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Has anyone else not from the state applied to UNM for this cycle? Or was that just a bad idea?

+1

bad idea

dpk711 wrote:bad idea

hmm...insightful

its not a bad idea if it's where you want to go.. but this is definitely the wrong site to be asking this question on.. for the most part if the school is outside of the T14 people will tell you not to go

BlueDiamond wrote:its not a bad idea if it's where you want to go.. but this is definitely the wrong site to be asking this question on.. for the most part if the school is outside of the T14 people will tell you not to go

Touche

If you go to UNM, you better be damn sure you want to practice in New Mexico. Difficult to understand how this could be the case if you've never lived there and in any event, firms might view you as a flight risk.

I started to figure that. And I sure as hell don't want to live in the desert.

JaLeCa wrote:I started to figure that. And I sure as hell don't want to live in the desert.

Have you been to the desert? New Mexico is a beautiful state. I applied there last year just because of how beautiful a state New Mexico is, and how great the outdoors are there.

Edit: btw, I think Utah is hands down the prettiest state in the union. The desert southwest is just stunning.

Reedie wrote:

JaLeCa wrote:I started to figure that. And I sure as hell don't want to live in the desert.

Have you been to the desert? New Mexico is a beautiful state. I applied there last year just because of how beautiful a state New Mexico is, and how great the outdoors are there.

Edit: btw, I think Utah is hands down the prettiest state in the union. The desert southwest is just stunning.

Not ragging on it. Just don't think I could live there...very far from anyone I know

JaLeCa wrote: Not ragging on it. Just don't think I could live there...very far from anyone I know

Well, that's a different issue. The nice thing about UNM is that it's all there really is in New Mexico, and it's very affordable. But, if you can't see yourself living there, then it's hard to see how it would work out for you as it isn't a strong national program.

JaLeCa wrote:I started to figure that. And I sure as hell don't want to live in the desert.

Fuck you, the Sonoran desert is the most beautiful in the world. I've been to every inhabited contenent, no scenery is even close to as beautiful. Also, trees and grass scare the crap out of me. However, if you like the Southwest but want civilization, Arizona is right next door, has more diverse job opportunities, and ASU's admission requirements aren't much higher than UNM.

Veyron wrote:

JaLeCa wrote:I started to figure that. And I sure as hell don't want to live in the desert.

Fuck you, the Sonoran desert is the most beautiful in the world. I've been to every inhabited contenent, no scenery is even close to as beautiful. Also, trees and grass scare the crap out of me. However, if you like the Southwest but want civilization, Arizona is right next door, has more diverse job opportunities, and ASU's admission requirements aren't much higher than UNM.

*thumbs up*

if you dont like the desert, dont have ties to the state, then it might not be the school for you. Apply to schools that you would be happy graduating from at median, and working in the region for 5 years or more. Visit the school before you sign on the dotted line and take some time to check out the surrounding areas.

northwood wrote:if you dont like the desert, dont have ties to the state, then it might not be the school for you. Apply to schools that you would be happy graduating from at median, and working in the region for 5 years or more. Visit the school before you sign on the dotted line and take some time to check out the surrounding areas.

Solid advice.

JaLeCa wrote:

northwood wrote:if you dont like the desert, dont have ties to the state, then it might not be the school for you. Apply to schools that you would be happy graduating from at median, and working in the region for 5 years or more. Visit the school before you sign on the dotted line and take some time to check out the surrounding areas.

Solid advice.

Common sense. You should not attend a T2 expecting to find work outside of the local market.

concurrent fork wrote:

JaLeCa wrote:

northwood wrote:if you dont like the desert, dont have ties to the state, then it might not be the school for you. Apply to schools that you would be happy graduating from at median, and working in the region for 5 years or more. Visit the school before you sign on the dotted line and take some time to check out the surrounding areas.

Solid advice.

Common sense. You should not attend a T2 expecting to find work outside of the local market.

\

I ask to learn. Common sense is relative.

I graduated UNM Law in 1986 and have practiced in the state ever since. My comments are:

The Sonoran Desert (Arizona) IS hands down more beautiful than the drab Chihuahuan desert in which I live. But our high desert climate is easier to bear in the summer.

Arizona is, or will be once this awful downturn finally bottoms out, the Land of Opportunity for new business/commercial lawyers. New Mexico isn't, never was, and never, ever will be. I don't know exactly why the two states are so different in this respect but take it from me, they are.

Neither state is entirely desert. NM is actually one of the Rocky Mountain states while AZ has extensive mountains and forests. But in both cases, most of the opportunity will be found in the major population centers which are located in deserts or near-deserts.

Arizona purports to hate lawyers yet the State funds two good law schools. I REALLY don't understand THAT.

If I were to do it again and were completely free to choose? Tucson. Absolutely. And U. Arizona Law would be my first choice followed closely by ASU. U. Colorado Boulder next then UNM. If all four public schools rejected me and I still really, really wanted to be a lawyer and they offered me substantial cash, Denver U. Maybe. Failing all of that, truck driving school.

^ I wouldn't go to any of the schools mentioned without big $ ITE (especially out of state). Also, Tucson is never going ot be a land of opportunity for law. The Phoenix area is the alpha and the omega of the professions in Arizona. Other than that, I think he's got a good perspective on things. I just hope I can get a job with a large firm ITE so that I'm well positioned for BOOMTIMES ahead. Shit is going to get real exciting around these parts real soon. Hell with the SB 1070 and birthright citizenship fights heating up the southwestern legal world is already pretty exciting. This may be the last place in the country where big firms practice the sort of constitutional law liberal arts 0Ls dream about when prancing off to law school.

Veyron wrote:

JaLeCa wrote:I started to figure that. And I sure as hell don't want to live in the desert.

Fuck you, the Sonoran desert is the most beautiful in the world. I've been to every inhabited contenent, no scenery is even close to as beautiful. Also, trees and grass scare the crap out of me. However, if you like the Southwest but want civilization, Arizona is right next door, has more diverse job opportunities, and ASU's admission requirements aren't much higher than UNM.

Civilization and Arizona in the same thought?

Veyron wrote:

JaLeCa wrote:I started to figure that. And I sure as hell don't want to live in the desert.

Fuck you, the Sonoran desert is the most beautiful in the world. I've been to every inhabited contenent, no scenery is even close to as beautiful. Also, trees and grass scare the crap out of me. However, if you like the Southwest but want civilization, Arizona is right next door, has more diverse job opportunities, and ASU's admission requirements aren't much higher than UNM.

Phoenix is the ugliest major city in the us, excepting maybe Detroit. Abq, by contrast, is a pretty nice place. However asu or u of a over unm is credited.

I would've been pumped to get into UNM. It's a beautiful area (big fan of desert living).

Edit: Working in Albuquerque is still something that I will be looking into three years from now.

In-state tuition at UNM is about $40,000 total for all three years making it significanlty cheaper than any of the other schools I mentioned and probably among the cheapest ABA approved J.D. programs in the country. But it is a full-time program only so the total investment will still be pretty horrendous.

I liked my time at UNM and the degree has served me well. However, I'd recommend against going to UNM as a non-resident. It's just too expensive.

esq wrote:I would've been pumped to get into UNM. It's a beautiful area (big fan of desert living).

Edit: Working in Albuquerque is still something that I will be looking into three years from now.

Albuquerque native here who worked in the city 1L summer, here to drop some knowledge on yah.

As BeautifulSW said, the legal market is small in New Mexico. Depending on your specialty, there just might not be jobs for a graduate fresh out of law school in the state. For example, my specialty - IP litigation - is pretty much nonexistent in the state. If you want to get job in the state, you might be restricted as to the type of law you can practice. And even if you do end up looking to work in an area that exists in the state, there are only a tiny number of jobs available every year. If you go to a T14 school and have heavy connections to the state, you can likely grab one of them. However, if you have very little connection to the state and go to a lower ranked school than UNM, I think you can most likely kiss your chances goodbye. I don't know you, so I don't know your chances for sure. But if you fall into the later category, I would just be sure to look at more than just ABQ. Government work (prosecution, EEOC, ect.) seems to be more plentiful, but from what I understand it is even MORE important that you have incredibly strong connections to the state in order to get it. Admittedly I know less about this, but from what I have been told if you didn't go to UNM, you can pretty much forget this route (at least as a fresh law school graduate).

Also keep in mind, the compensation in Albuquerque is less than comparable areas. For example, Dallas has a slightly lower COL and some firms there pay market. Houston is the same way, and even Phoenix and Denver both have starting salaries of between 120k and 140k or so at good firms. I don't think there are any firms in Albuquerque which start in six figures. Even the really good ones only pay around 80k. True, most have a 1800 billable hour requirement and few have had to lay anyone off. But that is at least partly because none are involved in the kind of high profile, high paying work which carries the risks and work load which cause layoffs in downturns and high hour requirements. So training and exit options from firms in the area are not really good. Not a huge deal if you can find a job you love which you are willing to stick with long term, but still something to think about.

I love the state and I might end up heading back to Albuquerque at some point in my life, but it would really need to be connected to a move in house or into the government. Or retirement, I would be fine going back there then. But unless the movie industry all of a sudden decides to abandon the sinking ship of California entirely and move enmass to New Mexico (extremely unlikely but not entirely outside the realm of possibility), I don't foresee the kind of growth which would let me come back for the greater majority of my career.

Of course, if BeautifulSW corrects me on anything, listen to her/him. I am quite sure I am the one with less experience.

SBL wrote:

Veyron wrote:

JaLeCa wrote:I started to figure that. And I sure as hell don't want to live in the desert.

Fuck you, the Sonoran desert is the most beautiful in the world. I've been to every inhabited contenent, no scenery is even close to as beautiful. Also, trees and grass scare the crap out of me. However, if you like the Southwest but want civilization, Arizona is right next door, has more diverse job opportunities, and ASU's admission requirements aren't much higher than UNM.

Phoenix is the ugliest major city in the us, excepting maybe Detroit. Abq, by contrast, is a pretty nice place. However asu or u of a over unm is credited.

Lolwut?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... =101&ty=61

Actually, Phoenix has always struct me as one of the most beautiful cities in the country. Sunset over the Central Corridor can take your breath away. I'd say that we could chalk this up to a matter of taste, but my, you must have quite strange taste.