Lawyer/parent here – the opportunity for lawyers has dropped dramatically in last 20 years. Attending a law school below a certain range may mean a student cannot get a law related job. If a student has not received substantial merit aid to attend that school, they have massive student loans without a higher paying law related job to fund the repayment of those loans.
Grads from T14 schools typically get law jobs, and typically are eligible for the most desirable firm jobs, clerkships and public interest jobs. Some grads of 15-some lower number may still get those highly desirable jobs, but generally require some other special attributes like law review, placing in the very top percentage of graduating class etc. Some students may roll the dice, and take merit money from lower ranked in order to reduce loans which works if they turn out to be high achievers in law school. But – everyone in law school was pretty much a top undergraduate student – and only a sliver of law students are on law review, top grades etc. Just being an excellent undergrad does not translate directly into being a top law student.
Internships and experience require a lot of leg work from the undergrad, no matter what the school. Sure, it helps to have schools with strong career services and active alums willing to provide internships. But, at the end of the day, the student is the one who has to identify, seek out, interview, and get, the internships. Spending some time on the career services website of a school will identify what resources are available for the search, how much support is provided to the student, including summer funding for unpaid internships, and the types of things students have done for summer experience.
Broadly, for a student interested in law school, go to undergrad where you borrow the least amount of money and have the most available college savings remaining to help with law school. Take advantage of the opportunities available, for campus leadership, working with professors etc. Get the absolute best grades possible, regardless of the school. Spend several months preparing for the LSAT. Law school admissions is not based on the name of the school on the transcript-- it is what the student has done before law school.