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bigred87 wrote:in such a dense, highly urbanized area as South Florida,

bigred87 wrote:which with over 6 million people is one of the largest metro areas in the nation, there are so few national law firms which have offices in the region.

bigred87 wrote:(there are probably more New Yorkers down here than there are in NY)

RVP11 wrote:

bigred87 wrote:in such a dense, highly urbanized area as South Florida,

You're joking, right?

bigred87 wrote:which with over 6 million people is one of the largest metro areas in the nation, there are so few national law firms which have offices in the region.

There are metro areas with similar populations and less BigLaw presence.

bigred87 wrote:(there are probably more New Yorkers down here than there are in NY)

Check your maths.

bigred87 wrote:

have you been to Miami/South Florida?

bigred87 wrote:There are a handful of firms that opened shop down here or originated in the region: Greenberg Traurig, Holland & Knight, White & Case, Akerman Senterfitt, Weil Gotshal, Morgan Lewis, K&L Gates, McDermott Will Emery, Shook Hardy Bacon, Hogan Lovells. /quote]
Just to put it into perspective, many "big law" firms like WGM, SHB, MWE, and K&L don't have a very big presence in Florida. Of all the firms just referenced, I don't think a single one employs more than 30 lawyers in its Miami office (I also know that each of the aforementioned firms takes only 1 SA, at least, this year they did).

I don't think there is enough complex work down here to support the kind of firms that emerge in NY or Chicago where there is a lot of transactional work. Most of the work down here involves commercial litigation, construction suits, real estate finance, etc; most of it doesn't really require the kind of associate legwork that say, a merger between two major multi-million dollar corporations would require. Therefore, the firms (or their respective Florida offices) tend to be smaller and more focused.

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Royal wrote:Florida is a TTT state. Oban is correct. There is a shitty economy in South Florida. The economy is based around hospitality and tourism. Very small professional community.

Wrong. Both of my parents have professional degrees (they have been living ad working in Miami for 15 years). The parents of my friends from high school (I went to a prestigious private one) were, for the most part, well connected entrepreneurial people in the business world. My aunt is a practicing lawyer (graduated from UMiami). She runs a small firm that is very lucrative. I know several lawyers that work at large firms in the community including Weil and at Greenberg.

RVP11 wrote:

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Royal wrote:Florida is a TTT state. Oban is correct. There is a shitty economy in South Florida. The economy is based around hospitality and tourism. Very small professional community.

Wrong. Both of my parents have professional degrees (they have been living ad working in Miami for 15 years). The parents of my friends from high school (I went to a prestigious private one) were, for the most part, well connected entrepreneurial people in the business world. My aunt is a practicing lawyer (graduated from UMiami). She runs a small firm that is very lucrative. I know several lawyers that work at large firms in the community including Weil and at Greenberg.

Your personal experience is a sound response to a statement that South Florida has a small professional community. Way to totally prove him wrong.

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Having said that, I'm not claiming Miami's professional market is even comparable to NYC, DC, or Chi. It's more like Boston or Atlanta, IMO.

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Having said that, I'm not claiming Miami's professional market is even comparable to NYC, DC, or Chi. It's more like Boston or Atlanta, IMO.

The whole point of the post you originally disagreed with was just that:

Miami does not have the professional community for big law firms to thrive as they would in NY, DC, or Chicago.

The fact is, there isn't enough industry in Miami to attract the type of biglaw activity that you'd see in NYC, DC, Chicago, even Atlanta and Dallas. That is a fact, who you know or who your parents are doesn't change that fact.

I was disagreeing with "Royal"'s statement that Miami has a "very small professional community", not OP. I know Miami biglaw is miniscule when COMPARED to NY/DC/Chi (as are all secondary markets). While hospitality and tourism are the most visible industries, all types of business (specifically International business with South America) is quite large. People that want to make money and aren't afraid to deal with South America (that's a qualifier) do business out of South Florida because it is essentially the business center of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Not being as large as the biggest thing (NYC) does not make you very small.

paratactical wrote:Old people and illegal immigrants Hip replacement malpractice suits and coke dealers don't pay the biglaw bills.

RVP11 wrote:

bigred87 wrote:in such a dense, highly urbanized area as South Florida,

You're joking, right?

TheFriendlyBarber wrote:What is market salary for Miami Biglaw firms like White & Case, Hogan, Morgan Lewis, etc?

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Having said that, I'm not claiming Miami's professional market is even comparable to NYC, DC, or Chi. It's more like Boston or Atlanta, IMO.

The whole point of the post you originally disagreed with was just that:

Miami does not have the professional community for big law firms to thrive as they would in NY, DC, or Chicago.

The fact is, there isn't enough industry in Miami to attract the type of biglaw activity that you'd see in NYC, DC, Chicago, even Atlanta and Dallas. That is a fact, who you know or who your parents are doesn't change that fact.

I was disagreeing with "Royal"'s statement that Miami has a "very small professional community", not OP. I know Miami biglaw is miniscule when COMPARED to NY/DC/Chi (as are all secondary markets). While hospitality and tourism are the most visible industries, all types of business (specifically International business with South America) is quite large. People that want to make money and aren't afraid to deal with South America (that's a qualifier) do business out of South Florida because it is essentially the business center of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Not being as large as the biggest thing (NYC) does not make you very small.

Royal wrote:

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Aqualibrium wrote:

Wade LeBosh wrote:

Having said that, I'm not claiming Miami's professional market is even comparable to NYC, DC, or Chi. It's more like Boston or Atlanta, IMO.

The whole point of the post you originally disagreed with was just that:

Miami does not have the professional community for big law firms to thrive as they would in NY, DC, or Chicago.

The fact is, there isn't enough industry in Miami to attract the type of biglaw activity that you'd see in NYC, DC, Chicago, even Atlanta and Dallas. That is a fact, who you know or who your parents are doesn't change that fact.

I was disagreeing with "Royal"'s statement that Miami has a "very small professional community", not OP. I know Miami biglaw is miniscule when COMPARED to NY/DC/Chi (as are all secondary markets). While hospitality and tourism are the most visible industries, all types of business (specifically International business with South America) is quite large. People that want to make money and aren't afraid to deal with South America (that's a qualifier) do business out of South Florida because it is essentially the business center of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Not being as large as the biggest thing (NYC) does not make you very small.

I've lived and worked in several east coast cities, including Miami. South Florida certainly did seem like a provincial, developing country. I must say, Miami is perhaps the least enjoyable place I've ever lived, for a variety of reasons.

mrm2083 wrote:Miami has a really small legal big law community but it is much less competitive than the other big cities. The firms may only hire a few people per year but its not like they have all of the 14 throwing themselves at them. Most associates are from UM and UF. A 145 starting and much less competition than other cities that don't pay much more is pretty sweet.

Oban wrote:Biglaw firms tend be clusterd in legal/business markets, rather than population centers. Chicago and NYC have tons of corporate/business headquarters/operations, thus there is a demand for big law. LA also has lots of business, therefor, a good portion of big law firms. Big law exists in other cities, but only in proportion to the amount of business clients.