U.S. cities with employment opportunities in legal field? (fit in, best cities)

[Brie85]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I live in the Metro Detroit area. I am currently in law school and, although I have performed will in school, I am having trouble finding opportunities with larger firms in this area. Many clients in Michigan are struggling and this is translating into hardship for law firms. I am 22, married and my husband works for an auto company (his job has recently been in jeopardy because of the economic climate here). He is skilled in Microsoft Access and data mining so his skills will translate to a different industry. We rent so we aren't stuck with trying to sell a house here. What cities have employment opportunities in the legal field and for business professionals? We have both grown up in Michigan our whole lives and I am very liberal and outspoken so I probably wouldn't fit in in a conservative, Bible belt town. Neither of us like the idea of moving to Texas (very opposed to the death penalty) or someplace colder than where we live now (don't like the idea of Minnesota, Alaska, Maine, etc.). My husband said maybe we would be best looking at the west and east coasts, is this true? We also have an 80 lb. bernese mountain dog, a 17 lb. cavalier king charles spaniel and 2 rabbits so we're not really hoping for apartment living. We like the idea of at least having a large backyard and living more than 5 ft. away from our neighbors. We expect wherever we move to to have good public schools for when we have children. Any ideas?

Sorry, maybe this isn't the best forum for this question.

[neonwattagelimit]

Best cities for the legal field are DC, New York and Chicago, I believe. Plenty of other job opportunities in those places, too, though in today's economy who knows....DC is somewhat recession-proof, though.

[Kevin J]

Neonwattage correctly identified the largest US legal markets. But law firms everywhere, including the big three markets, are being affected by the economic slowdown. In such a slow economy, the only advantages of moving to a big market would be: (1) a larger market of job possibilities for your husband, and (2) the possibility of temporary legal jobs for you while you're hunting for a permanent position.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

I would suggest putting your resume on Monster or a similar job-finding site and seeing if you get a bite.

[wesside]

Being in the legal field myself...
New York, DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago are tops in the legal market in no particular order. You may want to throw Boston in there, but Im not so sure about Boston since NY and DC's presence may thwart the legal market there such as Philly (which I would stay away from).

But it may also depend on what type of law career you are seeking. For instance, while Los Angeles has many of the same large type of firms you'll find in NY, CH, SF, it also has a large market for Sports/Entertainment law, which the other markets are lagging on.
Also note, Las Vegas' legal market is growing rapidly so it might be worth your while to explore it, depending on how youd like to live in Vegas.
Denver seems to have a pretty decently sized legal market, as does Phoenix.
Ive redacted Houston on account of your dislike for Texas. Though, Houston seems to have a good legal market (which I worked in a while back).
San Diego has a small legal market.

Im basing all of this based on the number of large law firms and their typical size.