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Well the decision has come down to UGA or Bama. Money is not a factor, and I like both campuses and intend to stay in the South. Any thoughts as to what I should do?

creader wrote:Well the decision has come down to UGA or Bama. Money is not a factor, and I like both campuses and intend to stay in the South. Any thoughts as to what I should do?

What state would you rather practice in? Attend that school.

Doesn't matter, have family in both states and solid employment opportunities as well. Pretty much its coming down to first year curriculum. UGA has a more traditional approach consisting of civ procedure 1 and 2, contracts and sales 1 and 2, legal research and writing 1 and 2, propert 1/2, torts 1/2 and crim law whereas Bama's has moot court, evidence and conlaw second semester.

creader wrote:Doesn't matter, have family in both states and solid employment opportunities as well. Pretty much its coming down to first year curriculum. UGA has a more traditional approach consisting of civ procedure 1 and 2, contracts and sales 1 and 2, legal research and writing 1 and 2, propert 1/2, torts 1/2 and crim law whereas Bama's has moot court, evidence and conlaw second semester.

Well, i'd take Georgia personally. Are they both graded LRW?

I feel UGa has better prospects but if you already have opportunities lined up for postgrad (and I mean actually lined up), then I guess that doesn't matter.

bk187 wrote:I feel UGa has better prospects but if you already have opportunities lined up for postgrad (and I mean actually lined up), then I guess that doesn't matter.

Georgia has had better NLJ250 opportunities in the past. But ATL is a toilet right now. And it's a target for people from UVA/Duke/Vandy with ATL ties and Emory people.

Birmingham at least seems to be doing okay. Plus there's not a lot of competition in Alabama generally.

OP, any chance you can expound on these opportunities?

rad law wrote:Georgia has had better NLJ250 opportunities in the past. But ATL is a toilet right now. And it's a target for people from UVA/Duke/Vandy with ATL ties and Emory people.

Birmingham at least seems to be doing okay. Plus there's not a lot of competition in Alabama generally.

I yield to your greater knowledge on this subject.

bk187 wrote:

rad law wrote:Georgia has had better NLJ250 opportunities in the past. But ATL is a toilet right now. And it's a target for people from UVA/Duke/Vandy with ATL ties and Emory people.

Birmingham at least seems to be doing okay. Plus there's not a lot of competition in Alabama generally.

I yield to your greater knowledge on this subject.

Bama doesn't have that many NLJ250 firms, but I know Bham is hiring right now. I don't know much about the other markets in Alabama. They have some decently sized and decently paying midlaw firms.

I don't know if I have greater knowledge per se, but ATL lost the most big firm lawyers out of any major market this past year, I know that much. It would be nice to see the latest NLJ250 stats.

One consideration about going to UGA is that a lot of people (probably including OP) want to work in ATL, but if that doesn't work out, enjoy Macon/Albany/Valdosta/Augusta. $5 says you won't. Not sure if Bama has a comparable situation.

The bigger issue for me is the first year curriculum. I just can't decide which one is better or if they are pretty much the same. The Alabama one certainly seems to teach you how to "be a lawyer" much more than the more traditional UGA curriculum.

If you're really concerned about the 1L curriculum (and I'm not exactly sure you should be), then take Bama and go in peace. Whatever benefit you gain will be very marginal, though. It's not like Georgia doesn't offer evidence or lacks a moot court program. If you really want to "learn how to be a lawyer", there's always going to be opportunities to select skills-based and practical courses over theoretical soapboxes. When the schools are this similar, though, arbitrary distinctions aren't necessarily a bad thing. After all, you have to make a decision.

Like others have said, pick based on which state in which you'd prefer to reside. Also, don't bank on getting an ATL BIGLAW job.

Are ATL biglaw jobs really that decimated? If I can't get biglaw what do other salaries look like?

I'm a 1L here at Alabama, so understand that my advice may be biased in that direction. First year curriculum does not include moot court. My first semester was Civ Pro, Torts, Contracts I, Criminal Law, and Legal Research/Writing. My second semester is Con Law, Contracts II, Evidence, Property, and Legal Research/Writing.

The first semester Legal Research/Writing class had us produce a Legal Memorandum on a topic selected by the Legal Writing faculty. Ultimately, you produce a quality writing sample that you can send to employers when you're looking for summer work. The second semester Legal Research/Writing class has us producing an appellate brief for a problem selected by the faculty.

Ultimately, if you're making this decision based on curriculum, I would suggest that you look to second and third year offerings. Specifically, I think Alabama trumps Georgia for two reasons: one, Alabama guarantees every student participation in a clinical program. Georgia makes no such guarantee. Second, Alabama has quite a few journals in addition to the law review. Although there's no guarantee you'll get anything published, you will have an excellent chance to demonstrate you've worked on a legal journal.

In terms of employment, I know that the ABA Journal recently listed both Birmingham and Huntsville as two smaller legal markets that pay nearly as well as larger markets like Atlanta.

I believe that Alabama and Georgia are similar in many respects. Ultimately, I chose Alabama because I felt it gave me at least the same employment chances in Nashville, while giving me greater opportunity in Birmingham, Huntsville, Jackson (Mississippi), and New Orleans. While I may be at a disadvantage in Atlanta compared to a Georgia grad, I don't think it's an insurmountable obstacle, especially considering what I gain in the other geographic areas.

Alabama is worth considering because Georgia is facing increased competition from Georgia State law grads for positions in Atlanta. Alabama has less competition for jobs in its home market.