Oh, also how is career services? How does the OCI process work?

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by proteinshake » Mon Apr 10, 2017 10:22 pm

TLS_Dreamer wrote:I'm trying to decide between Duke and UVA at essentially the same cost. Can someone talk about what kind of person might fit in better at Duke than UVA, or how Duke's culture or Durham might be better than UVA for some people?

Also if you have any thoughts on going to Texas for biglaw from Duke/UVA that would be great!

Edit: Oh, also how is career services? How does the OCI process work?
not a Duke student (yet), but Duke has higher clerk numbers than UVA (at least according to the most recent employment statistics http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=276222). I saw in the UVA thread that they said UVA is higher. tbh you should just choose the one you like better.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by lymenheimer » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:41 am

TLS_Dreamer wrote:I'm trying to decide between Duke and UVA at essentially the same cost. Can someone talk about what kind of person might fit in better at Duke than UVA, or how Duke's culture or Durham might be better than UVA for some people?

Also if you have any thoughts on going to Texas for biglaw from Duke/UVA that would be great!

Edit: Oh, also how is career services? How does the OCI process work?
Pretty sure the UVA/Duke differences come down to weather, class size, and which one feels better to you. They are very similar schools with very similar atmospheres (from what I've heard).

Duke does well in Texas. There is a large contingent of Duke alum at the big firms and they love talking to other Duke students. It will be more difficult without any ties, but if you have some tangible reason for wanting Texas, they will do all they can to help.

Career services is great. they assign you a counselor so you don't get to choose, but from what my friends tell me, they are all great. OCI is 100% bidding, no preselect (as far as I know). I can go into more detail if that's not what you were asking about, but >half the students here don't really know how OCI works.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by OneHandedEconomist » Tue Apr 11, 2017 8:55 am

How hard is it to get Atlanta biglaw coming out of Duke?

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by lymenheimer » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:27 am

OneHandedEconomist wrote:How hard is it to get Atlanta biglaw coming out of Duke?
From what I've seen, and heard from classmates+TLS, Atl is hard, but if you have the ties, Duke is one of the better choices.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by OneHandedEconomist » Tue Apr 11, 2017 9:29 am

lymenheimer wrote:
OneHandedEconomist wrote:How hard is it to get Atlanta biglaw coming out of Duke?
From what I've seen, and heard from classmates+TLS, Atl is hard, but if you have the ties, Duke is one of the better choices.
So like, top third?

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by TLS_Dreamer » Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:13 am

Thank you both!

It sounds like UVA and Duke really are similar. I like UVA's class size and Charlottesville better, but Duke has better weather and course topics (lots of classes on tech and entrepreneurship). I'm worried about the fratty-ness of UVA and I don't like that legal writing is graded at Duke. Those are the biggest differences to me so far and they're relatively small haha.

I can't visit either school but this helps! Thanks!

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by lymenheimer » Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:49 am

OneHandedEconomist wrote:
lymenheimer wrote:
OneHandedEconomist wrote:How hard is it to get Atlanta biglaw coming out of Duke?
From what I've seen, and heard from classmates+TLS, Atl is hard, but if you have the ties, Duke is one of the better choices.
So like, top third?
Idk. I haven't looked at the firm cut-offs, but it's not as simple as "top third and you're in". 70+% here get BL/FC. Presuming you have ties, and the cutoffs arent too high, you could get it at median. But it varies.
TLS_Dreamer wrote:Thank you both!

It sounds like UVA and Duke really are similar. I like UVA's class size and Charlottesville better, but Duke has better weather and course topics (lots of classes on tech and entrepreneurship). I'm worried about the fratty-ness of UVA and I don't like that legal writing is graded at Duke. Those are the biggest differences to me so far and they're relatively small haha.

I can't visit either school but this helps! Thanks!
Don't put too much stock in the course list. Some of those arent available and may not be taught when you're here. If you lik uva's class size and charlottesville, you might should go there. Weather comes after city preference. But if you've never been to durham, you may find them similar (ive never been to charlottesville so idk), and raleigh is only 30 minutes away if you want a bigger (than durham) city night. Idk about the law school, but i doubt the UG frats blend into the professional school environment. And even so, make friends with the nonfratty kids. They wont all have gone to UVA ug or prefer the frat life. Graded legal writing is annoying. If you do well, it helps. If you do poorly it hurts, badly. Really just assign a value to those things, add them up, and pick the one with the highest value.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by TLS_Dreamer » Tue Apr 11, 2017 1:36 pm

Thank you so much! Great advice.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by SplitMyPants » Tue Apr 11, 2017 3:22 pm

OneHandedEconomist wrote:How hard is it to get Atlanta biglaw coming out of Duke?
It will be difficult but doable and will largely depend on the strength of your ties. A&B, K&S, Troutman, the firm formerly known as Sutherland, and MMM usually only take a handful of Duke students total each year. Some years some of these firms may take no Duke students if they cannot find candidates with the right ties, grades, etc., as there are plenty of top 5%-10% folks at UGA/Emory/GSU also dying to get Atl biglaw who likely have great ties. Basically, any difficulty in getting Atlanta from Duke stems from the relatively small size of the Atl biglaw market and its aversion to flight-risk candidates, and less from Duke's relative ability to otherwise place people in the Atl market.

In short: Duke is hands down the best school you could choose for Atlanta biglaw. But you'd better throw plenty of NYC on your OCI bid list as well.

Feel free to PM if you want to discuss further / more specifically about your ties, etc.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by Harry Ass Truman » Sun Apr 16, 2017 11:31 pm

Where do most 1Ls live?

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by lymenheimer » Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:24 am

Harry Ass Truman wrote:Where do most 1Ls live?
Most of my friends are split between Garrett West, The Heights at LaSalle, and renting houses.

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Re: Duke 1L (soon to be 2L) taking questions

Post by Harry Ass Truman » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:25 am

lymenheimer wrote:
Harry Ass Truman wrote:Where do most 1Ls live?
Most of my friends are split between Garrett West, The Heights at LaSalle, and renting houses.
Hear anything of Trinity or The Lofts?

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