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I grew up in Alexandria, VA (big suburb right outside of DC) went to George Mason for underground (right outside DC) and go to law school now at George Washington (in DC). My grades are borderline for big law (maybe the lowest among the top-33%) but assuming I get in I would really rather it be someplace warmer in the winter like Austin, TX or Los Angeles but I think that is unrealistic given my ties to DC and average grades/school. Would you agree it is so unlikely it is not worth flying on my dime to Austin or LA for OCI (there is some sort of consortium thing which extends the opportunity for OCI to remote locations presumably for out-of-town students)? Would my chances be a lot better if I got a couple years experience in DC or NY first? Could I just transfer offices in same firm? Would my chances be better in NY versus DC? My strong preference would be to stay in DC if not going South. I do really want to go South.

Honestly, your chances at biglaw are bad. You need to hustle your ass off and mass mail every single firm in every single city to see if you get any bites. You should not care about location at all because one biglaw offer is going to be hard enough to get. I say this not to scare you, but for you to recognize you won’t have the opportunity to pick and choose. Hustle to get any offer first.

For GW's class of 2017, 30.6% (134/503) had a long-term full-time job at a law firm with 250 or more lawyers 10 months after graduation so it is not completely hopeless and maybe even probable that it'll work out somewhere especially with the legal job market continuing to improve. Some of the top students would be clerking (19/503 in III clerkships) or just not interested in big law, too, but I do realize I am not in a strong position and at the very bottom of the bubble.

With your strong ties to DC, I think you should hustle for a biglaw job in DC first. Shoot for southern firms with DC offices (Baker Botts, V&E for TX, Alston + Bird, King & Spaulding for GA, etc.). If you can land a DC job, then you can take any southern state bar you choose, and then waive into the DC bar. After a couple of years there, you could look to lateral into the state in which you are barred. It could be an intrafirm move or interfirm move (or in-house).

I can't speak to your chance of success, but it is a strategy.

You are likely not getting into Austin. UT students are dying to stay here and can't, unless top 25% or have a special technical background. Austin is a niche market. Honestly, you have a better shot at Houston or Dallas. Everyone wants to be here. I can't speak too much to LA

BasilHallward wrote:You are likely not getting into Austin. UT students are dying to stay here and can't, unless top 25% or have a special technical background. Austin is a niche market. Honestly, you have a better shot at Houston or Dallas. Everyone wants to be here. I can't speak too much to LA

This is right. Much more likely to find something in Dallas or Houston than you would in Austin which is really tough even if you go to UT and even worse for SMU/Baylor/UH. I would take the advice of poster above that says to try for D.C. and then eventually look for a job in a southern market; without TX ties at all and no school in the area it will be a challenge right out of school.