Law student thinking of going west. What do you all think?

I've ranted and raved in other posts, so I may as well continue it here. :-)

First, I'd say, yes, go west! Come to Cali. It's a beautiful, fun place. Depending on where you're from, it may be considerably more expensive than where you currently live. SF/LA are great cities, but pretty costly! I love it though and am glad I ended up here.

My caveat is that if you did not go to a high-ranked law school or a fairly well known law school you may have trouble finding a job here. Don't forget, you'll be competing with USC, UCLA, Loyola, Hastings, Boalt Hall grads for jobs, and in my experience it's more difficult for those of us who came from out of state. But who knows, you may have alumni connections already and may be set, or may be in a position to transfer to a local school and be prepared before graduation.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. Any thoughts about substantive differences in legal practice in Cali vs. East Cost Markets (NY, DC, etc)?

If you are interested in practicing at the top of the legal market, start in NY and possibly DC (government; policy). However, if you ultimately want to end up on another area of the country, just go there (assuming it is a big metropolitan area that can give you experience). You can start building contacts and learn the area of law that you will be practicing. You can do a clerkship, etc. I already had kids when I graduated and knew I never wanted to live in NY, so I saved myself the 2-3 year stint in a cramped NY apartment and went straight for Cali (LA area). I work on complex and high-level matters (maybe a tier below NY matters) at a large regional firm, but I am in a better position than a sucker who spent 3 years in NY doing doc review.

However, if you want to practice in a small market (Boise, Tulsa, Nashville, Cleaveland, etc.), you may want to start in a slightly bigger market near your target market to get some high-level experience and then transfer in a few years.

The west is awesome if you have a family. Instead of going in at 9 or 10 and staying until 9, the culture is to go in earlier at 8 and leave by 6 or so (obviously depending upon the firm). Things are definately more laid back too (Boston, NY, DC are too stuffy for me).

Wow - thanks for the advice.