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I am interested in legal work in West Palm Beach, FL.

(I will start LS hopefully in the fall.) Just wanting to get an idea of what the legal job market is like down there.


Thanks

Consensus seems to be that the Florida market is in shambles and is even worse without ties to the state.

Outside Gunster, biglaw is pretty much nonexistent in West Palm.

There are three legal markets in South Florida. In order of size: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm. There are also some firms in Boca Raton. If your goal is West Palm Beach you really need to think of all three markets as one big market and target them all. The market in South Florida sucks and you WILL need local ties. South Florida doesn't have a huge "big business" base, so it's mostly small firms doing PI type of work and paying $50k to start.

If you want to work in biglaw in one of the South Florida markets, then T14 + local ties and you shouldn't have a problem. If you want to go to school in Florida and want to target the South Florida legal market, ONLY consider UF and U Miami (with scholarship, preferably). But I really think local ties + T14 is the best way into a GOOD firm down here. Remember, most firms down here advertise on hip hop radio stations with jingles about "getting paid" after your car crash. Grads from local TTT schools (Nova Southeastern, et. al) end up at those firms.

Anonymous User wrote:There are three legal markets in South Florida. In order of size: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm. There are also some firms in Boca Raton. If your goal is West Palm Beach you really need to think of all three markets as one big market and target them all. The market in South Florida sucks and you WILL need local ties. South Florida doesn't have a huge "big business" base, so it's mostly small firms doing PI type of work and paying $50k to start.

If you want to work in biglaw in one of the South Florida markets, then T14 + local ties and you shouldn't have a problem. If you want to go to school in Florida and want to target the South Florida legal market, ONLY consider UF and U Miami (with scholarship, preferably). But I really think local ties + T14 is the best way into a GOOD firm down here. Remember, most firms down here advertise on hip hop radio stations with jingles about "getting paid" after your car crash. Grads from local TTT schools (Nova Southeastern, et. al) end up at those firms.

Credited.

Anonymous User wrote:There are three legal markets in South Florida. In order of size: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm. There are also some firms in Boca Raton. If your goal is West Palm Beach you really need to think of all three markets as one big market and target them all. The market in South Florida sucks and you WILL need local ties. South Florida doesn't have a huge "big business" base, so it's mostly small firms doing PI type of work and paying $50k to start.

If you want to work in biglaw in one of the South Florida markets, then T14 + local ties and you shouldn't have a problem. If you want to go to school in Florida and want to target the South Florida legal market, ONLY consider UF and U Miami (with scholarship, preferably). But I really think local ties + T14 is the best way into a GOOD firm down here. Remember, most firms down here advertise on hip hop radio stations with jingles about "getting paid" after your car crash. Grads from local TTT schools (Nova Southeastern, et. al) end up at those firms.

Thank you for the info. I am applying to Nova. Honestly I have no interest in going Big Law. I really enjoy criminal defense so I would even start at the public defenders office for a year or so to learn the system. After all, the great Roy Black started out in the Miami-Dade County Public Defender's office.

Can one make a solid living solely practicing Criminal Defense in a market like WPB? I am from a small southern town and all the big crim defense guys are solo practices and they kill it.