Duke is one of the more interesting law schools I have ever encountered. On one hand, the school attracts very intelligent students who, by all appearances, are motivated, intelligent and poised for success in the law. On the other hand, there appears to be something "off" about the culture of this school because, in my experience, Duke graduates are more prone to psychological breakdowns than law school graduates from many other schools.

You will find graduates of Duke at most of the best law firms in the country. Here, they often do extremely well and fit in quite well. For the most part, there are a lot of good students coming out of Duke that can succeed at a high level in the practice of law. The best students are not overly intellectual but quite smart. There is a bit of an "elitism" of graduates of this school that is almost like they are part of a Southern aristocracy. For example, students and graduates have the sort of confidence in their institution that someone from a school like Harvard would. For a Southerner, going to Duke might actually be preferable to going to a school like Harvard.

In my career as a legal recruiter, I can honestly say that a significant percentage (probably as many as 30%) of the attorneys I have encountered from here had serious personal and professional issues. For example, one attorney I encountered years ago wrote a book about how many women he had slept with and abused sexually (Tucker Max) that was made into a movie. For some inexplicable reason, Duke graduates are often fired from law firms and appear to be more burned out and/or mentally exhausted than graduates from other schools.

At least a few attorneys I have encountered from here ended up being hospitalized for stress issues related to working in a law firm.

There is something going on with the culture of Duke Law School that does not make a lot of sense to me. My thought is that there may be a lot of social pressure at the school that breaks people in the long run.

All of the negativity aside, if a student comes out of Duke, keeps it together and does well, they can have exceptional careers. The students are certainly smart enough to do whatever they want. Students from this school are quite employable wherever they want to go. For example, I would estimate that a similarly situated student (grades and class rank) from Duke is much more employable that students from similarly ranked schools like Michigan and Berkeley, for example

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3184425&forum_id=2#30193245)

http://www.lawcrossing.com/lcmarketingproblem.php

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3184425&forum_id=2#30193922)