Best regional school for Idaho? Forum

[grantspasslaw]

So I'm interested in potentially practicing law in Idaho. I know that University of Idaho is basically the only option for an in-state school. But I was wondering if anyone had opinions on what the next best school would be for placing in Idaho from the schools that I have been admitted to.

I'm in at Oregon, Utah, Willamette, University of Arizona and UNLV.

I've gotten great scholarships to all these schools, and I know that there are a million other factors (I will make posts about many more questions) but right now I'm just wondering which of these schools would do reasonably well placing in Idaho. (Small to medium sized firms in the Boise or Coueur d'Alene, Idaho Falls area)

[cavalier1138]

Two things:

1. If you're in at Arizona, you're in at Idaho (likely with a full scholarship). Why are you considering second-best options?

2. What happened since your last post? In that thread, you indicated that you were looking at either the Southwest or somewhere in the PNW. Idaho is in neither of those places. And if you don't have ties to the state (and your initial thread indicates you don't), not going to the University of Idaho would make it almost impossible to break into the market. According to LST, only three schools even place enough students in Idaho for it to be reportable, and the only non-Idaho school (Gonzaga) places roughly 6% of its class there.

Short version: None of your identified schools place in Idaho. But assuming your regional goals have shifted dramatically since three weeks ago, you should be able to get in at Idaho with a significant scholarship and solve your own problem.

[FND]

If you can, go to University of Idaho College of Law. Being in-state means the best connections and local reputation, and the ability to network right from the get-go. Also, the vast majority of attorneys in Idaho went to U of Idaho.

The other law school in the state, Concordia, just announced mass layoffs - termination notices have been sent to all faculty. They say they want to keep the law school open, maybe offload it to another college. But even before that, U of I was a better option.

As Cavalier said, no other law school places well in Idaho, so if that's not a viable option, go for the cheapest option.

That being said, Oregon and Willamette are within a reasonable driving distance from the places where you'd like to end up, so all else being equal I'd pick one of those. You'll be able to go to Boise or Coeur d'Arlene for the weekend regularly, which will allow you to network there. If firms want to interview you, it's a (long) day-trip, there's no need to fly you out. Or, if a firm is sitting on the fence, you can make the trip just to see them.

[grantspasslaw]

Two things:

1. If you're in at Arizona, you're in at Idaho (likely with a full scholarship). Why are you considering second-best options?

2. What happened since your last post? In that thread, you indicated that you were looking at either the Southwest or somewhere in the PNW. Idaho is in neither of those places. And if you don't have ties to the state (and your initial thread indicates you don't), not going to the University of Idaho would make it almost impossible to break into the market. According to LST, only three schools even place enough students in Idaho for it to be reportable, and the only non-Idaho school (Gonzaga) places roughly 6% of its class there.

Short version: None of your identified schools place in Idaho. But assuming your regional goals have shifted dramatically since three weeks ago, you should be able to get in at Idaho with a significant scholarship and solve your own problem.

You bring up good points.

The reason I ask is just because I wanted to know if practicing law in Idaho down the road would be an option at any of those schools or if any particular school has good ties to Idaho other than UofI.

PNW/Utah/Arizona are still my primary options for location for sure, I was just wondering if any of these schools would have an advantage or disadvantage in the future of moving to Idaho.

Deciding on a school is difficult enough, but knowing that the school likely dictates where my career will be long term makes the decision extra tough!

Also, I did get in to Idaho but for whatever reason I got a bad scholarship offer (in comparison to my other schools). Idaho only offered $8k/year. I figured with the better ranked schools (and much better scholarships to said schools) it would be foolish for me to go to Idaho simply because I would be “potentially interested” in living there in the future.

[Golradaer]

Have you tried negotiating with Idaho using your scholarship offers from the other schools? They should increase your award substantially.

All of the schools you've mentioned are regional, meaning none will carry any more weight than another over to somewhere like Idaho. Maybe Oregon just because it's closer. But at the same time, if you spend a few years working in your law school's home market before trying to move to Idaho, your work experience will matter more for your ability to get hired.

Based on your last post and this one, the best thing you can do is figure out where you want to begin your career. Forget trying to map things out 10-20 years down the road. Where do you see yourself living for the first 5 years post-law school? If you and your wife want to have kids, whose relatives do you want to be close to while you raise them? If your wife is going to be the primary caregiver, that would likely mean her family.

I personally think your best option is Arizona because you already have some ties to the area yourself, your wife's family is there, it's a relatively inexpensive place to live, and it's growing rapidly. It's also a less competitive legal market than the PNW (Seattle at least) in the sense that it's dominated by local firms filled with ASU/UofA grads and relatively few of the national firms that favor T14 grads.

[FND]

I wanted to know if practicing law in Idaho down the road would be an option at any of those schools.

"down the road" it doesn't matter.
If you're applying for a prestige-whore firm, such as Boise, odds are, you ain't getting in if you didn't go to a T14 or you weren't the very top of your class. Anywhere else, if you got the right experience and they don't have a candidate they're familiar with, you just need to convince them that you really do intend to move from X to Y.

From what I know, the most important part of lateraling to a new location is having already been admitted to the bar - it shows you're serious about moving to wherever you're moving to. And it means you can have an immediate impact.

[+] Spoiler

Note: Lateraling to biglaw in another region, they do care about why you're moving, but they place a heavy emphasis on experience, school, grades. They usually don't mind waiting for you to take the bar and pass it later.

[QContinuum]

The best way to get a legal job in a tiny, insular legal market like Idaho is to attend law school there - in this case, UI (don't attend Concordia). There is really no "second best" option - it's UI or bust, especially for someone with no preexisting ID ties. Idahoans won't consider an Oregon/Washington law school (let alone a school in Nevada or Arizona) to be "close enough" - they will simply view it as "not Idaho".

But remember, J.D.s outside the T13/T20 aren't geographically portable in practice. If you attend UI, you should be prepared to live and work in Idaho for the next several decades, so think three times before making that call. Idaho's a great place, but it's definitely not for everyone. You gotta be sure you don't mind the brutal winters, the rural character of the state, the cultural homogeneity, the distance to major West Coast cities (it's a 7-hour drive each way to Portland, the closest major city, so you won't be hanging out there on any regular basis), the associated isolation from your preexisting family/friends (even the ones in Washington/Oregon/northern California, never mind the ones elsewhere in the country), the limited pool of potential romantic partners.

[JOThompson]

I would almost never normally advise this, but you could consider Gonzaga if you have a full ride. It's in eastern Washington and does place in Idaho due to proximity, especially in Coeur Da'Lene, which is up and coming. It will do better in Idaho than Willamette, Oregon, Washington, SeattleU. I do know people from schools in Western Washington and Oregon who have found jobs in Idaho without connections, but it's rare. I know a handful from Gonzaga who are in Idaho in small firms and prosecutor jobs (without connections), but I think it's still a risk without local ties. You'd be better off graduating from the bottom of the class from Idaho than doing well at Gonzaga.

If you have a full ride at the University of Idaho though, then that is your best bet for finding a local job. I would not consider anything else in your situation. It is in insular market and the bar there has minimal awareness or regard for schools outside of Idaho. I flirted briefly with Boise for a few months and didn't get a single interview (from Oregon, went to Iowa for law school, several years of trial experience). It was infinitely easier to find interviews in any city in Washington than it was in Boise for me.