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I am a 0L who is interested in a few smaller markets post law school, particularly some cities in Florida and Colorado. I grew up in a small town just south of Jacksonville, Florida and did my undergrad at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Would my ties to Florida really only help in Jacksonville or would they help in other Florida cities as well? Also, would my USAFA undergrad help in Colorado even though I am not from there? My order of preference for markets post law school is Florida, Colorado, then NYC/DC. Thanks for any opinions on the matter.

Not too flashy/stylish/skinny. Definitely no bow tie.

Dang, guess I better throw out my box of bow ties then.

Your ties are whatever you are able to sell them as.

To answer your direct question, you should be able to sell Jacksonville as a strong tie. For the rest of Florida, you have a leg up on someone with no ties, but I can't see why being from the Jacksonville area would help with a Miami firm, for example. I think you will have trouble with Colorado. Your only tie was to your undergraduate school, and you left Colorado for law school -- and it's not even like you went to CU or CSU or some school where Colorado was part of the sell; it will appear like you went to the AFA because it's the AFA, not because it's in Colorado.

With that said, it's all what you sell it as. Family/SO in an area will help, as will work experience (if any). Create a compelling narrative of why you want to be in an area. That won't guarantee a firm will buy into your ties, but it will help, and in some cases, will be necessary.

My impression is ties matter for two reasons: insularity (firms want to hire their own rather than outsiders) and preventing early exits (firms want to hire people who plan to stay in the region). In my mind it makes sense that somebody from Jacksonville might want to move to Miami. On the other hand Miami is probably viewed as a lifestyle city so firms probably wouldn't question an applicant's desire to move to Miami the way they would question a desire to move to, say, Kansas City or Stockton. Markets also differ in how insular they are, with NYC being by far the least insular.

It would seem to me that being either from a place or having gone to school or worked there would be enough to establish strong ties, but I have been told on this bort that Kansas City firms don't like to hire Kansas City natives that went to law school in larger cities.