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Law school is a salmon run
The salmon run
The risk is getting trapped there, unable to leave. It's a lot like salmon swimming upstream: some get eaten by the bear, nobody knows which ones, and the rest make it to the breeding ground.
Life at a firm
In one Harvard Law section, nearly everyone went to a law firm, and they already knew what law firms were. They graduated with bar trips planned to amazing places and a starting salary of $190,000 on the Cravath scale.
The clerkship route
One graduate clerked for a year instead, lived at her parents' house to pay off loans, and took no bar trip. A group of Harvard Law women she calls the HLS girl mafia took her under their wing. Her advice to her younger self is to skip law school until you have some idea what lawyers do.
How does the Cravath scale spread across firms?
The scale is named for the firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, whose associate salaries other large firms have long matched. When Cravath announces a raise, competitors usually follow within days. Firms pay on a lockstep basis, meaning associates in the same graduating class earn the same base salary. The name also echoes the Cravath System, an approach developed in the early 1900s of hiring top graduates and promoting from within.
Why do salmon swim upstream at all?
Salmon hatch in freshwater, migrate to the ocean to feed and grow, and return to spawn. They find their birth stream mostly by smell, recognizing its chemistry. They stop eating once they enter freshwater and live on stored fat. Pacific salmon die after spawning, and their bodies feed the stream's insects, fish, and surrounding forest.
Why do big firms value judicial clerkships?
A federal clerk works for a judge for a year or two, researching legal questions and drafting opinions. That is intensive training in writing and analysis that firms would otherwise have to provide themselves. Clerkships are competitive, and clerks typically come from the top of their law school classes. Many large firms pay associates a bonus when they join after clerking.
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