I was just offered a full ride at Cornell LL.M. program - a fellowship worth of 42, 500 $. I almost cried when I turned it down. Yale gave me approximately 2000 $, so that decision cost me over 40k. I won't even try to make it to BigLaw, so that 40k feels like a huge amount of money (it's more than my annual salary in Finland). I have two wishes. I hope Yale will be worth it, and that Cornell offers that scholarship to one of you guys. -Cheers-

I was just offered a full ride at Cornell LL.M. program - a fellowship worth of 42, 500 $. I almost cried when I turned it down. Yale gave me approximately 2000 $, so that decision cost me over 40k. I won't even try to make it to BigLaw, so that 40k feels like a huge amount of money (it's more than my annual salary in Finland). I have two wishes. I hope Yale will be worth it, and that Cornell offers that scholarship to one of you guys. -Cheers-

tmalmine: Did Yale offer just $2,000? Is that all their financial aid???

Actually, 2000 $ and a possibility to apply for a conditional grant. I can apply for a loan and if I continue law teaching in my home country, the loan is converted into a grant. Not really sure how it functions, but I intend to apply. Cornell, on the other hand, offered a full tuition waiver, which would have meant that I could have used my 60, 000 $ of Finnish scholarships just for living expenses. Would have made for a nice standard of living. Ain't life a bitch?

listen to me! you are one of the few - very few - tiny tiny minority - of overseas students who has been accepted into not just a top-tier school, not even just a top 10 school, but YALE of all places! i don't think you understand the impact this will have on your career. that cornell 40K is irrelevant. you are going to what is regarded as the best law school in the world probably. now all you have to do is this - bust your ass! i hear (i may be wrong) that yale doesn't really grade its students on a curve or anything, but does award honors to top 20% students.

you need to do well, however they grade it. try and get into the JD program, get on law review, you'll be made. by the time you graduate your starting salary could be well over 200K at a top top international firm. you will always have a very very well paid job.

Hello UEL! Of course you're right, I shouldn't be whining. The truth is that I intend to return to Finland to continue with my dissertation, so I won't be making big bucks anytime soon. But of course I'm extremely happy going to Yale, my "dream school". One just gets greedy from time to time. By the way, I think your estimate of 200 000 $/year is a bit high, 150, 000 $ would be more likely in BigLaw. Advocacy and business law just aren't my cup of tea.

Well, if you have $60,000 of Finnish scholarships, that's totally another thing. Tuition fees at YLS are so high that they are entirely unaffordable for me (in the case I were admitted in my "dream school" too). :-)

if you ultimately do the JD, then 200K at a BigLaw firm by the time you graduate isn't that unlikely (that incl. bonus, bens, cola etc)

Hello UEL! Of course you're right, I shouldn't be whining. The truth is that I intend to return to Finland to continue with my dissertation, so I won't be making big bucks anytime soon. But of course I'm extremely happy going to Yale, my "dream school". One just gets greedy from time to time. By the way, I think your estimate of 200 000 $/year is a bit high, 150, 000 $ would be more likely in BigLaw. Advocacy and business law just aren't my cup of tea.

Oh, I forgot cola:) I guess you're right, if we include bonus, as we should (and signing fee, too). That's a huge sum of money, no wonder so many American students aspire to make it to BigLaw. In Finland, a young associate at a major law firm makes approximately 40, 000$, no bonuses, no signing fee. Free refreshments, for sure, but you have to eat and drink a lot to earn as much as American lawyers.

tmalmine,
Congratulations on Yale. UEL is right. Yale is Crème de la crème. Go for it brother.

If it is ok with u, it would be very helpful for the rest of us trying to apply to top law schools if u could share with us ur profile i.e. age, school, acad performance, internships, work experience etc. If you are comfortable with sharing it, that is.

All the best and thanks.

In Finland, a young associate at a major law firm makes approximately 40, 000$, no bonuses, no signing fee.

To Josepidal: Yeah, talk about economic inequality. No wonder so many people are applying for LL.M. programs, hoping to make it to an American law firm.

Toni Malminen

Current Position Researcher, University of Helsinki.

Education
6/03-4/04 Licentiate in Laws, University of Helsinki (Finland), Faculty of Law.
8/01-3/02 Exchange Student, University of Stockholm (Sweden), Faculty of Law.
9/98-4/03 Master of Laws, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law.
8/92-5/95 Finnish A-Levels, Kärkölä High School.

Achievements/honors
2005 Nominated for the Fulbright Graduate Grant Program 2006-07.
2004 Licentiates Thesis accepted with highest distinction (laudatur).
2003 Masters Thesis accepted with highest distinction (laudatur) and awarded with the Hilkka and Otto Brusiin Foundation Masters Thesis Prize (December 2003).
2002 A representative of the University of Stockholm in the pan-European Moot Court Competition, which is one of the largest moot courts in the world. Ours was one of four finalistschosen from 72 teamsthat participated in the All-European Final of 2001-2002.
2000 Onni Talas Foundation Scholarship for superior academic performance (December 2000).
The Best Student in class on Legal History, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law (August 2000).
1998 Best score in the highly competitive entrance examination of law faculty out of 1003 participants.
1995 Finnish A-Levels: laudatur (highest distinction).

Employment record
06/2003-present University of Helsinki.
Researcher.
Writing a doctoral dissertation on comparative legal history.

01/2003-06/2003 Finnish Lawyers Association, Helsinki.
Editorial assistant.
Classified and systematized all of the material published during 19992002 in Lakimies, the leading Finnish law review.

09/2002-01/2003 Helsinki District Court.
Office secretary/Law clerk.
Offered secretarial services to judges and assisted them in researching and writing their legal opinions.

09/2000-09/2001 Pykälä ry (law students association), Helsinki.
Course manager.
Managed a four-person team in organizing 14 preparatory courses for the Faculty of Law for nearly 550 customers.
Recruited, co-ordinated and managed 30 employees.

Teaching experience
2005 University of Helsinki
The Aims and Methods of Comparative Legal History (Fall 2005).
The Relationship Between Legal and Social History (Spring 2005).

2000-2005 Pykälä ry (law students association), Helsinki.
Have lectured successfully for over 1000 hours on property, contracts, legal history, constitutional history, family law, and legal theory to over 1500 law school applicants (Spring 20002005).

Publications Articles
The effects of Scandinavian Legal Realism on Finnish legal studies, 19291965, in Legal Transfer in History (to be published in January 2006 by the publishing house Martin Meidenbauer Verlagsbuchhandlung).

Omistuksensuoja ja sopimusvapaus amerikkalaisen oikeusajattelun muutokset 18681937. (Protection of private ownership and freedom of contract changes in American legal thought, 1868 1937), in Lakimies 6/2005:925948.

Book Reviews
Review of Pierre Legrand & Roderick Munday (edited), Comparative Legal Studies: Traditions and Transitions, in Oikeus 4/2005:446448.

Review of Quentin Skinner & Bo Stråth (edited), States and Citizens: History, Theory, Prospects, in Oikeus 3/2005:333337.

Review of Nicola Lacey, A Life of H. L. A. Hart: The Nightmare and the Noble Dream, in Lakimies 5/2005: 839842.

Review of Päivi Paasto, Omistuksen juuret: Omistusoikeuden perustelua koskeva oppihistoriallinen tutkimus, in Lakimies 3/2005:512516.

Review of Richard A. Epstein, Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism, in Oikeus 2/2005:202204.

Review of Robert A. Kagan, Adversarial Legalism: The American Way of Law, in Lakimies 4/2004:763765.

Presentations and conferences

The effects of Scandinavian Legal Realism on Finnish legal studies, 1929 1965. Europäisches Forum junger Rechtshistorikerinnen und Rechtshistoriker, Luzern, Switzerland, May 2005.

The effects of Scandinavian Legal Realism on Finnish legal studies, 1929 1965. Nordic Law in the European Legal Community, Oslo, Norway, April 2005.
Cambridgen koulukunnan aatehistoria ja oikeusrealismi (The Cambridge School of intellectual history and legal realism). Legal Studies Conference, Lammi, Finland, January 2005.

Oikeustieteen aatehistorian metodeista (The methods of legal history). Legal History Conference, Joensuu,
Finland, November 2004.

Languages Finnish (native), English (fluent), Swedish (conversant), Danish and Norwegian (working passive knowledge), Spanish and German (some exposure).

Learned societies Secretary/Treasurer, Matthias Calonius Society (Finnish Society for Legal History), Finnish Society for Social and Legal Studies.

Personal information Born November 16, 1976, not married.

My resume. As you can see, there are people with much more impressive credentials. Regional diversity probably had a role to play.

The Faculty of Law in the University of Helsinki has traditionally used a three-tier grading system for the Masters Degree: Satisfactory, Good, and Excellent. Additionally, the Masters Thesis is evaluated with seven grades (in Latin), with the highest distinction being laudatur. Finnish universities have neither Anglo-American-style honors system nor class-rankings. Actually, there are no classes and students proceed with their studies at their own pace. Instead of class rankings, evaluations are based on their grades. No GPA is counted, however, and therefore grades are difficult to evaluate objectively. The most accomplished students may also receive additional stipends or grants, often from private foundations.

Finnish universities also have an additional degree between the Masters and doctorate. In the Faculty of Law, it is called the Licentiate in Laws. Its nearest equivalent would perhaps be the German doctorate. The Licentiate Degree usually takes two years of full-time study, and consists of additional studies in legal theory and philosophy. The main objective, however, is to write a thesis. This is then evaluated using the same seven Latin grades, with the highest distinction being laudatur.

I have a stellar academic record. For lack of class rankings, it is not easy to evaluate it objectively. Yet, there is much evidence available for evaluating both the Masters and the Licentiate Degrees. Out of 1003 applicants to the faculty, I achieved the highest score in the highly competitive entrance examination at the law faculty. I was awarded several honors and distinctions during my time as a law student. In December 2000, I received the Onni Talas Foundation Scholarship for superior academic performance. It is awarded annually to ten economically disadvantaged and academically accomplished students at the University of Helsinki (student population c. 36, 000). In 20012002 I studied for nine months at Stockholm University. During this period, I represented the university in a pan-European EC moot court competition one of the largest moot court competitions in the world. Our team did very well, being one of four finalists chosen from 72 teams that participated in the All-European Final of 20012002, and my contribution was extremely significant in relation to our teams success. This view was obviously shared by the esteemed panelists in the competition who confided that I was one of the best pleaders they had ever seen during their many years of cumulative experience in the competition. As regards the grades, it is worth emphasizing that over 70 % of my Masters Degrees grades are Excellent. In comparison with other students, the most objective statement I can make is that none of my friends or acquaintances has had any better. In addition, my Masters Thesis was accepted with highest distinction and won the Hilkka and Otto Brusiin Foundation Masters Thesis Prize 2003. The Prize is awarded annually to the writer of the best Masters Thesis in the field of legal theory and legal philosophy.

My Licentiate Thesis, which I completed in 2004, was accepted with highest distinction, too. It is an extraordinary honor. According to the statistics I have received from the faculty, only six theses have been accepted with highest distinction during the past eight years (out of c. 160). The additional courses required for the degree were graded Excellent. I would also like to point out that I graduated in record-time, in nine months. All things considered, I would maintain that I am among the three most accomplished Licentiate Graduates of the past decade at the University of Helsinki.

A clarification for American law schools to help them evaluate my credentials. Some law schools specifically ask fot this.

Thanks Tony, Very impressive indeed...all the best with everything...

Your reply would help a lot of ppl on this board, specially those planning to attend next year..