All Request Day: Location, Location, Location

Lawgator, a 1L, is thinking about life after law school.  She's observed that everyone seems to graduate and head to a big city, and she wants to live in a smaller city, something like, say, Portland, Maine.  She asks how to do that.

It's a good question, and strikes me as a pretty worthy goal.  I claim no special knowledge.  But I do think that choosing a place first, and committing to it, is a great way to go about having a happy life.  Choosing a place where you can have fun, build community, know your neighbors, and feel like you make a difference in the lives of folks and institutions around you -- that seems like what the people who are really content do.

I guess all I can tell you is pick your spot, now, and commit to it.  There are jobs here.  If you want to work in Portland, it's not that hard.  There are all kinds of law jobs here.  (As there are everywhere.)  I've written about this before -- you pick the place, find the people who can be your guides, teachers, mentors in that place, and find a way to connect with them, well ahead of when you want a job.  There are great jobs everywhere, and in a smaller city you can figure out where they are pretty quickly.  You can also build a reputation, make friends and allies, and build a robust support network, so that if you want to change jobs, you'll have lots of help. 

At least in Portland, law firms drill you pretty hard about your ties to Maine.  Why do you want to be here?  Are you sure?  Are you going to stay?  Do you realize, really and truly, what winters are like here?  I don't know if other medium or small markets have the same rigorous querying process.  Presumably big city people think that everyone really wants to be in a big city.  But being in a small city is a different choice -- you can't go out to eat after 9:30 most nights, you can't get great Chinese food, your clients and their deals won't be in the Wall Street Journal.  Around here, they want to make sure you know you're okay with that, and aren't romanticizing the place. 

So pick a place, or two -- Charlottesville, maybe, or Burlington, or perhaps New Haven or Williamstown or Helena or Bozeman, and reach out NOW to some people working at the kind of places you want to work.  Or to the Chamber of Commerce, or to a club you might want to be part of when you finally move there.  Anywhere, really, that you can make some friends and learn about the place.  Visit.  Ask a lot of questions.  Get an email pen pal.  And just keep on trying to figure out how you want your life to look when you get there and recruiting help to do so. 

Comments

[Kelly]

Sherry-

Well put. I'm a 3L. After my first year, my wife and I chose Portland (Maine, of course) for post-graduation. I went up and interviewed with people, convinced them that I wanted to live in Portland for the next ten years, and it worked. I worked there last summer and am heading there post-graduation. A note for smaller markets like Portland: I went and interviewed up there before school started and got a head start on other folks. That also helps demonstrate your commitment to the market. Portland, in particular, is a great place in the summer (and in the winter) and firms want to be convinced you're not just looking for a great 2L summer before you head off to real money in a bigger city. Good luck, all.

(Oh, and let's hear it for procrastinating on exams...)

Kelly

[jdz]

Thanks for the response and that sounds like excellent advice. What Kelly said also make a lot of sense about how a lot of people go places like that for a great summer without the intention of returning after graduation. I will definitly keep all of this in mind and start doing some research and attempting to make some connections once finals are over! And if anyone knows of anyone practicing environmental law in a Portland-ish town, feel free to point me in their direction!

[b]

Make a comittment to a place and you will find a place for yourself. Basicly I believe everyone who wants a job here can get a job here. BUT (listen to this) YOUR NOT GOING TO GET RICH AND RULE THE WORLD.

Your going to make enough to buy a modest house eat well and drive a late model car.

beyond that.....go to LA.

[PG]

Charlottesville is wonderful, but I would add a bit of additional advice: perhaps choose a place that doesn't have a law school in it. I don't know how many UVA law grads fall in love with C'ville and stick around, but if it's comparable to the number of the undergrad grads who do, the legal market there may be somewhat glutted. So maybe that's a factor to consider; there's always room for a good lawyer, as people say, but it's easier to find the room if there aren't a lot of other well-trained lawyers around.

I externed for a week several years ago with a local attorney, and his work was what you would expect of a small-town solo practitioner: wills, a guy trying to get back his voting rights, criminal defense of an alleged drug dealer. He had an office in easy walking distance of the courthouse. The part that appealed to me most was at the end, when the attorney closed up his office, met with his wife and kids and walked over to the Downtown Mall for Fridays After 5. He knew many of the people there, and clearly had a sense that this was his town.

[jdz]

PG, I came to that unfortunate realization a while back. Madison, WI, is on the list of places that I would love to live (and pretty much the upper limit in terms of population) but I realize that because they have a law school in town (and everyone seems to love Madison and want to STAY in Madison), the chances of someone coming from elsewhere straight out of law school and getting a job there are pretty slim. Fortunately, there are a lot of places that interest me that don't quite fall into that category.

Again, thanks for the advice all. Oh, and B, I have no desire to make a ton of money and rule the world... and L.A. is just about the LAST place I can ever see myself living.... !!

[Slice]

Burlington! YAY!

[Kevin O'Keefe]

Your advice is right on. Pick a place and make it happen. Good caring lawyers who are passionate about what they do are needed everywhere and will succeed. I know friends from law school who moved to small towns they had never been to who are now judges.

I got my first job as a lawyer by knocking on doors and asking to speak to a leading lawyer in the firm I picked from Martindale-Hubbell. Scary as hell and took me a while but I received two offers in that town of 50,000. Came to appreciate later that the lawyers were often so bored by the middle of the afternoon they were amused as all get out to have someone like me knock on the door. Plus law firms are looking for driven people, not just another law grad who can kick out a non descript resume and say all the right things in an interview. If it takes bothering the firm 3 or 4 times, so what. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain.

Until you get that job, do contract or research work for lawyers in town. You'll get some money and make a name. Volunteer to do work for legal services or the public defender in town - another way to get your name out and prove you are driven. These things work. I did them.

I was visiting Bozeman as a place to live a couple weeks ago. If there is a better place to hang your hate as a young lawyer, I haven't seen it. Huge growth potential, down to earth people, local university and growing small tech companies. There will be need for talented professionals - both lawyers and well paid clients lawyers can serve.