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I don't really have a stake in this question, but I've been wondering about it for a while. There don't appear to be any law schools in Alaska, but I imagine there are lawyers up there somewhere. How does one break into the Alaska legal market? Is it insular or are they happy for whatever help they can find?

I imagine the people going up there would be Alaskans returning home after law school. I have no experience of Alaska or Alaskans, but they seem to be portrayed as pretty insular people. I imagine it would be tough just to go up there and be successful with zero ties to the state. It definitely shouldnt be looked at as an option of last resort or something like that, Im sure they arent desperate for lawyers.

I see summer legal internships in Alaska posted on pslawnet and symplicity pretty often. So there are definitely ways to get into the legal market there.
Experience in environmental and native law would be useful since those topics pretty much dominate the whole state.
Clerking there is a great idea.
Lots of people run away to AK--and I would venture that most of the intellectual types like lawyers and scientists were not born there...

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wow I never thought about that, spending 1L summer in Alaska might be great

I'm an Alaskan, this is what I see...

Most lawyers I know in Alaska are people with ties to the state (attended hs / undergrad) who went to law school out of state. That said, I know a few with no prior ties to the state. People from the Pacific Northwest / Mountain West / Texas will be viewed with less skepticism than others. Schools like Willamette, Lewis and Clark, Oregon, Montana, Texas, UW etc are seen frequently. Additionally, I know there are people up here from Boalt, HLS and W&L.

I would generally agree that Alaska is fairly insular. Many employers are wary of hiring people from different states because they fear they will not adjust, pack up and go home. The idea of "prestige" doesn't carry as far here as it does in other locales and people certainly have a preference towards West Coast / Mountain schools.

I'm not a lawyer, so take this with a grain of salt.

wulff wrote:I'm an Alaskan, this is what I see...

Most lawyers I know in Alaska are people with ties to the state (attended hs / undergrad) who went to law school out of state. That said, I know a few with no prior ties to the state. People from the Pacific Northwest / Mountain West / Texas will be viewed with less skepticism than others. Schools like Willamette, Lewis and Clark, Oregon, Montana, Texas, UW etc are seen frequently. Additionally, I know there are people up here from Boalt, HLS and W&L.

I would generally agree that Alaska is fairly insular. Many employers are wary of hiring people from different states because they fear they will not adjust, pack up and go home. The idea of "prestige" doesn't carry as far here as it does in other locales and people certainly have a preference towards West Coast / Mountain schools.

I'm not a lawyer, so take this with a grain of salt.

Hah, why do Alaskans view Texans with less skepticism?

I would also say the Alaska Law Review at Duke would be a good way to get into the state.

Jericwithers wrote: Hah, why do Alaskans view Texans with less skepticism?

Alaska has a libertarian/separatist streak, just like Texas.

I agree with wulff on the western states thing--Alaska is part of an in-state tuition reciprocity program called WICHE with most of the western states. There's more exchange between those states than any others and "The West" definitely has a camaraderie thing. (I say that as an Alaskan/Coloradan.)