Do graduates from top law schools ever go to work for smaller law firms?

And represent people instead of corporations? Or do almost all graduates go to work for huge law firms and represent corporations?

Answer by DEE W
Yes. Quantity does not always mean quality. It could just be that someones dad works there.It also depends on what aspect of law one is going to practice. A lawyer that does traffic tickets will do well in good times or bad.

Answer by TheOrange Evil
Many graduates of top law schools go into academia, public interest, and government work. Some work for prestigious, but tiny firms. Others just can't get into biglaw, or won't, and opt for smaller firms instead, even with the diminished pay. Obviously, a lot want to go into biglaw because the entry-level salaries are amazing.

Unless you make partner, you're not going to stay in biglaw forever. Most will do it for 5 to 10 years, just long enough to pay off or make a serious dent in their student loans, and then leave for something with fewer hours.

I don't know many law school students who want to always be in biglaw. Instead they see it as a way to pay back debt while gaining valuable experience at a prestigious firm that will allow them to do what they want later.

More to the point, though: yes, the top schools send a lot of graduates to top firms. They don't all do corporate law, of course, but they're big and cover many practice areas. See the NLJ250, a listing of the 250 biggest firms in the US. The economy is sluggish, but you'll notice how many go into these types of jobs.

http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/law%20schools_charts_page12.pdf

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