Saturated markets Forum

[Vincent Vega]

I hear a lot about saturated markets on TLS. NYC, DC, Chicago, LA - all of these are "saturated," by many people's opinions on here. I know ITE pretty much every market has more than its fair share of attorneys without jobs, but in which cities is it easiest to obtain a decent job these days? (A good job doesn't necessarily mean $160K, just a decent salary considering COL.)

[Anonymous User]

I hear a lot about saturated markets on TLS. NYC, DC, Chicago, LA - all of these are "saturated," by many people's opinions on here. I know ITE pretty much every market has more than its fair share of attorneys without jobs, but in which cities is it easiest to obtain a decent job these days? (A good job doesn't necessarily mean $160K, just a decent salary considering COL.)

I've heard that TX is doing pretty well in certain markets, considering the economy.

[kevin261186]

The University of Washington is great if you like Seattle. Public interest and government jobs are popular amongst students; leaving much less competition for private sector work.

[JPJ]

I hear a lot about saturated markets on TLS. NYC, DC, Chicago, LA - all of these are "saturated," by many people's opinions on here. I know ITE pretty much every market has more than its fair share of attorneys without jobs, but in which cities is it easiest to obtain a decent job these days? (A good job doesn't necessarily mean $160K, just a decent salary considering COL.)

I've heard that TX is doing pretty well in certain markets, considering the economy.

That's probably due to Texas being in better shape than all most any other state, ITE. Better ecomony -> better job opportunity. See The Economist July 11-17 2009 edition "America's Future: California v. Texas" Good info.

[Anonymous Loser]

The University of Washington is great if you like Seattle. Public interest and government jobs are popular amongst students; leaving much less competition for private sector work.

There probably aren't much more than ~40 2L summer associate positions in the Puget Sound area paying market even in a good year. Not only is Seattle a saturated legal market, but market rate is quite low in comparison to the region's COL. I'm sure the UW viewbook states otherwise, but Seattle most certainly does not meet the OP's criteria.

[yabbadabbado]

I don't really think there is an easy answer for this. A lot depends on what school you are coming from and what places you want to go to for work. Keep in mind that you may find it extremely difficult to break into a market to which you have no prior connection, especially a lot of so-called secondary markets.

Just because everyone on msg boards and people you know IRL aren't clamoring to work in these places doesn't mean there isn't a lot of competition for these jobs. Going to a high ranked school for these markets may not help either, even if you have prior connections to the state. It's just easier for many employers to go down to the local school(s) and cherry pick a couple of students who are at the tippy top of the class.

[Vincent Vega]

I think I should clarify my position.

My fiancee and I are both going to grad schools. She is going to be a professor when she gets done with her PhD. We are looking for a city where we can both be happy and she can have good job prospects. So she needs to have several universities nearby (preferably respected institutions) and I need to be able to find a decent legal job (preferably prosecution or other government work).

[James Bond]

So she needs to have several universities nearby (preferably respected institutions)

She should probably have some less respected institutions around as well. As a new PHd, she's not going to get Harvard

[yabbadabbado]

What type of PhD is your fiancee doing? How long will it take? With a few exceptions most new PhDs (even grads of top programs) will be lucky to find any decent work in academia, even a non-tenure track position at a lesser known college or university. It's likely she'll have to go wherever she can find work, which means that if you want to be together you would be best served by going to a school with the most national reputation possible and earning the highest grades you can.

For prosecution, there aren't that many offices (typically less than 15 or so) nationwide that hire directly out of school before you pass the bar. Usually, you have to pass the bar first (results come out in OCT/NOV) and hope that you get hired.

Government work is mostly in DC or branch offices in the states. Many branch offices do not hire right out of law school. The ones that do have many less positions available than in DC, and the jobs in DC are extremely competitive to get. At the state level, you also have State AGs offices, which usually don't hire right out of school. Sometimes there are non-legal/quasi legal jobs with the state legistature for law grads. Then you have permanent clerks/staff attorneys for certain state appellate level courts. You'll have to research state by state and see who hires new law grads in a typical year. Here's a hint, states with economies that have been in the toilet for awhile or less populous areas usually have few or no openings at all.

My best advice to you is for you and your fiancee to apply to as many schools and as broadly as possible. See what schools you get into that are in the same city or nearby. Then figure out what will work best for the both of you.