David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

to level off at a certain point, meaning
that the kinds of distinctions among
students made by elite institutions are
not necessarily useful. In other words, it
is wrong to assume that a lawyer
admitted to a very good law school with
lesser credentials will be a less able
lawyer than those admitted with sterling
credentials. To back this up, I used data
from the University of Michigan Law
School, which shows that their black
law school affirmative-action graduates
had careers every bit as distinguished as
their white graduates.
Do I still believe this? Yes and no. I
think the general point about the benefits
of intelligence leveling off at the high
end remains. But I now think the specific