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Born and raised in AZ. Current ASU ugrad student who intends to apply to LS this fall. I'm aiming for biglaw lit, but have no real geographic aspirations, and thus I think it's likely family and other ties bring me back in the long run. How big is Phoenix biglaw? I've done some casual research on vault.com, and it appears some big firms have offices in AZ, but how much do these offices really resemble their NYC and LA counterparts? What law schools dominate the market? Any other thoughts on what I could practice, where I should consider applying, Sandra Day O'Connor LS, etc. are much appreciated.

Phoenix is dominated by 5 or 6 large law firms. Think Snell, Fennemore Craig, Dickinson Wright etc. then an unusually strong presence of firms between 5-25 lawyers.

Expect to work in the latter if you practice here. The pay doesn't vary heavily between the two and neither does the work. In most litigation you'll see big and small firms mixed together.

In fact, off the top of my head, one of the most dominant companies in the whole state is represented by a sole practitioner. Our market is a bit different than other large cities.

JGMotorsport wrote:Phoenix is dominated by 5 or 6 large law firms. Think Snell, Fennemore Craig, Dickinson Wright etc. then an unusually strong presence of firms between 5-25 lawyers.

Expect to work in the latter if you practice here. The pay doesn't vary heavily between the two and neither does the work. In most litigation you'll see big and small firms mixed together.

In fact, off the top of my head, one of the most dominant companies in the whole state is represented by a sole practitioner. Our market is a bit different than other large cities.

What schools/grades are needed to be competitive for these firms? How does SDOC place?

VeiledProtectorate wrote:

JGMotorsport wrote:Phoenix is dominated by 5 or 6 large law firms. Think Snell, Fennemore Craig, Dickinson Wright etc. then an unusually strong presence of firms between 5-25 lawyers.

Expect to work in the latter if you practice here. The pay doesn't vary heavily between the two and neither does the work. In most litigation you'll see big and small firms mixed together.

In fact, off the top of my head, one of the most dominant companies in the whole state is represented by a sole practitioner. Our market is a bit different than other large cities.

What schools/grades are needed to be competitive for these firms? How does SDOC place?

The graduating looks something like this:

10% Phoenix "Big" Law
30% Government because it's the capital
40ish% Small-Mid Law
10-15ish% Indian Tribes
Rest are solo, unemployed, or moved.

And again, in Phoenix small firms run the show. It's more important to see who the firm represents than the size of the firm here. I used my sole practitioner for one example, another example is a 6 Lawyer Insurance Defense firm that does global oversight for high exposure class litigation.

And then on the other hand I can think of a prominent firm that has a billing rate under $160/hr for partners.

ASU boasts it's federal government employment rate, id wager that has something to do with its prominence in Indian Law.