#1–I didn’t go to Cornell, I went to Pennsylvania, and it wasn’t the 80s
My niece is currently a Professor of Law at Harvard. She teaches Criminal Law. Her first year students have midterms.
My BIL teaches Property and Real Estate Law at another Massachusetts Law School. Property Law has weekly quizzes and a midterm. Real Estate Law has a midterm.
Legal Writing and Motions courses often have homework assignments that must be handed in. Courses in Constitutional Law and Torts generally do not.
I wouldn’t pity my students for the workload. I also provide them free tutoring for the Bar Exam. Last year, my students taking the CT and Mass Bar Exams had a 94% pass Rate on the first try, NY was 93%.
Your observation about getting a Government job being easier from a T14 school may be true in states such as NY, BUT in other states that have few Law Schools (Connecticut has only 3, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine each have one) a candidate will have a better chance getting a state or local government job if they graduated from a local Law School.
Many law schools focus on teaching the NBE tested major subjects and local state law. They may teach none of the law that is particular to another state.
Each year I give a CT Bar Review Class for Massachusetts Law School Grads who plan to take the CT Bar Exam. Almost no one takes Administrative Law during law school in Massachusetts, but CT tests it. There is an Admin Law Essay about 3 out of time times the Bar Exam is given. Similarly, Columbia Law will not teach CT Constitutional Law which is also tested.
I point all this out to show that there are no one-size fits all answers. Each state’s Bar Exam requirements are different. For example, many students fret about the MPRE exam that many states require (with varying passing scores). In Connecticut, a law grad need not take the MPRE if he/she passed a law school Ethics course with a minimum of a ‘B’ within 4 years of taking the Bar Exam, If not the MPRE with a minimum grade of 80 is required.
Lastly, For those who wish to initially practice in CT, MA, or VT and do not want to take the LSAT and spend $150K on their Law Education, There is a Non-ABA approved Law School-Massachusetts School of Law, in Andover, MA which does not require the LSAT, costs about half and whose graduates can take the listed Bar Exams. After practicing a certain number of years they are also eligible to take many other state’s exams including NY.