Birmingham Big Law From Non-Southern T-14 Forum

[sunynp]

http://www.nalpdirectory.com/dledir_search_results.asp

33 in 2011 in the Birmingham office alone, 18 offers made.

Yeah I knew something was fishy.

So I wasn't far off with the 50% offer rate then.

[Anonymous User]

http://www.nalpdirectory.com/dledir_search_results.asp

33 in 2011 in the Birmingham office alone, 18 offers made.

Yeah I knew something was fishy.

So I wasn't far off with the 50% offer rate then.

No the offer rate is not anywhere near 50% for the bigger firms - go look at the NALP data

NALP shows that BABC gave all 18 of its 2L SA's permanent offers

I would guess that Birmingham firms know that their SA's are usually splitting their summers, and thus they can't count on all of their SA's accepting the offers. Thus they give out a number of offers that surprises some people.

[MrKappus]

Berkeley's unlikely to fly in Birmingham. Just sayin'...

[Anonymous User]

http://www.nalpdirectory.com/dledir_search_results.asp

33 in 2011 in the Birmingham office alone, 18 offers made.

Yeah I knew something was fishy.

So I wasn't far off with the 50% offer rate then.

They aren't all 2L SAs.

And yeah, I would agree that Berkeley could be a hard sell in the South, but with ties and UG here, it could be overcome.

[MrKappus]

And yeah, I would agree that Berkeley could be a hard sell in the South, but with ties and UG here, it could be overcome.

Not at Bradley Arant or Balch Bingham, according to a quick school search of their attorney profiles.

[Anonymous User]

And yeah, I would agree that Berkeley could be a hard sell in the South, but with ties and UG here, it could be overcome.

Not at Bradley Arant or Balch Bingham, according to a quick school search of their attorney profiles.

I would imagine that there aren't many personality types that would both choose to go to Berkeley for law school and want to work in a law firm in Birmingham and have the ties to do so. Self-selection is going to play a HUGE part in that.

[Anonymous User]

I would imagine that there aren't many personality types that would both choose to go to Berkeley for law school and want to work in a law firm in Birmingham and have the ties to do so. Self-selection is going to play a HUGE part in that.

Exactly. How many people choose to go to law school at Berkeley and then choose to work in Birmingham? I mean just think about the words "Berkeley" and "Birmingham"...

If you look at Birmingham firms you'll find UChicago grads Harvard grads, all kinds. Berkeley just seems to be an especially unlikely choice of school for someone who wants to work in Birmingham.

[MrKappus]

I would imagine that there aren't many personality types that would both choose to go to Berkeley for law school and want to work in a law firm in Birmingham and have the ties to do so. Self-selection is going to play a HUGE part in that.

Exactly. How many people choose to go to law school at Berkeley and then choose to work in Birmingham? I mean just think about the words "Berkeley" and "Birmingham"...

If you look at Birmingham firms you'll find UChicago grads Harvard grads, all kinds. Berkeley just seems to be an especially unlikely choice of school for someone who wants to work in Birmingham.

You guys seem to have convinced yourselves, so that's all that matters. Lotsa luck.

[Anonymous User]

You guys seem to have convinced yourselves, so that's all that matters. Lotsa luck.

I have a job at one of the major Birmingham firms. FYI they resume collect at Berkeley...

[Anonymous User]

You guys seem to have convinced yourselves, so that's all that matters. Lotsa luck.

Do you live here? Do you understand the atmosphere of southern law firms or of Alabama/the South in general and how that would differ from, say, the atmosphere of Berkeley? If someone was set on working at a firm in Birmingham/has the necessary ties to get a job, why go all the way to California to law school over Duke/UVA?

[Anonymous User]

For BABC: 18 2Ls, 18 offers made. 15 1Ls in 2010. So, according to NALP, it was a full offer rate for 2Ls

For 2011, there were 23 2Ls and 26 1Ls. Not sure about the offer rates here, but I think the 2Ls were close to 100%. It's tougher to get invited back as a 1L. If you make the cut then and come back, I think you're golden.

Also, I think you need to have a really convincing reason for coming back to Birmingham if you're going to swing a 1L SA from Berkeley. I split my 1L summer in Birmingham from a T14 and, despite being from the state, felt like I had to sell my "Why Birmingham" story incredibly hard at every interview. Even then, there were several firms that I could tell just weren't interested since they didn't believe that I really wanted to go back to Birmingham. I'm splitting my next summer in Birmingham again, as well. Once you spend 1L summer there, it's easier to convince firms that you're committed for 2L.

[Anonymous User]

This may be the wrong place for this, but there seem to be a lot of people here with knowledge pertinent to my question.

I'm an out of state 0L (in the south), considering Alabama. I don't have ties to Alabama, to speak of, but I've spent some time there and would be interested in a permanant relocation to Birmingham or possibly Mobile (not a huge market there, but I love the gulf-coast). I've lived in another southern state for 3 ish years, but am not originally from the area.

What are my chances of cracking the Birmingham market, and what would best convince firms there that my interest in staying is sincere?

[duckmoney]

This may be the wrong place for this, but there seem to be a lot of people here with knowledge pertinent to my question.

I'm an out of state 0L (in the south), considering Alabama. I don't have ties to Alabama, to speak of, but I've spent some time there and would be interested in a permanant relocation to Birmingham or possibly Mobile (not a huge market there, but I love the gulf-coast). I've lived in another southern state for 3 ish years, but am not originally from the area.

What are my chances of cracking the Birmingham market, and what would best convince firms there that my interest in staying is sincere?

I have pretty strong ties to Birmingham, though I am not from there, and some of the firms are very skeptical of me. I think of 3 good ways to crack the Birmingham market:

1) Go to Alabama for law school. This won't be great, as they will still want a really compelling reason that you want to be in Birmingham, but this will show you're interested.

2) Marry someone who is from Birmingham or has a job in Birmingham. This will be the best way to solidify your ties to the region. Of course, this will likely be difficult.

3) Have your parents / some family member you're super close to move to Birmingham for a compelling reason, such as work or retirement. Again, this will not be easy.

If you go to an out-of-state school, and have no family / reason to be in Birmingham, and no past connections to Birmingham, there is almost no way firms will consider you. You need to show significant interest or have a legitimately compelling reason you want to be there.

[Anonymous User]

This may be the wrong place for this, but there seem to be a lot of people here with knowledge pertinent to my question.

I'm an out of state 0L (in the south), considering Alabama. I don't have ties to Alabama, to speak of, but I've spent some time there and would be interested in a permanant relocation to Birmingham or possibly Mobile (not a huge market there, but I love the gulf-coast). I've lived in another southern state for 3 ish years, but am not originally from the area.

What are my chances of cracking the Birmingham market, and what would best convince firms there that my interest in staying is sincere?

I have pretty strong ties to Birmingham, though I am not from there, and some of the firms are very skeptical of me. I think of 3 good ways to crack the Birmingham market:

1) Go to Alabama for law school. This won't be great, as they will still want a really compelling reason that you want to be in Birmingham, but this will show you're interested.

2) Marry someone who is from Birmingham or has a job in Birmingham. This will be the best way to solidify your ties to the region. Of course, this will likely be difficult.

3) Have your parents / some family member you're super close to move to Birmingham for a compelling reason, such as work or retirement. Again, this will not be easy.

If you go to an out-of-state school, and have no family / reason to be in Birmingham, and no past connections to Birmingham, there is almost no way firms will consider you. You need to show significant interest or have a legitimately compelling reason you want to be there.

This describes me and I got a Birmingham firm job.

[Anonymous User]

This may be the wrong place for this, but there seem to be a lot of people here with knowledge pertinent to my question.

I'm an out of state 0L (in the south), considering Alabama. I don't have ties to Alabama, to speak of, but I've spent some time there and would be interested in a permanant relocation to Birmingham or possibly Mobile (not a huge market there, but I love the gulf-coast). I've lived in another southern state for 3 ish years, but am not originally from the area.

What are my chances of cracking the Birmingham market, and what would best convince firms there that my interest in staying is sincere?

I have pretty strong ties to Birmingham, though I am not from there, and some of the firms are very skeptical of me. I think of 3 good ways to crack the Birmingham market:

1) Go to Alabama for law school. This won't be great, as they will still want a really compelling reason that you want to be in Birmingham, but this will show you're interested.

2) Marry someone who is from Birmingham or has a job in Birmingham. This will be the best way to solidify your ties to the region. Of course, this will likely be difficult.

3) Have your parents / some family member you're super close to move to Birmingham for a compelling reason, such as work or retirement. Again, this will not be easy.

If you go to an out-of-state school, and have no family / reason to be in Birmingham, and no past connections to Birmingham, there is almost no way firms will consider you. You need to show significant interest or have a legitimately compelling reason you want to be there.

This describes me and I got a Birmingham firm job.

Care to elaborate? Are you top 1% at UVA or something something?

I will very likely go to Alabama, courtesy of a generous scholarship that I do not expect other schools to match.

My fiance, soon to be wife, will be relocating and working in Alabama, if so. Don't know if this helps.

[Anonymous User]

does anyone have any insight on how the market is doing?

[duckmoney]

This describes me and I got a Birmingham firm job.

Care to elaborate? Are you top 1% at UVA or something something?

I will very likely go to Alabama, courtesy of a generous scholarship that I do not expect other schools to match.

My fiance, soon to be wife, will be relocating and working in Alabama, if so. Don't know if this helps.

Yes that will help significantly.

[Anonymous User]

Care to elaborate? Are you top 1% at UVA or something something?

I will very likely go to Alabama, courtesy of a generous scholarship that I do not expect other schools to match.

My fiance, soon to be wife, will be relocating and working in Alabama, if so. Don't know if this helps.

I'm UVA near (or possibly at) the bottom of the class but from the South.