Hello everyone. I am still waiting an answer from Columbia. I was admitted at NYU - Corporate Law and I simply love everything about NYU, specially the spirit, the support to international students, location and professionalism. However, I always heard that CLS is academically stronger in Corporate Law. Therefore, I would like very much to get some opinions on this issue. Additionally, would anyone think that a corporate law student at CLS has more chances to get a job in this field? I really looking forward to get your thoughts regarding this matter...

I would tend to think that it's difficult to beat Columbia when it comes to corporate law. Here are some excellent (and most of them famous) Professors in the area of corporate and commercial law:

Zohar Goshen (Corporations, Corporate Finance, Law & Economics of Corporations and Securities Markets);
Harvey Goldschmid (Antitrust, Corporations, Corporation & Modern Society);
"The" Coffee (Securities Regulation, Black Letter Law & White Collar Crime);
Gordon (M&A);
Gilson (Deals, Corporate Governance);
Bartczak (Financial Statement Analysis);
Mavroidis (WTO Law, Comparative & International Antitrust).

In case you don't know much about them, you might want to look up their profiles, and you'll quickly see that those are top professionals in their area of expertise.

As to the job market, I think that any Law School in NY will give you better job opportunities than others (except maybe Harvard, Yale and Chicago) in terms of % of successful job applicants. When it comes to the corporate/commercial area however, I think that Columbia has the highest placement rate.

I spoke to many practicioners about this, and they confirm that Columbia has an edge because of its huge network of alumni in the City, and because of its revolutionary curriculum (today many lawyers from the City teach practical courses which are hands-on courses for the practice) that includes a lot of actual practice instead of the traditional theoretical courses offered at most other universities.

Another advantage of NY situated Law Schools is that you are in the City, so you can have as many interviews as you want without having to travel for each and every one of them. Believe me, that's very convenient!

Hope this helps.

DocJ

Thank you very much DocJ.
Anybody in favor of NYU in Corporate Law?

I would go to Columbia, unless you really want to live in the Village. I do think however that there is almost no difference b/w the top shools when it gets to corporate law. Every first-tier school has 4/5 top corporate professors and since you are staying 1 year, I think it is good enough.

I definately do not think that this choice will make any difference in obtaining jobs.

Hi - I'm currently doing the LLM at NYU. I think it makes no difference if you are from Columbia or NYU when it comes to placement - I'm not sure about Columbia LLM's, but this year most of the NYU's LLM got a job. As to getting a job in corporate, it's much easier than in the other areas. Needless to say, getting a job is a HARD task, that involves a lot of luck, networking and good grades - but not soo much if you choose Columbia or NYU.

I think both are good - but I still chose CLS over NYU (though NYU offered me a full-tuition schlarship).

The corporate law courses are great: DRJ you forgot Milhaupt. He is the best (I say this though I also had Coffee, Goldschmidt, Mavroidis,........)

Btw, do I know you DRJ? :-)

cof,

If you had Milhaupt and you now have Coffee (which I am reading at this very moment), then I certainly know you. Even if you didn't have them, I would know you. And you know me too ;-)

I didn't include Milhaupt because Milhaupt is not one of the famous scholars, even though he is great.

As to the other comment, when you talk about getting jobs, it is important to make a distinction between jobs in NY, jobs in the US in general, and jobs abroad. I think everyone at Columbia got a job abroad, and I think this might be the case for most US Law Schools. When it comes to placements in NY, it's a different story. I don't know any exact numbers, but this year was apparently exceptional in terms of placements in the US. And considering that 75% of the Columbia LLMs are doing corporate law, I cannot agree that there was a lot of trouble getting jobs for the Columbia corporate LLM students.

See you on Friday at 10am cof!

DocJ

Thank you for all the replies. In conclusion, both law schools are great, although Columbia has more name when it comes to Corporate Law. However, it makes no difference in terms of job placements (which involves anyway other skills and personal qualifications from the candidate).

DrJ,

Well then you are also reading Reg A, Reg D, Reg Sho and the like at this moment. ;-)

All the best on Friday!