Chicago Ties? Forum

[Anonymous User]

People say that you need ties to the Midwest to get into BigLaw in Chicago. How broadly is that defined? If I grew up in Ohio and lived there forever, is that a tie? It doesn’t seem like it.

[Anonymous User]

You don't really need ties, but being from Ohio and wanting to be in the biggest legal market in the midwest is enough. You should be fine, at least with regard to ties.

[Anonymous User]

You don't really need ties, but being from Ohio and wanting to be in the biggest legal market in the midwest is enough. You should be fine, at least with regard to ties.

Seconding. I know people who summered in Chicago last year who had no ties to the city or to Illinois, but grew up in or went to school in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. Don't sweat it—just say you want to stay in the Midwest.

[Anonymous User]

Chicago firms, especially for summers, don't want to be your toehold if you plan to go to their NYC office after graduation. Just make it clear that Chicago is your post-graduate destination.

[Anonymous User]

Chicago firms, especially for summers, don't want to be your toehold if you plan to go to their NYC office after graduation. Just make it clear that Chicago is your post-graduate destination.

Yep. If you're from the Midwest, my firm will consider you to have sufficient ties. If you're not from the Midwest but from a place it's unlikely you'd want to return to practice (e.g., Idaho, Montana, Mississippi), nobody is really going to care too much. If you're from California, New York, or D.C., it's a yellow flag. If you're telling us you're interviewing in those markets too, it's a major red flag with respect to retention (at least in our Chicago office).

[Anonymous User]

This is all very helpful to know. I’m considering post-clerkship options (not clerking in Chicago), but I’ve only lived in the Midwest my entire life and am seriously considering Chicago as a landing point.

[Anonymous User]

As a fellow midwesterner who also attended a midwest (non-Chicago) school, agree with the consensus that you'll have no trouble.

[Anonymous User]

I'm at a Chicago firm and while I'm not sure we really care about ties, it is notable how many people come from places like Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana. And of course, Illinois. Broader Midwest being drawn to Chicago is a thing.

[Anonymous User]

I'm at a Chicago firm and while I'm not sure we really care about ties, it is notable how many people come from places like Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana. And of course, Illinois. Broader Midwest being drawn to Chicago is a thing.

That’s helpful. I imagine that with the size of Chicago, ties aren’t a necessity anyway to break into the market.

[Anonymous User]

I think you should aspire to 7-10, preferably silk, and not Hermes or Charvet until your 3rd year. I think Vineyard Vines makes some good White Sox and Bears-themed ones.

[Anonymous User]

I'm involved with hiring at one of the very large shops in Chicago. Also from the midwest and only lived in the midwest.

Stereotypical or not, I will say that people from the midwest just carry themselves differently, and that tends to come out in interviews. There are more shared interests to banter about--not too many coasters have deer hunting among their interests. More chances to have grown up in the same town or at least know of the towns. Those things end up being more than just a tie-breaker. So, it's less a retention concern and more of a fit thing where a lot of Chicago hiring folks tend to gravitate toward people that are from the midwest.

But grades etc. are going to trump this in most situations, unless there's something that does scream retention problem. This is kind of circular though. If you have such good grades that you'd beat out the midwest folks, then your grades are likely to be good enough to land in NY or CA in the first place.

Anyway, OP, you certainly have nothing to worry about.