Unusual path - how to get to Hawaii Forum

[Charlestonsfb60]

In my limited experience:
HawaiiBIGPERSONALINJURY>>>>mainland biglaw

[Smumps]

Disclaimer: I grew up in HI (Native Hawaiian), went to UoC for law school, and am clerking in HI before going back to CA.

As others have said, Hawaii is VERY insular, to the point where people are more interested in your high school than anything else. And the legal profession is no exception - from clerks to associates, actual HI ties are at a premium. So while it's possible, it will be really tough.

The more important question is if you even want to. The type of law is limited, and even the good firms are doing more personal injury type work than you would expect. And compensation is low - despite what Cerberaus says, starting salaries are NOWHERE NEAR big law, and combined with an insanely high COL, it can be tough.

Happy to help through PM.

Do people see that as beneath them or something? I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm truly curious.

Oh, not at all. Carlsmith Ball does a ton of personal injury work and they are very well respected.

Edit: To add, stigma from doing that sort of work generally comes from other lawyers. It's not like HI has firms that are specializing in high end commercial litigation or M&A work, so nobody is going to judge.

[lavarman84]

Gotcha. It's one area of law I'm considering. Didn't know if there was a stigma.(not that it would matter...just was curious more than anything)

[navykev]

I was stationed in Hawaii for 8 years and have given thought to moving back. I'm not 100% sure that is what I want to do but I wanted to research it. TLS is a great place for info but advice on getting a job and practicing law in Hawaii probably isn't its strong suit. Here is what I did: I searched for GULC alum (my law school) and former Navy (the branch of the military I was in) at each of the decent sized firms and fired off emails asking about their experience. I received some really good feedback from people I had a connection with (GULC or Navy in my case) that had made the move to Hawaii and were practicing law. Just my two cents - take it for what it's worth.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Disclaimer: I grew up in HI (Native Hawaiian), went to UoC for law school, and am clerking in HI before going back to CA.

As others have said, Hawaii is VERY insular, to the point where people are more interested in your high school than anything else. And the legal profession is no exception - from clerks to associates, actual HI ties are at a premium. So while it's possible, it will be really tough.

The more important question is if you even want to. The type of law is limited, and even the good firms are doing more personal injury type work than you would expect. And compensation is low - despite what Cerberaus says, starting salaries are NOWHERE NEAR big law, and combined with an insanely high COL, it can be tough.

Happy to help through PM.

Do people see that as beneath them or something? I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm truly curious.

Not Hawaii specific, but my understanding is that there are some kinds of personal injury firms that rely heavily on high volume, so take a TON of cases (probably almost anything that walks in the door), don't really give them a lot of individual research, and just try to shake down whichever defendant for cash. I'm sure there are legit ways to do personal injury law, but some are kind of shady.

[zot1]

... and back if I want to later on.

California native here. First my stats: 3.49 UG, no official LSAT score yet but been PTing between high 160s - low 170s. Sitting in October and studying hard until then. Couple years' nonprofit work experience including grant writing.

Here's the plan: My partner and I want to slide over to Hawaii in the next few years. The obstacle to doing that freely is that Hawaii tends to be a little bit insular, and I really have no ties there. My options are to 1) go to a law school in Hawaii or 2) go to a mainland law school that has enough cred that Hawaii law firms will have to consider me.

I'm not a fan of option 1 because we would both like the plan to have an escape clause where we could move back to the mainland if we need to. There is no Hawaii law school that has pull anywhere outside Hawaii.

So it's down to option 2, and that's where I'm asking for help. I'm thinking that lower T14 may not be outside my reach if I am indeed a splitter, but they are mostly on the East Coast (except for Berkeley, which my GPA makes fairly unlikely). There's also the option of CA regionals. I'm not sure which would have more pull in Hawaii - an East Coast lower T14 or a good CA regional such as UCLA or USC.

If a CA regional offers me more money to attend than the lower T14s (likely), that also changes the equation.

Thoughts? Thanks for your input!

A classmate at Irvine had her sights set on HI since she started law school. She didn't have any ties, but she had strong reasons for wanting to move there (she has engaged in a particular hobby for several years and HI is the ultimate destination for it). She summered there second year before getting a post-grad offer.

I think it's risky with no ties no matter how you look at it. But if you hustle enough to get jobs there over summers, there's a chance, small one, that it might work out for you too.

[tigersunite]

.

[BigZuck]

I could be wrong but I don't think you can be a visiting student until your third year (meaning only your third year)

I still think this is a bad plan. If you go to Hawaii there's a strong chance you can't get a job, let alone a good one. Then law school is a waste. And if you don't go to Hawaii you're almost certainly not getting a job in Hawaii.

With your numbers I think you should go to a T14 (assuming the cost is appropriate) and focus on CA jobs or NY big law or not go at all.

I guess you could use the SO to try and manufacture ties but really I think the odds of this all not working out favorably are pretty high.