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[jonas]

In the Bay Area, Berkeley is unquestionably stronger than Chicago. This is true for firms, government, nonprofits, and clerkships.

It may be a closer question in Southern CA. (I don't know.)

[chasgoose]

Nothing besides maybe Stanford is better than Berkeley for Bay Area placement. I would imagine that Southern California is probably a wash, Berkeley gets a lot of respect down here, but Chicago grads are still very desirable among the top firms and I imagine that far fewer Chicago grads want to end up in SoCal so the competition is probably a lot less fierce.

[Snape]

Very Simple answer--Boalt...though you have great odds at both schools

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[chasgoose]

I'm still a 0L so I can't really say anything with a remote degree of certainty, but if I had to guess here's what I would advise. If you are dead set on living in the Bay Area, go to Berkeley. If you miss out on the top law firms (assuming you want a law firm job) you will probably be limited options-wise to a second tier firm in the Bay Area. At Chicago, you probably won't face as much competition for the top jobs out in the Bay Area or LA as you would at Berkeley so the bar might not be as high, but you will still have to do well enough there to qualify for a top tier law firm (which is no guarantee as a 0L).

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[RVP11]

Have you heard anything about Boalt's LOLCI?

Good God, go to Chicago.