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Only ties to NYC are cousins. Parents lived in NYC a long time ago. Have not spent significant time there. Career services told me I should be cautious about bidding on NYC because of the lack of significant ties, and suggested I should bid on another primary that I have significant connections to. Just how important are ties for NYC?

MVPB, ~top 1/3, got on secondary journals.

Also, how should I split my bids? How many reaches, percentage-wise, should I bid on?

Anonymous User wrote:Only ties to NYC are cousins. Parents lived in NYC a long time ago. Have not spent significant time there. Career services told me I should be cautious about bidding on NYC because of the lack of significant ties, and suggested I should bid on another primary that I have significant connections to. Just how important are ties for NYC?

MVPB, ~top 1/3, with secondary journals.

I would say more important than some places, less important than others. It's good though that you're thinking ahead in terms of fashion choices.


This one is my personal favorite. It's kind of like a mullet, in that it says "I'm here for business" because, you know, it's a tie. But also, it lets clients/coworkers know that you got a lil' Frank the Tank in ya.

Ties are always important.

Where do you have ties to? If you applied to somewhere you had ties to, everything else would matter less.

If you are set on NYC, you would be extremely competitive in normal years. Now you can attain Big Law in NYC (if that's what you want), but if you want to really start hand-picking firms (as quite a few TLSers strive to do) you should focus on a major market you have ties to.

Aberzombie1892 wrote:Ties are always important.

Where do you have ties to? If you applied to somewhere you had ties to, everything else would matter less.

If you are set on NYC, you would be extremely competitive in normal years. Now you can attain Big Law in NYC (if that's what you want), but if you want to really start hand-picking firms (as quite a few TLSers strive to do) you should focus on a major market you have ties to.

The market I have ties to is one of SF or Chicago. Not concerned with hand-picking firms. Would prefer corporate work, but am open to litigation. NYC is my first choice market. How do I convince interviewers of this without having significant ties? What career services said has made me wince a little at putting most of my bids on NYC.

I thought ties to a community didn't really matter that much in major markets. Can anyone comment on this that has at least been through 2L OCI.

I've been through 2L OCI. I have zero ties to NYC but am working at a big law firm in NY currently. I did occasionally get asked about ties, but I gave concrete reasons for why I wanted to be in NY and what a great city it was. New Yorkers seem to think that everyone wants to live here, so I don't think they questioned my sincerity.

Anonymous User wrote:New Yorkers seem to think that everyone wants to live here.

That's because we do.

I have always heard that ties are not as important for NY or DC because everyone wants to work there.

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Ties matter in DC, just not as much as grades. I know quite a few people who bid on DC, and the people who 'had the grades' (i.e. top 20-10% or better for the most part) could sneak in without significant ties, but after that the people with backgrounds outperformed the people who wanted DC for the sake of DC.

Ties barely seem to matter at all in NYC.

It all depends on the story you tell and the particular firm/interviewer you speak with. In generalities, it tends to be best to focus on the market your school is in/feeds to, NYC, and markets you have prior ties to. You might not get shut out trying to go elsewhere, but you'll always have better luck over your bids by sticking to school market / NYC / home market(s).

Anonymous User wrote: New Yorkers seem to think that everyone wants to live here.

Yep. This is all you need

Anonymous User wrote:Only ties to NYC are cousins. Parents lived in NYC a long time ago. Have not spent significant time there. Career services told me I should be cautious about bidding on NYC because of the lack of significant ties, and suggested I should bid on another primary that I have significant connections to. Just how important are ties for NYC?

MVPB, ~top 1/3, got on secondary journals.

Also, how should I split my bids? How many reaches, percentage-wise, should I bid on?

NYC ties not important, no matter where in the world you're from.