<p>Ok so right now I am an undergrad doing mining engineering. I was recently inspired to be a lawyer after reading a very interesting book. I was just WONDERING what I would need to do to become a commodities attorney. Of course pass the BAR exam and everything but I was looking more at law schools that have a reputation in commodities. Or does it not matter at all? I would imagine it would be best for me to have some type of background in commodities law.<br>
However, I really don’t want to leave the tri-state area :. Any suggestions on steps I should be making (Currently a sophomore)</p>
<p>Also, what type of lawyer(-ing) would I be able to do? For example, what exactly do these guys do? I would assume it requires traveling which is a plus for me, and long hours of work which I want right now. But what the heck do they DO?</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.hunton.com/Commodities_Trading_and_Regulation/]Here[/url”>http://www.hunton.com/Commodities_Trading_and_Regulation/]Here[/url</a>] are a [url=<a href=“http://www.reedsmith.com/Commodities-Practices/]few[/url”>Commodities | Energy & Natural Resources | Capabilities | Reed Smith LLP]few[/url</a>] [url=<a href=“http://www.pillsburylaw.com/trade-and-commodities-finance]summaries[/url”>http://www.pillsburylaw.com/trade-and-commodities-finance]summaries[/url</a>] of what some commodities lawyers do. It’s a fairly niche area so I can’t be more specific. Honestly, I’d go to those sites, look up some of the lawyers that do what interests you, and email them. Most would be delighted to take you to lunch or have a half-hour chat on the phone. </p>
<p>As for law schools, the big firms don’t really look at people who don’t go to a top school. To get into one of those you want to aim to graduate with a GPA of 3.7 or better and score a 170 or better on the LSAT. While they certainly accept splitters often (people with a high score in one area and a low score in the other), scholarship money is reserved for those meeting the GPA/LSAT cut offs.</p>
<p>Jesus a 3.7??? I have a 3.0 right now going into my Junior Year… I will have to bust my butt to get a scholarship dammit. How about New York Law School, CUNY, or Seton Hall. Are those considered decent law schools?</p>
<p>None of those is worth attending. You want to aim for schools in the Top 14 of the [US</a> News and World Reports](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings?int=e5db0b]US”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings?int=e5db0b).</p>
<p>Ok I guess I didn’t think this through. There is no way I can come up with 50k a year to pay for school. I would be in debt for the rest of my life. Why isn’t a school like Rutgers U considered? Is it the class size, school prestige or what? Rutgers U has a 41% employment and Yale has a 96%. Big difference but why will a degree from Rutgers not amount to anything? Even with a engineering background?</p>
<p>Would an MBA in finance or economics be a better option? I like the mining field but the idea of working out in an isolated environment is not what I intended for my life lol. Would an MBA or MS in something business related be useless?</p>
<p>One of the reasons I’m telling you to get a 3.7 or better and a 170 LSAT or better is to get scholarship money to defray that cost. That said, most every law student takes out student loans to pay for law school. Those loans are indeed large. However, the firms I linked you to pay a starting salary of $160,000. That is a salary large enough to pay those loans. Also, while I am not certain, I strongly suspect you won’t find non-major law firms doing commodities work. Those firms hire disproportionately from the top schools.</p>
<p>As for employment, you need a new link. Take a look around [url=<a href=“6 Keys to a Stellar Law School Resume - Professional Resume Writers”>6 Keys to a Stellar Law School Resume - Professional Resume Writers]here[/url</a>]. Rutgers, as you can see, places only 63% of its class in jobs. Of the employed, only 6 percentage points are working in the major firms that both pay enough to handle the loans and have a chance at doing the kind of work you want. Compare that to [url=<a href=“6 Keys to a Stellar Law School Resume - Professional Resume Writers”>6 Keys to a Stellar Law School Resume - Professional Resume Writers]Yale[/url</a>], where 82% of the class is employed, but fully 32% are going to major firms, and another 35% are going to clerkships (1 or 2 year jobs where the clerks will very likely go to major firm jobs next). Despite similar-sounding job stats (60 and 80%), Yale’s outcomes are actually more than 10x better than Rutger’s. That’s why in law school, you go to the top or you don’t go.</p>
<p>The engineering background will help but probably not for commodities. People with a background in engineering, especially electrical engineering or computer science, are in demand for intellectual property law. You should look into that to see if it interests you. IP students have somewhat better employment chances due to the lower supply of students able to take the IP bar. That said, it’s still wise to go to the best school possible.</p>
<p>Hmm. I have to talk to my cousin, he is a working attorney for the Us Govt. Maybe he can help me make a plan. I will have to get straight A’s for the rest of my 2 & 1/2 years of school it seems which looks unlikely with Chem and Calc still to go. I will be spending my life in the library next semester it seems.</p>
<p>I never pictured myself going to a private school but we will see what I’m feeling when I’m a senior. But wow a 3.8 is the 25th percentile…? That’s very competitive woah.</p>
<p>I did some commodities work in my younger lawyering years. Keep in mind a few things if you want to do commodities work. First, commodities transactions work is basically securities work often with an added layer of regulatory scrutiny (CFTC). Second, a lot of the cutting edge commodities work focuses on derivatives transactions. it helps a lot to be good at math and be able to discuss complex financial formulas with clients (for hedging, speculative and other purposes). Finally, a good portion of this work centers around negotiating ISDA (and similar) agreements, which can be more or less interesting, depending upon the transaction and and how much you like artfully crafting language to describe complex financial transactions. </p>
<p>Of course, there are other commodities transactions out there (commodity pools, secondary greenhouse gas emission credits markets, etc.) as well.</p>