To those who went to Tulane: How competitive was/is it? If class rank is so important, what are one's prospects for placing well? It doesn't seem to me that Tulane pulls in students who are that much better than LSU.
My class at Tulane was 20% Louisiana people. I bet the number at LSU is much much much higher. Tulane is a national law school (which is why you don't have the same focus on Louisiana law there) and as such, you will get people from all over ... people from Ivy league schools and people from small regional universities you've never heard of.
That makes for a more diverse student population, but it doesn't necessarily mean its going to be better students. While most LSU students are probably from Louisiana, they're no less talented. And there's probably students there from Ivy League schools and regional universities you've never heard of - they just came home to La. to go to law school.
Law school is a competitive place at the top. It isn't going to be any "easier" to place in the top 10% at any of the three schools. Personally, I think I was more capable than many of the students in the top 10% of my class- but they just simply worked very very hard to get there and I didn't work as hard. It doesn't matter who you are - the chances are that if you really want to be in the top of your class you're going to have to work your *** off to get it.
That being said, most of the people in my class at Tulane got jobs. People in the middle of the pack got decent positions with decent pay. It was a better job market at that time, however.