Top Law Schools

will "public interest" employers care much about ties to a specific region where you're applying to work? referring to both fed/state/local gov't and nonprofit work/client services. i've read profiles about totally yankee-looking folks doing projects like working as public defenders in the deep south. didn't seem to have ties to the areas, just wanted to go where the underserved populations were. but could this have been an anomaly?

i see a lot of people from top schools go for things like Manhattan DA and doubt they're all from NYC. maybe i'm wrong. the fact that two of the three San Diego FPDs hired in one year came from NYU kinda reinforces this. can anyone elaborate based on observation? what about nonprofits? looking at profiles of attorneys at the SPLC it seems they care about elite schools, top students, and (to a lesser extent) commitment to the cause. not many are actually from Montgomery, AL, or even the South. is there anywhere that ties would make a difference?

I'm interested in this. And more generally, what is it that causes firms to insist on regional ties that may not be at play in the case of PI?