If you want to work at a large law firm in SoCal... Forum

[heyhowdyhey]

And you have absolutely no ties to California otherwise, is it better to go to a very highly-ranked school that's not in the area, such as CCN, or is it better to go to UCLA/USC because they're already in the area?

I really think I want to end up in SoCal one day as I like the laid-back atmosphere, think it would be a good place to live, and don't want to have to deal with hellish winters anymore. But without any ties to CA, it seems like it'd be difficult to explain to firms why I want to go to CA if I'm coming from a school that's located across the country.

I used to feel like it's always best to go to the higher-ranked school, but is it really?

[bk1]

Semi-relevant: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=158140

One thing I will note is that I have heard people say that SoCal cares less about ties than NorCal does, but since I'm a 0L I have no idea how much truth there is to that statement.

[fingersxd]

This also largely depends on what you want to practice, what kind of debt levels you are comfortable with, etc.

Realistically if you are in at CCN and UCLA/USC, the latter should give you some serious $$. Personally (and this is just my opinion and preference), the idea of graduating with little to no debt and not being forced into big law if (i) that's not what you want or (ii) you don't end up having the grades for it, is a pretty appealing option.

Then again, if you can make a compelling case for moving to CA (and it should really be more than just the weather), I think it's generally agreed that CCN will take you just about anywhere if the grades are half-decent and you aren't socially retarded.

[Scott Tenorman]

Realistically if you are in at CCN and UCLA/USC, the latter should give you some serious $$.

Not necessarily true for splitters.

[apollo13]

I'm interested in hearing more about this.
I often hear BigLaw scene in SoCal is pretty depressing from several TLS users, but as of lately, slowly picking up.

[queenlizzie13]

Semi-relevant: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=158140

One thing I will note is that I have heard people say that SoCal cares less about ties than NorCal does, but since I'm a 0L I have no idea how much truth there is to that statement.

No clue about this either, but most of the lawyers I do know in the OC/LA area are graduates of schools such as Hastings, Loyola, Southwestern, etc. and they started their careers at places such as Sheppard Mullen, Jones Day, and Paul Hastings. Just looking through Sheppard's website (48 attorneys from USC, 44 from Hastings, 58 from UCLA, Berkeley 44, Stanford 16, Davis 11, Columbia 17, Chicago 8, NYU 10). So, the Southern California law schools are definitely more represented in this one example, but some of that is probably due to self-selection bias (CCN grads gravitate more towards the NY/Chicago markets)

Sheppard and Jones Day are some of the biggest firms down here, along with Gibson Dunn. The advantage of CCN is that it will open doors to potential opportunities that USC/UCLA won't. But at the same time, not having that debt to be burdened down with = opportunity to take some jobs you may not otherwise have the means to with a ton of debt.

This is probably not that helpful, but I hope it is somewhat useful.