Florida Legal Market Forum

[Mitch McDeere]

I think its dumb to mention that shanny UM and not mention stetson just because Miami has more NLJ firms does not mean Orlando and Tampa don't have law jobs.....

No but they have a lot fewer than Miami, and they don't pay as well. Also, many small firms have stopped entry level hiring entirely since the economy crashed, since they don't have the resources to support training new attorneys. NLJ250 firms actually do quite a bit of new legal hiring, even if there are lots of small law firms out there.

"Quite a bit of new legal hiring" is definitely an overstatement. Although most of the bigger firms are taking on SAs, most are only hiring 2-3 per office. And there's not that many firms in the first place. The rest of the post is credited.

[woeisme]

I'll take PMs on this topic if people have specific questions. I don't want to post on this publicly, but I think I can provide some insight.

[20130312]

out of state schools alumni do decent here because Florida already has a good amount of transplants.

ololololol

[rad lulz]

.

[jurisprudence91]

I wouldn't take Emory over UF / FSU / UM unless the total cost of attendance, tuition + living, was cheaper. Florida firms might dig deeper into the Emory class, but not by much.

T14 + ties is the only way to get Florida biglaw if you're not at the top of the class, and even then it's far from guaranteed.

This above statement is pretty accurate. In my perspective, to have any chance at securing big law in Florida (Miami/Tampa) you need ties to the city and one of the following: T14 (top 1/2), Vandy (top 1/3), UF (top 5%), FSU (top 3%), Miami (top 10% in Miami, top 1% in Tampa). The remaining schools are completely unpredictable. For what it's worth, I've seen many more students from Vandy than Emory.

[ganja]

What would be the overall TLS consensus on attending a school like St. Thomas or FIU on a full ride with the intent to practice marital or personal injury law at a smaller firm?

[RodneyBoonfield]

It does happen but anecdotally its less than ideal. I would think that spending a few years with the state attorney before going into private practice would be the way to go. That would make you more attractive to firms that pay better like Morgan & Morgan.

[ganja]

It does happen but anecdotally its less than ideal. I would think that spending a few years with the state attorney before going into private practice would be the way to go. That would make you more attractive to firms that pay better like Morgan & Morgan.

That would be ideal. But I would not mind doing personal injury law or marital law my first few years out of LS. Especially with barely any debt if I get the full ride and having the wife take care of most of the CoL. I'm not really a biglaw or bust kind of guy so going to a smaller school to minimize debt doesn't seem all that bad. To me at least.

[BigZuck]

Why not cop dat fully at a better school with a better alumni network so as to increase your chances of getting hired at one of those firms?

[nebula666]

What would be the overall TLS consensus on attending a school like St. Thomas or FIU on a full ride with the intent to practice marital or personal injury law at a smaller firm?

Retake for a full ride at UF or FSU

[RodneyBoonfield]

It does happen but anecdotally its less than ideal. I would think that spending a few years with the state attorney before going into private practice would be the way to go. That would make you more attractive to firms that pay better like Morgan & Morgan.

That would be ideal. But I would not mind doing personal injury law or marital law my first few years out of LS. Especially with barely any debt if I get the full ride and having the wife take care of most of the CoL. I'm not really a biglaw or bust kind of guy so going to a smaller school to minimize debt doesn't seem all that bad. To me at least.

The point is that you'll gain proper trial experience working for the government instead of potentially learning it all "wrong" with a small firm or solo practitioner. I agree with other posters about UF/FSU. With ls applications down it shouldnt be that hard to get the LSAT up to full ride level for those schools.

EDIT: For Florida schools, its really almost UF or bust. Maybe others can shed some light but FSU grads with great resumes have been having a really hard time finding jobs from what I hear.

[kcam1991]

How would a HYS student with ties do in the south florida market? Are they grade safe?

[Geaux12]

The thing with Emory though is that unless they give you $$$ I'm not convinced it's better overall for Florida.

I know what you're trying to say, but what you said is illogical and wrong.

In any event, I am not 100% sure about that either, but I have a feeling that top 25% at Emory has an alright shot at biglaw in Florida, whereas UF/FSU/UM top 25% students have 0 shot.

This is complete fucking nonsense. If FL Big-Law = H&K, Greenberg, then go take a look at their fucking attorney profiles and you'll see PLENTY of recently graduated UF/FSU and even UM kids.

[badaboom61]

How would a HYS student with ties do in the south florida market? Are they grade safe?

Grades probably wouldn't make or break you, although law review might make you stand out. Almost any HYS student will have a shot at most FL firms, but is far from guaranteed a job, because there are so few jobs to go around.