I am an Ivy League attorney and I use a lawyer's education - Ivy League or not - as an indicator of their ability to work hard and succeed. It is not the only indicator, or a guarantee, of such abilities. However, when evaluating other attorneys, we often do not have the opportunity to perform a thorough evaluation of their career and personal situation, so we rely on short-hand indicators, such as the law school they attended. If they were able to obtain admission and success at an Ivy League law school, that is a shorthand indicator that they have what it takes to succeed in the practice of law. Admission to other good law schools and work for a top firm indicates the same thing.
There are, however, many reasons that very bright and accomplished attorneys did not attend an Ivy League or other highly ranked law school. Accordingly, the limits to these shorthand measures of a person's abilities must be kept in mind.
-Thomas J. Simeone, Esq., Simeone & Miller, LLP
