So what makes Alabama a T30 law school? Forum

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JCFindley

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by JCFindley » Thu Nov 01, 2012 7:01 am

togepi wrote:War Eagle! Doesn't sound great saying it the way the season is going haha.

Bama is definitely one of my top choices, as I don't mind working there or in a neighboring state.
This season is God's way of telling me I should even study on Saturdays during 1L. Sorry the rest of the Auburn Nation has to suffer just for my personal gain. :D

Ya know, there are still 110 or so D1 schools that have't beat us this year, not bad eh?

Bama really is an outstanding school if you want to work in AL, GA, MS or the FL Panhandle. Frankly, if you are from Andalusia or Opp or Dothan or any other town in Alabama and want to go back home it is probably THE top law school as far as they are concerned. (with the exceptions of maybe B-ham and Huntsville where your HYS types might get ahead.)

Seriously, No one in the Pike County DA's office will be impressed because a local kid chose Columbia, Chicago or Boalt over Bama.

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togepi

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by togepi » Thu Nov 01, 2012 7:15 am

Yeah. It seems that if you do well (top 25% at least) at Bama you have some decent opportunities for a decent paying job. The said part is that the rest of them are going to be stuck at personal injury and other small firms from what I hear. =/

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BruceWayne

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by BruceWayne » Thu Nov 01, 2012 7:54 pm

togepi wrote:Yeah. It seems that if you do well (top 25% at least) at Bama you have some decent opportunities for a decent paying job. The said part is that the rest of them are going to be stuck at personal injury and other small firms from what I hear. =/
The thing though, is that really, at the top 14 if you fall below median your situation isn't that different. In this new economy schools like Bama are really becoming the best option. Better to be in no debt or very little at Bama looking at those types of jobs than to be at a top 14 with 280K in debt and those type of options.

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ALgooner

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by ALgooner » Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:37 pm

Aqualibrium wrote:I'm op.

Ended up going to Bama on a full ride plus stipend. Worked at two Bama firms 1L summer, a public interest job and a government agency 2L year, and 2 firms outside the state 2L summer. URM and had top quarter grades and was able to get interviews/offers in Texas, Atlanta, Louisiana, VA, DC, NC, and Florida through targeted mailings and job fairs for 2L summer. Ended up accepting permanent associate position that pays six figures in one of the places I mentioned above (not Bama).

Obviously YMMV, but Bama was a great experience and placed me exactly where I wanted to be. That said, I honestly wouldn't advise anyone to go to any law school outside of YHS unless you've got a sizeable scholarship . Btw, for the most part, the top 30 or so percent and those with connections (lots of folks) could get a jd required job...as others have said though, you're for the most part going to be limited to Alabama. Of course interviewing skills, my strength, and great grades will help you get further. One thing I'll say is that you shouldn't rely solely on OCI and you should think of the job hunt as a full time job.
Wow--congrats! Thanks for the insight into your job hunt as well.

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cynthia rose

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by cynthia rose » Fri Nov 02, 2012 2:34 pm

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!

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Slevin Kelevra 2011

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by Slevin Kelevra 2011 » Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:00 pm

Were the 2L firms Vault firms? If so, what ranking?

Aqualibrium

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by Aqualibrium » Mon Nov 05, 2012 8:49 pm

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.
Last edited by Aqualibrium on Mon Nov 05, 2012 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Aqualibrium

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by Aqualibrium » Mon Nov 05, 2012 8:53 pm

Slevin Kelevra 2011 wrote:Were the 2L firms Vault firms? If so, what ranking?
The 2L firms I went to were not Vault firms, but were NLJ250 firms. Both paid six figures for entry level associates, and one was actually regarded as most of the South's V firms...in fact that firm is regularly retained as local counsel for several V firms (got to work on some pretty awesome and news worthy cases too).

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cynthia rose

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by cynthia rose » Tue Nov 06, 2012 8:22 am

Aqualibrium wrote: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.
Thanks for your response. I'm originally from AL (though not the Mobile area, obviously since I had to ask about its market) and got my undergrad at UA so really it's just my own stubbornness/loathing of most of AL in general that's getting in my way. If I could get past that this wouldn't even be an issue for me. I am open to working in other major cities in the South but I don't get the sense that Bama's reach is as far as say, Vandy. So I wasn't sure if it's reliable enough to go there and then try to move to Nashville or Atlanta for example (the latter of which I know is a mess and super hard to break even for GA natives). FL and TX are parochial enough that they're probably out of the question altogether. That only leaves me with DC, where I do have some connections (lived and worked there twice, a few family ties that I could play up) but on paper I don't think it would come across as very strong ties relative to others...and again, super tough market to crack no matter what. I presume you have to be the very top of the class to have a shot at NY, barring amazing network skills.

tl;dr I actually am from a place with a decent-ish market ITE and a school with good placement for which I have a reasonable have a shot of getting into for cheap, and I'm being a brat about it.

I'm a weirdo; I love rain, lol. Hurricane season would suck, but I like being near water.

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Slevin Kelevra 2011

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Re: So what makes Alabama a T30 law school?

Post by Slevin Kelevra 2011 » Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:34 am

Aqualibrium wrote:
Slevin Kelevra 2011 wrote:Were the 2L firms Vault firms? If so, what ranking?
The 2L firms I went to were not Vault firms, but were NLJ250 firms. Both paid six figures for entry level associates, and one was actually regarded as most of the South's V firms...in fact that firm is regularly retained as local counsel for several V firms (got to work on some pretty awesome and news worthy cases too).

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