If you believe the legal rumor mill, and we’re not sure why you would, a degree from a so-called TTT law school is a first-class ticket to a dead-end career. But the truth is that successful lawyers can come from any of the 184 ABA-accredited law schools, even (gasp) schools that aren’t in the Top 14.
Here are just some of the many accomplished legal minds who matriculated from the not-so-hallowed halls of America’s TTTs who’ve “done good” enough to manage to land top law jobs. Just as U.S. News does with Tier-3 and Tier-4 rankings, the following individuals are simply listed alphabetically.
Alice Moore Batchelder
Law School: University of Akron School of Law (Tier 3)
Notable Work: Judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals; made George W. Bush’s shortlist for the Supreme Court seat that ultimately went to Justice Alito. [USA Today]
Jeffrey Birren
Law School: Southwestern (Tier 3)
Notable Work: General Counsel, The Oakland Raiders. [Southwestern.edu]
N. Cornell Boggs III
Law School: Valparaiso University School of Law (Tier 4)
Notable Work: Chief Legal Officer and Group Vice President for Public Affairs, Coors Brewing Company. [AllBusiness.com]
Bonnie Dumanis
Law School: Thomas Jefferson Law School (Tier 4)
Notable Work: District Attorney for San Diego County since 2003. [Sign On San Diego]
Robert H. Jackson
Law School: Albany Law School (Tier 3)
Notable Work: Supreme Court Justice; Chief Prosecutor at Nuremberg. [Wikipedia]
Bill Lockyer
Law School: McGeorge School of Law (Tier 3)
Notable Work: Former California Attorney General; current California State Treasurer. [Treasurer.ca.gov]
Rich McKay
Law School: Stetson University College of Law (Tier 3)
Notable Work: President of the Atlanta Falcons; former GM of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they won Super Bowl XXXVII. [Wikipedia]
Dwight D. Opperman
Law School: Drake University Law School (Tier 3)
Notable Work: Former CEO of West Publishing; oversaw the creation of the WestLaw database; sold West to Thompson Reuters for $3.4 billion. [Forbes]
Thomas J. Ryan
Law School: Suffolk Law School (Tier 4)
Notable Work: General Counsel, Pepsi. [Suffolk.edu]
Various Firm-Name TTT Alumni
Law School: New York Law School (Tier 3)
Notable Work: Not to be confused with NYU Law School, this much-maligned institution is responsible for some of the biggest white shoes that BigLaw has ever known. [NYLS.edu]
Here are just some of the school’s notable alums:
- Cameron R. MacRae of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae LLP (Now Dewey & LeBoeuf)
- Albert Milbank of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
- Randolph E. Paul of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
- Alfred Rose of Proskauer Rose LLP
- Jacob Scholer of Kaye Scholer LLP
Who did we miss? Leave the unsung TTT All-Star’s info below in the comments.