Top Law Schools

Anybody have any insight on the job prospects for graduates of UM in the state of Montana? I'm from Georgia originally but want to go to school and practice in Montana. Just curious if going to law school at UM would be the best option for what I want to do.

http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/montana/2015/

^ That's going to be your best source of information. Looks like 72% of grads end up working in Montana, so if that's where you want to be it might be worth it. Their employment score is pretty rough though, and they hardly place anybody into big law firms. So go for cheap if you can.

I mean...big law in Montana is not a thing. So, I wouldn't worry about that metric for this school. You go to Montana Law School if you want to be an ADA/PD in a rural county, or if you want small law (think 2-10 person firms) in Great Falls, Billings, Missoula, etc. Beyond that, you're looking at solo practice or one of a handful of jobs at the state level. That's about it.

So, it's a small school for a small market. If that's what you're looking for, I could see the argument. But, don't look at the biglaw numbers (like people typically recommend) because this is one of those few schools where it fails as a metric for the school.

Good luck.

I agree with you, ponderingmeerkat. The reason I brought up its big law placement numbers was to emphasize the fact that taking on a lot of debt for Montana Law School is a bad decision -- i.e., the typical route to paying off big debt (big law) can't be relied on.

Something else to consider is how insular the market might be. It is a pretty rural state so I am not sure if the local attorneys will take too kindly to an outsider from Georgia. It will certainly be an uphill battle for jobs between you and a local with similar credentials.

deadpanic wrote:Something else to consider is how insular the market might be. It is a pretty rural state so I am not sure if the local attorneys will take too kindly to an outsider from Georgia. It will certainly be an uphill battle for jobs between you and a local with similar credentials.

I have no advice to give, but I just love the idea of people being resentful of the "big-time city slicker" from Georgia. Ain't America grand?

cavalier1138 wrote:

deadpanic wrote:Something else to consider is how insular the market might be. It is a pretty rural state so I am not sure if the local attorneys will take too kindly to an outsider from Georgia. It will certainly be an uphill battle for jobs between you and a local with similar credentials.

I have no advice to give, but I just love the idea of people being resentful of the "big-time city slicker" from Georgia. Ain't America grand?

Lol

cavalier1138 wrote:

deadpanic wrote:Something else to consider is how insular the market might be. It is a pretty rural state so I am not sure if the local attorneys will take too kindly to an outsider from Georgia. It will certainly be an uphill battle for jobs between you and a local with similar credentials.

I have no advice to give, but I just love the idea of people being resentful of the "big-time city slicker" from Georgia. Ain't America grand?

An outsider isn't the same as a "big-time city slicker," though.

cavalier1138 wrote:

deadpanic wrote:Something else to consider is how insular the market might be. It is a pretty rural state so I am not sure if the local attorneys will take too kindly to an outsider from Georgia. It will certainly be an uphill battle for jobs between you and a local with similar credentials.

I have no advice to give, but I just love the idea of people being resentful of the "big-time city slicker" from Georgia. Ain't America grand?

Yea, I just don't see this happening in Montana. Maybe I'm wrong, but I grew up in Northern Idaho/Eastern Washington and have 4 generations of family that live in Western Montana. The "we don't take kindly" neurosis was a completely foreign concept to me until my job relocated me to the deep south. The "bless your heart you damn yankee" and near-universal "good ol' boy" peccadillos seem to me to be a uniquely Appalachian and Deep South cultural norm. People in Montana are pretty friendly, inviting and open in a way that "southern hospitality" is not.

Beyond anecdotes, if you google the largest Montana law firms and look at the JA bios, you'll see people who went to school in Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, etc. Yea, there's definitely plenty of people who went to Montana Law as well. But, it seems to me they are open to hiring outsiders. Just have a reasonable explanation of why you want to be there.

Also, if you go to Montana Law you will go a long way toward developing ties, since it's not really a school most people are going to go to who don't want to work in Montana (or at least a neighboring state). This is based on my experience going to a sort of similarly regional school in a really insular market. Sure, someone who's dad has practiced law in Montana for 30 years probably has an edge on you, but they were always going to.