The work of a law professor combines research, writing, and teaching. For those who teach clinically, it adds the rewards of direct customer service. This combination creates a very attractive mix for many people, including many graduates of Yale Law School. Yale Law School alumni have been very successful in the law market and are currently law professors in every conceivable subject in schools of all kinds in every region of the world. In the fall of 2011, I returned to the apprenticeship market. A completely different experience. This fall, I had 26 interviews (compared to four); eight recalls (compared to two); and three offers leading to tenure (versus none) – and this includes removing some of the places where I had interviews or callbacks. Just saying it was a very, very different experience. I think this shows both the importance of teaching experience (especially doctrinal) and a sufficient amount of high-quality publications.
(However, never sacrifice quality for quantity!) TaxProf Blog updates a list of scholarships and VAPs every year. Some are topic-specific and others general. But if you`re serious about law, you should apply for these and you probably should before entering the apprenticeship market (although you can do it at the same time). The danger of doing it at the same time is that you`re less competitive because you haven`t done a VAC/scholarship, and so if you get a job, it`s likely to be in a place that`s not your first choice. And while you can always go sideways at a later date, the sideways market is likely to be even less predictable than the entry market. It is a balancing act. Getting a job anywhere is great, but still, some jobs are better than others. And of course, some regions will be more attractive (to you personally) than others.
With that in mind, I`m going to move on to sharing some of my experiences. The Faculty of Academic Support advises students on the best way to succeed in Law School. Tutoring positions are not always faculty positions; These may be contractual items of administrative staff. With respect to faculty positions, academic support positions are generally not tenure-track and may not have the same voting rights (or scholarship or teacher expectations) as tenure-track faculty. If you`re currently studying law and interested in academia, you may want to use some of your time at Yale to learn about legal learning, such as: through the Law Teaching Series (see below); Research assistants; course; clinical work; and conversations with faculty members. While the law job search usually takes place after graduation, you may also want to start improving your legal research and writing skills and developing publications. There is no specific summer employment path for law students or semester history for students who eventually wish to enter the legal market. However, you may want to gain experience during those years that relate to the type of topics that interest you academically in the coming years. I entered the apprenticeship market for the first time in the fall of 2009. I started my fifth year of practice.
I had written in law school and throughout my practice had already published three papers (two of which were very good rankings) and attended conferences. I also had a good work in progress. I thought I had a good shot. I only received four interviews in Washington, D.C. (on-campus interviews), two callbacks/flybacks, and finished second for a position that the person in front of me accepted. At that time, I really wanted to get an offer from this school (a 4th law school). However, I had also applied for scholarships and VAPs at the same time; that is, I entered the market at the same time as I was applying for VAPs and scholarships (which I would advise you). And I ended up getting a few offers from VAP, including one that was a brand new position at Stetson University`s law school (a law school I had never heard of at the time). I accepted it because it was a two year position (my other VAP offer was only one year), I would teach all the teaching courses and pretty much the courses I wanted, the location was great (on the beach) and the salary was really good – much better than most. ($75,000 plus free housing versus a more typical scholarship salary of $50,000). (By the way, Rachel VanLandingham, another Texas law student, took my place at Stetson when I took my current job at the University of Tennessee School of Law.) The Law Education Tips section of the HLS website can provide students with a lot of information to guide their thinking about law as a career.
Students interested in more information about a career in law can contact Susannah Barton Tobin, Assistant Dean of Academic Career Councils. To add your name to the law education mailing list, please register or contact Susannah Barton Tobin (instructions for clicking on the “Register” link: If you are prompted to log in, please use the first part of your email address (everything before the @ sign) as your username and your Harvard Key password as your password. Then select “All Lists” in the left navigation column and scroll down to “Law Education (Networking for HLSers interested in teaching law)”. Click on the “Subscribe” option just below).