cynthia rose wrote:Aqualibrium, can you offer any insight as to how many students who wanted employment outside of AL were able to secure it? I know most people who go to Bama end up in Bama and as you said one should definitely put in their own legwork for the job hunt, but I also figure a large amount of that comes down to self-selection. More and more it's looking like UA is my most reasonable bet financially if I'm going to commit to law school...I just loathe the idea of being stuck here after 3L is over. Also, since I'm asking so many questions, do you know anything about the Mobile market? It's the only part of AL I'm remotely interested in. Thanks for whatever answers you have. And congrats on basically crushing law school and the job hunt!
I had classmates who definitely wanted out of Bama and ended up changing their minds. Some of that was a conscious, well thought out decision, but I think for most people it just comes down to the fact that it is easier to get a job in Bama with a Bama degree. Several people in my group of friends/acquaintances were able to secure out of state jobs, that said, I also know several people who ended up with no job at graduation or being sort of stuck in Alabama. The best advise anyone can give you with regards to this matter is that nothing is impossible, but don't come to Alabama with the mentality that you'd never want to work in Alabama or the South; that's just not very smart.
I actually worked at what I'm pretty sure is the only NLJ250 firm in Mobile during my 1L summer and was invited to come back but decided to go out of state instead. Mobile is an interesting place. As far as the legal market goes, there aren't many summer positions out there and you're going to need pretty good grades to get the ones that exist. I will say that "pretty good" for Mobile during my 1L summer meant at least top 50% from Bama and top 10% from Cumberland. It's not a very diverse place and traffic sucks, but there are some strong firms in Mobile, the atmosphere is very laid back, and there is great collegiality among the members of the bar. Also, it rains all the damn time...I was borderline depressed for my first week there.