Out of State Law School- Employment in LA Qs Forum

[ontopoftheworld]

I am trying to leave my home state to go to a better, higher ranked school. (Not sure which, doesn't really matter- ranging from NY, DC, CHI, GA)

The question is, did anyone ever go outside of their home state just for school and came back home to find a job/get licensed?

For instance, do schools have programs that help them go back home?

Emory or George Washington or Boston U or Vandy etc.. has anyone attended and left after graduation to go home to LA/CA for jobs?

[Mullens]

All of the schools you listed are regional law schools. They're good regional law schools, but they're still regional. It is possible to get back to LA from those schools, but you're going to be facing an uphill battle and will be at a huge disadvantage compared to people who go to UCLA/USC and probably even compared to students at lower ranked LA schools like Loyola.

[bobbyflayed]

I am SoCal native who went to MVP. Most of the people I know from CA at my school made it back if they wanted to get back. I didn't get an offer for CA my 2L (I went to NYC biglaw), but I was able to leverage my NYC offer for an LA firm right after my SA ended.

It definitely is possible. All the T-14 have significant CA student populations. They usually also have regional interviewing programs. If you go to a good school and get median or above median grades you'll make it back to CA. I had bad grades 1L and I still made it back.

Some schools have very portable degrees. Others do not. The nice thing about going to school on the east coast is that you can always fall back on NYC and lateral back to LA ever. A lot of people end up leaving NYC biglaw for CA after 1-3 years. If you lateral back, you'll have to take both bars (CA and NY) eventually.

[Mikey]

Go to school where you want to practice.