New York Legal Market Vs. Los Angeles Legal Market Forum

[legalornot]

Pros and Cons for each?

[invisiblesun]

Pros and Cons for each?

I'm interested in this, as well as SF legal market thrown in the comparison

[legalornot]

revive..

[gdane]

Wrong thread. Post this in Legal Employment. You might get a few responses on there.

[NoleinNY]

(0L basing this just off the cities and not the actual market composition, so take this with a tsp of salt)

I'd assume NY legal market, being the biggest, would have a very wide array of practice types. Business, international human rights, government, IP, etc. As a NY resident, I will say it's a great city to live in/near if you can handle it. NYC has a kick ass mass transit system so you don't need a car... For cons: it's loud, hectic, drivers will actively try to kill you (especially the ones from NJ), and it gets cold in the winter. Air quality is pretty rough. Cost would be an issue, but at least it is reasonable to purchase a decent home in a bedroom community and commute.

LA has beautiful, warm weather (and it is close to Big Bear or other locales if you want some winter fun), and a huge legal market. I'd imagine LA might have the advantage in entertainment law. Con is there isn't much of a mass transit system to speak of. You will have to drive pretty much everywhere. Housing is just as pricey if not MORE than NY from what I hear. Very status heavy city.

The Bay area is very beautiful. SF screams IP market. If you aren't turned off by the liberal leanings and occasional attitude (even compared to the other two) then the people are just fine.

A connection to one of the two west coast cities makes things a bit easier supposedly. Outside of the top 14, you are best served by schools based in California if you want LA/SF, whereas there are a number of schools outside of both NYC and the Top 14 that do alright there.

Each city has a distinct personality and the markets likely reflect that. Pick the best fit for you.

[RVP11]

Business, international human rights, government, IP, etc.

LOL.

In seriousness, NYC is a much larger market. It is by far the biggest legal market in the country. DC is second. LA is a distant fourth, after Chicago.

There's not much IP (or none?) in NYC. But not that much in LA, either.

Generally, LA has a higher % of litigation, NYC has higher % of transactional work.

Given equal grades, your chances of getting a big firm job in NYC will probably be significantly better.

[RVP11]

The Bay area is very beautiful. SF screams IP market. If you aren't turned off by the liberal leanings and occasional attitude (even compared to the other two) then the people are just fine.

Just to clarify, San Francisco really doesn't have that much IP. Most firms seem to have their more IP-focused offices based in Palo Alto or Menlo Park. The firms in SF generally just have the expected big city law firm practice groups.