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Old 10-16-2011, 01:58 PM
 
Location: North by Northwest
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Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, went to Pitt UG, now a Penn Law 1L.

I'm aiming for a biglaw job once I graduate, and Pittsburgh's definitely a contender. Attention all PGH lawyers/legal buffs: how insular is the market currently? Would the likes of Reed Smith, K&L Gates, and Buchanan Ingersoll be likely to view me as a flight risk? If so, what could I do to assuage their fears? Would it greatly help if I interned with an Article III Judge in/around Allegheny County this coming summer?
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Old 10-16-2011, 03:30 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
6,327 posts, read 9,153,428 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HeavenWood View Post
Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, went to Pitt UG, now a Penn Law 1L.

I'm aiming for a biglaw job once I graduate, and Pittsburgh's definitely a contender. Attention all PGH lawyers/legal buffs: how insular is the market currently? Would the likes of Reed Smith, K&L Gates, and Buchanan Ingersoll be likely to view me as a flight risk? If so, what could I do to assuage their fears? Would it greatly help if I interned with an Article III Judge in/around Allegheny County this coming summer?
What's that about?
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Old 10-16-2011, 03:44 PM
 
Location: North by Northwest
9,340 posts, read 13,004,813 times
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Originally Posted by bradjl2009 View Post
What's that about?
You mean potential issue of me being seen as a flight risk?

Most secondary markets are wary of non-natives to varying degrees, fearing that since they may not know or understand the area, they're likely to grow disillusioned and leave after a few years. I'm wondering if my having attended Pitt is enough to establish a "tie."
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Old 10-16-2011, 04:05 PM
 
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Definitely do a summer job of some sort in the area--and don't forget to contact the firms you are interested in to see if they will take a 1L for the summer.
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Old 10-16-2011, 04:06 PM
 
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I'm a 3L at a "T20" (the one in Nashville) -- not quite UPenn rankings-wise, but every time I come back home for a summer internship, judges and other lawyers will literally say "What the hell are you doing back in Pittsburgh?" assuming, I guess, that someone doling out so much for an education as me would want to go to NYC, Chicago, etc....

There are plenty of Reed Smith/K&L/Buchanan/etc. attorneys who attended Harvard, Yale, etc. You just need to make it very clear and convincing in your cover letter and interview that you genuinely wish to end up in Pittsburgh. Without saying as much, you need to strongly assert that Pittsburgh is not a failsafe for you, but a legitimate long-standing interest. Doing undergrad at Pitt will be an asset to that extent as well. Good luck!
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Old 10-16-2011, 06:34 PM
 
674 posts, read 1,412,754 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HeavenWood View Post
Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, went to Pitt UG, now a Penn Law 1L.

I'm aiming for a biglaw job once I graduate, and Pittsburgh's definitely a contender. Attention all PGH lawyers/legal buffs: how insular is the market currently? Would the likes of Reed Smith, K&L Gates, and Buchanan Ingersoll be likely to view me as a flight risk? If so, what could I do to assuage their fears? Would it greatly help if I interned with an Article III Judge in/around Allegheny County this coming summer?
First and foremost, worry about your grades. You're less than 2 months into your law school career. Though Penn is a good school, you still need to get great grades to make it into biglaw anywhere.

Any kind of legal work your first summer is good. Clerking for a federal judge (I've been practicing litigation for 6 years and have never heard anyone actually refer to a federal district court judge as an "Article III" judge) would certainly be helpful, but is highly competitive. Not sure how often first years get hired.

One thing you didn't mention is why Pittsburgh. Can't give much advice as to how to make your interest in Pittsburgh clear when we don't know why you're interested in Pittsburgh.
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Old 10-16-2011, 07:11 PM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,881,857 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HeavenWood View Post
Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, went to Pitt UG, now a Penn Law 1L.

I'm aiming for a biglaw job once I graduate, and Pittsburgh's definitely a contender. Attention all PGH lawyers/legal buffs: how insular is the market currently? Would the likes of Reed Smith, K&L Gates, and Buchanan Ingersoll be likely to view me as a flight risk? If so, what could I do to assuage their fears? Would it greatly help if I interned with an Article III Judge in/around Allegheny County this coming summer?
Worry about your grades first....none of those places here will even grant you an interview unless you're at least in the top 10% of your class unfortunately @ Penn.
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Old 10-16-2011, 08:08 PM
 
Location: North by Northwest
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@UKYank: Top 10% sounds about right for Pitt, but I've heard from multiple sources that with the right ties, median-ish from Penn can be sufficient with a good resume + interview skills. What are you basing this figure on?

@Burghgirl: A lot of the people my age refer to such positions as "Article III" jobs. Getting a clerkship coming out of law school is very competitive regarding permanent hire, but again, I've heard from multiple sources that median-ish would do it for a summer stint with most federal judges. I'm a center-left Democrat if that helps.

As for why Pittsburgh: It's a cheap, super-friendly city that offers a tremendous amount of culture and amenities for its size. It's a great town that's starting to make a real comeback, and I want to be part of that renaissance. I could see myself raising a family in the Squirrel Hill/Shadyside/Point Breeze/North Oakland vicinity, or else Mt. Lebanon or Fox chapel if I decide I want a more suburban setting. I can go into more detail, depending on what questions you think employers would be likely to ask me.
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Old 10-16-2011, 08:34 PM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,881,857 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HeavenWood View Post
@UKYank: Top 10% sounds about right for Pitt, but I've heard from multiple sources that with the right ties, median-ish from Penn can be sufficient with a good resume + interview skills. What are you basing this figure on?
I work at a BigLaw firm in Pgh and they A. don't hire many new graduates in general these days & B. can be super picky these day of who they even interview & C. Pittsburgh is saturated with lawyers per capita looking for work more then many cities considering its size.

Getting into one of the aformentioned firms here is doable - just concentrate in scoring high grades & getting on law review more then anything at this point. Unfortunately everything in the field is completely different then it was just a couple of year ago for law students.
Good Luck!
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Old 10-16-2011, 08:41 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,655,128 times
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Isn't everyone basically a "flight risk" anyway? Even within town you get that. The strangest (to me) one recently was a group from K&L going to Reed. That doesn't usually happen (one top firm to the other), but people leaving big firms to start up some other firm's new local office or whatever happens often enough seems like. So I would think the other stuff is more important than worrying about their worries of flight risk. But obviously you're already getting some good input here.
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