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Just wanted to get some input on my situation. I will be starting 0L this fall at one of the T3, but have pretty much zero interest in big law. I already know where I will be living when I graduate, and unfortunately it is not near any major cities. Beach town, near military base with mostly tourist economy. I don't really have any flexibility on this (SO is military, stationed there). I toyed around with the idea of a clerkship but am not really sure it is worth it this far out from any major city/circuit. I would love to do some kind of consulting/government work (possibly military, but I am not sure if that is even possible as a civilian contractor, any thoughts on that would be welcome as well). Is that a feasible option? Anyone with experience in this regard? I just moved down here and from what I can see the legal field is small locally trained lawyers with offices in strip malls, which is not really what I envisioned myself doing.

I am just a bit lost and would welcome any and all input. Are there any specific career paths I should start looking into during school that would allow me to make a decent living in the middle of nowhere?
Thanks in advance!

What state?

FL

Also Hula, the fact is that if your SO is in the military by the time you finish up your JD there is an extremely strong chance that you will be moving somewhere else.

I would go to the best law school in Florida, which I think is UF.

For most military, yes, but we are pretty much guaranteed to be here permanently. Not sure if it wasn't clear, but I will be starting school at the end of August, so going to school in FL is no longer an option. By T3 I mean HYS, not third tier..

hulahoop wrote:By T3 I mean HYS, not third tier..

Well, goddamn goddamn. Despite the HYS prestige, if you're stuck in a small FL town permanently and have no interest in BigLaw and clerkships are out of the question, I'd have taken the inevitable full-ride at a UF, FSU, or Miami. Because if you're confined to a particular area that's not hospitable to the HYS style jobs, the debt's just not worth it.

I guess I'm kind of blanking on what military bases in Florida are only by a small town. Probably my fault for only remembering Mac Dill and Eglin. You would be surprised what kind of work you might be able to work around there. At this point though, for whatever reason that has your SO bound permanently to a single military installation - also if your SO is new to the military they may not realize how much the military likes to move everyone around regardless of rank, position, or MOS - it sounds as if being with them will kind of be a "career killer" depending on what you want to do and how much time you two want to spend apart. That being said, if you really want to there with them and they will be their for the foreseeable future you probably would have been better off taking a full-scholarship somewhere.

Wow, so the consensus really is that a degree from the top three is worthless unless I work in a major city? That is pretty depressing.

ThomasMN wrote:Probably my fault for only remembering Mac Dill and Eglin. You would be surprised what kind of work you might be able to work around there.

Could you elaborate on the above? Maybe our definitions of small towns are different...

hulahoop wrote:For most military, yes, but we are pretty much guaranteed to be here permanently. Not sure if it wasn't clear, but I will be starting school at the end of August, so going to school in FL is no longer an option. By T3 I mean HYS, not third tier..

For future reference: say HYS.

Total Litigator wrote:

hulahoop wrote:For most military, yes, but we are pretty much guaranteed to be here permanently. Not sure if it wasn't clear, but I will be starting school at the end of August, so going to school in FL is no longer an option. By T3 I mean HYS, not third tier..

For future reference: say HYS.

edited, thnx

What did you envision yourself doing when you finish law school? I think you need to figure out what you want to do and then figure out how to get it. If you are good enough to get into HYS and to commit to keeping your relationship going during the time you are in school, I am very confident you will be able to create a future that includes a satisfying job.

There are many ways to work and many ways to commute - don't just look at the lawyers there and assume that is your fate.

Is your school giving you significant financial aid? If not, why didn't you take a full ride at UF/FSU instead?

I don't really know how the military stuff works, but will your SO be stationed there in 3 years? Will your SO be stationed there for the foreseeable future? Could your SO ask to be transferred somewhere else?

Personally, i'd do long distance or leave my SO, but that's just a reflection on my priorities

bk187 wrote:Is your school giving you significant financial aid? If not, why didn't you take a full ride at UF/FSU instead?

I don't really know how the military stuff works, but will your SO be stationed there in 3 years? Will your SO be stationed there for the foreseeable future? Could your SO ask to be transferred somewhere else?

I think OP wanted to go to one of the top three law schools in the country. I think OP made the correct choice, though it won't be easy.

bk187 wrote:Is your school giving you significant financial aid? If not, why didn't you take a full ride at UF/FSU instead?

I don't really know how the military stuff works, but will your SO be stationed there in 3 years? Will your SO be stationed there for the foreseeable future? Could your SO ask to be transferred somewhere else?

Im getting as much aid as is possible, but I will still be graduating with a significant amount of debt. Honestly, I did not know this is where we would end up until very recently (ie, after my cycle was over and I had put in my deposit). That being said, I did not even apply to schools in Florida. There is very little chance we will be moved again, and no, we cannot request to go somewhere else.

I was hoping to get into some type of international conflict/security studies type of field, but I am getting the impression that I can only really do that here if I go the JAG route. At this point, I honestly don't quite have a vision of what I want to be doing, just kind of feeling out my options here now that I know this will be my situation.

And yes, I expected the 'dump him, work for Biglaw, prosper' route, but we've been through worse, I'm in it for the long haul at this point.

hulahoop wrote:Im getting as much aid as is possible, but I will still be graduating with a significant amount of debt. Honestly, I did not know this is where we would end up until very recently (ie, after my cycle was over and I had put in my deposit). That being said, I did not even apply to schools in Florida. There is very little chance we will be moved again, and no, we cannot request to go somewhere else.

I was hoping to get into some type of international conflict/security studies type of field, but I am getting the impression that I can only really do that here if I go the JAG route. At this point, I honestly don't quite have a vision of what I want to be doing, just kind of feeling out my options here now that I know this will be my situation.

And yes, I expected the 'dump him, work for Biglaw, prosper' route, but we've been through worse, I'm in it for the long haul at this point.

Well if you're going to do 3 years of long distance during law school, why not tack on a few more years of biglaw to help pay down your debt? (Not that that would be easy for your relationship.)

Or why not do the JAG route?

ThomasMN wrote:I guess I'm kind of blanking on what military bases in Florida are only by a small town.

My first thought on a military base near a tourist type town in FL was the NAS in Pensacola, although Jacksonville also has an NAS.

I have to admit that I'm fairly intrigued by what the OP's SO is doing to warrant a permanent assignment in Florida, especially if this is straight from undergrad. That OP went to UC-Berk. only adds to the intrigue (is OP's SO some kind of math whiz?). I've heard of people ending up with de facto permanent assignments when they are doing some type of hard science stuff at places like the Army's Space and Missle Defense Command in Huntsville, AL.

OP, if by chance you are talking about Pensacola, take a look at work in Mobile. If the two of you are willing to split the distance, the commute to Pensacola/Mobile can be manageable. It won't be NYC biglaw but there is some relatively decent legal work in Mobile. You could find some decent energy sector work and I believe the shipbuilders (DOD work) in Mobile and Pascagoula are represented out of Mobile.

Important question: Are you married? As someone that has done both the military and LS I feel comfortable telling you that you and your SO will both be very, very different people in three years. If this isn't your spouse you need to do what is best for you right now and hope that everything works out for the best.

How are you going to pay off dem loans (unless Y) without a well-paying firm job?

ITT - the rarest of creatures: a person for who going to HYS does NOT make sense.

JAG? I'm not sure if your SO's military branch would allow an exception to placement since he/she is already placed near one, but it's worth figuring out. The work is interesting and the exit options are not bad, should you want to leave after 4 years.

GeePee wrote:JAG? I'm not sure if your SO's military branch would allow an exception to placement since he/she is already placed near one, but it's worth figuring out. The work is interesting and the exit options are not bad, should you want to leave after 4 years.

Actually, credited. But I would check on the placement thing beforehand.

HYS and the military SO thing should help with the JAG route. JAG jobs are usually LRAP elligable and with pay and benifits, not bad work. The quality of the work ranges from shitlaw thru helping countries establish a legal system and judiciary. From what I hear, the sort of work YOU'LL be doing has a great deal to do with luck of the draw. Small and midsized firms are happy to hire out of JAG, so it would give you some geographic flexibility at the end (i.e. you could find work outside of a huge city).

You also might want to consider the county attorney's office, public defense, etc.

xyzbca wrote:

ThomasMN wrote:I guess I'm kind of blanking on what military bases in Florida are only by a small town.

My first thought on a military base near a tourist type town in FL was the NAS in Pensacola, although Jacksonville also has an NAS.

I have to admit that I'm fairly intrigued by what the OP's SO is doing to warrant a permanent assignment in Florida, especially if this is straight from undergrad. That OP went to UC-Berk. only adds to the intrigue (is OP's SO some kind of math whiz?). I've heard of people ending up with de facto permanent assignments when they are doing some type of hard science stuff at places like the Army's Space and Missle Defense Command in Huntsville, AL.

OP, if by chance you are talking about Pensacola, take a look at work in Mobile. If the two of you are willing to split the distance, the commute to Pensacola/Mobile can be manageable. It won't be NYC biglaw but there is some relatively decent legal work in Mobile. You could find some decent energy sector work and I believe the shipbuilders (DOD work) in Mobile and Pascagoula are represented out of Mobile.

Important question: Are you married? As someone that has done both the military and LS I feel comfortable telling you that you and your SO will both be very, very different people in three years. If this isn't your spouse you need to do what is best for you right now and hope that everything works out for the best.

Since you seem to be familiar with the military, you can probably figure out what he does by my telling you they just moved an entire unit to FL, which is how I know they will not be moving us anytime soon. We are not married, but are engaged and have been together a long time. He is not new to the military, so its not like we don't know what we are getting into.

Do you think JAG would be a better route than just trying to find the biggest firm around and going straight in? Honestly though, dual military does not sound like a viable option, I would rather be a starving lawyer and mooch off loan repayment than deal with dual deployments..

hulahoop wrote:Since you seem to be familiar with the military, you can probably figure out what he does by my telling you they just moved an entire unit to FL, which is how I know they will not be moving us anytime soon. We are not married, but are engaged and have been together a long time. He is not new to the military, so its not like we don't know what we are getting into.

Do you think JAG would be a better route than just trying to find the biggest firm around and going straight in? Honestly though, dual military does not sound like a viable option, I would rather be a starving lawyer and mooch off loan repayment than deal with dual deployments..

Sent PM.