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I go to law school outside of CA and plan on moving to the Bay Area very soon to take the bar and try to network/find a job there.

Can anyone recommend cheaper but decent neighborhoods while it is still accessible to go to Palo Alto and SF for recruiting while studying for the bar? For instance, I heard about Oakland/San Mateo (Daly City) but I know nothing specific about that area.

Also, is housing in high demand? How hard would it be to find a place in December within a few days?

I would look in Hayward, Castro Valley, San Leandro, Fremont (maybe), East Palo Alto, Richmond, West Oakland, Concord, and Pleasanton.

Anywhere that is remotely "affordable" will be on the seedy side or a long BART ride away from the city. If your budget allows you can also look around McArthur Bart/Temescal, but that will be fairly pricey too.

As an aside, the Bay Area market is tough and I'm not sure you can easily network your way into a job. I'm sure you'll get enough of those posts though so I will spare you.

ETA: San Mateo is not Daly City.

Apartments in the city and nearby desirable areas will likely go fast. I'd probably look at sublets and short term leases before committing to anything long term. If you want to be near the City, you'll likely need to find a place with roommates.

Daly City is in San Mateo County. Thus, OP wasn't 100% wrong.

Even with roommates in a less desirable part of the city, the minimum rent you're looking at is probably like $1200/month. Also the Bay Area legal market is super hard to break into. What type of job are you looking to find?

FascinatedWanderer wrote:Even with roommates in a less desirable part of the city, the minimum rent you're looking at is probably like $1200/month. Also the Bay Area legal market is super hard to break into. What type of job are you looking to find?

Law firm serving startups or inhouse within startups... I worked at a startup prior to law school. How tough is the job market for this category?

Say a little more about what you mean by "law firm serving start ups."

If a start up is looking to hire in house counsel (is that even a thing? I have no idea but I assume you've done a lot of research so you know more than me) then I can't imagine that they would hire a freshly minted grad with absolutely no legal experience. I guess I could be wrong though.

As I'm sure you know, early stage startups have no need for in house lawyers, especially new grads. Law firms serving startups is such a vague category that your question cannot really be answered.

Also unless your school outside CA is a T14 or you have strong ties to the Bay Area you're in for a hell of a struggle.

BigZuck wrote:Say a little more about what you mean by "law firm serving start ups."
.

Something like "Emerging Companies & VC" practice. Corporate transactional but I can also do tech transactional. I have relevant WE in both areas (but not an engineering background)

Poets wrote:

BigZuck wrote:Say a little more about what you mean by "law firm serving start ups."
.

Something like "Emerging Companies & VC" practice. Corporate transactional but I can also do tech transactional. I have relevant WE in both areas (but not an engineering background)

that space is very much dominated by biglaw, many of which are very selective.