Pittsburgh Legal market Forum

[HeavenWood]

Is it weirdly insular? I went to UG there (and know more about the city/surrounding areas than most natives), but I grew up/will be going to law school elsewhere. Will this place me at a significant disadvantage?

[moose]

Have a similiar question. Went to undergrad in Pittsburgh and going to law school at MVP. Wondering how safe the burgh legal market would be. Whether undergrad is a strong enough connection.

[TTH]

I imagine yinz need to speak Pittsburghese to be secure.

[airbear1012]

I wondered the same thing. I'm thinking I probably want to end up in Pittsburgh, but can't imagine paying more than half tuition at Pitt--something that I would have to do because of their lack of significant scholarships.

[Anonymous User]

The Pittsburgh market is VERY insular. More so than a lot of places. Most of the places I interviewed with were dominated by Penn St. Pitt, and Duquense grads. If you want to work in Pittsburgh after law school and you know it, it would behoove you to go to a school in the area.

[r6_philly]

The Pittsburgh market is VERY insular. More so than a lot of places. Most of the places I interviewed with were dominated by Penn St. Pitt, and Duquense grads. If you want to work in Pittsburgh after law school and you know it, it would behoove you to go to a school in the area.

Does this condition indicate an unwillingness for employers to hire grads from other schools, or an unwillingness for students from other schools to work in Pittsburgh?

[Big Shrimpin]

I imagine yinz need to speak Pittsburghese to be secure.

Quite possibly the oddest noun-pronoun conflation evar.

[Anonymous User]

The Pittsburgh market is VERY insular. More so than a lot of places. Most of the places I interviewed with were dominated by Penn St. Pitt, and Duquense grads. If you want to work in Pittsburgh after law school and you know it, it would behoove you to go to a school in the area.

Does this condition indicate an unwillingness for employers to hire grads from other schools, or an unwillingness for students from other schools to work in Pittsburgh?

I would posit that it's a little bit of both. The firms in Pittsburgh really focus on you having concrete ties. You must have some sort of tie. I think this insecurity comes from people possibly leaving the market quickly in the past, but I have no facts to back that up. But I also believe that the firms have a comfort level with the local schools where they don't feel the need to go outside of it so much to find talent.

[HeavenWood]

The Pittsburgh market is VERY insular. More so than a lot of places. Most of the places I interviewed with were dominated by Penn St. Pitt, and Duquense grads. If you want to work in Pittsburgh after law school and you know it, it would behoove you to go to a school in the area.

Does this condition indicate an unwillingness for employers to hire grads from other schools, or an unwillingness for students from other schools to work in Pittsburgh?

I would posit that it's a little bit of both. The firms in Pittsburgh really focus on you having concrete ties. You must have some sort of tie. I think this insecurity comes from people possibly leaving the market quickly in the past, but I have no facts to back that up. But I also believe that the firms have a comfort level with the local schools where they don't feel the need to go outside of it so much to find talent.

Requiring ties makes sense. Is going to UG there usually a sufficient tie?

[Anonymous User]

Does this condition indicate an unwillingness for employers to hire grads from other schools, or an unwillingness for students from other schools to work in Pittsburgh?

I would posit that it's a little bit of both. The firms in Pittsburgh really focus on you having concrete ties. You must have some sort of tie. I think this insecurity comes from people possibly leaving the market quickly in the past, but I have no facts to back that up. But I also believe that the firms have a comfort level with the local schools where they don't feel the need to go outside of it so much to find talent.

Requiring ties makes sense. Is going to UG there usually a sufficient tie?

Not exactly how sufficient it might be, but I'd bet that it would be a decent enough tie. A stronger tie would be having family in Pitt of course, or some other sort of displayed commitment to the area.

[Anonymous User]

Have a similiar question. Went to undergrad in Pittsburgh and going to law school at MVP. Wondering how safe the burgh legal market would be. Whether undergrad is a strong enough connection.

I did that exact thing (best ugrad school in town *ahem* and same trio of law schools) and got a callback there based on my credentials and enthusiasm for PGH but no offer. National firm, so grades still mattered, and mine weren't awesome (ended up not working at a law firm in the summer but have a [non-Biglaw, non-PGH] firm job for next year that I'm actually much happier about). No matter what firm it is, be well-informed about the legal market. I could have studied up better.

[Anonymous User]

I'd imagine only going to undergrad in Pittsburgh would be almost a detrimental tie, as your only basis for going there was getting an education, and then you promptly left to pursue law school in greener pastures. I can see it being hard to imagine why you would want to return to Pittsburgh for good when you only real tie is a mercenary four years of undergrad. Looks like you are just targeting an easier market for your t14 pedigree, chasing $$$ rather than a career from the firm's perspective.

I received an big offer in Cincinnati, a similar market, despite grades that should have limited me, precisely because I was born and raised in Cincinnati and made it glaringly clear that I was a true Cincinnatian. I'm talking knowing local politics, sports, eateries, high school rivalries, history, the works. If you can't do that you are really limited against those who can.

The fact that you have to ask TLS whether undergrad is a sufficient tie to the market indicates that it probably isn't. If I were you I would begin reaching out to alumni working for firms that you are interested in and asking if they could spare a few minutes to talk about life in the Pittsburgh market, working for a big firm, etc. Just make it low key, low stress, try to build a little bit of a relationship with the community that way. Keep in touch a few times so when OCI/Mass mailing time comes around you have someone to contact within the firm who could possibly vouch for you/give advice.