Prestige

Institutional prestige is an unavoidable aspect of the legal profession. From time to time, opposing counsel may try to intimidate you by subtly referencing their fancy law school (e.g., “when I was in Cambridge for law school…”) or elite clerkship (e.g., “Justice Kennedy always used to say…”). If this happens to you, a good way to respond is to make a statement that indicates you are totally oblivious to the prestige. For example, if they were to say, "At Wachtell we always did it this way," you should respond, "Ah, Wachtell— Colorado must have been beautiful."