Law School Discussion

I am very much conflicted with three markets. Charlotte, Washington, and Richmond. I am looking at a lot of factors and I'm trying to figure out what each of those markets entails.

I know washington is by far the largest and most diverse. However, competition is intense and I think it will consume much more of your free time than the other two locations. The exception is if I could land a government job where I might have more free time than the other two locations.

Richmond is nice because I feel its a midway point its market is bigger than washington and from what I understand smaller than Charlotte. I do know that the breadth of work is greater in richmond than charlotte. Also the multiple federal courts in the area provide more of an opportunity to do interesting work than say Charlotte.

Charlotte I feel is the smallest legal market. From what I understand though there is a huge demand for lawyers who specialize in finance, transactional, real estate, and M&A. I am curious as to the work load of lawyers in this area. (If you havent figured it out yet weekends and long nights are somthing I want to reduce). There are not to many federal courts in the area so I dont see to many opportunities for govt attorney work or for a diverse amount of federal cases. I also looked on UVA's website and saw few UVA lawyers ended up there. I am trying to figure out if it is becuase they would rather be in dc and new york or because its hard for UVA lawyers to break into NC? I also like the prices of property and the fact that my salary will carry me farther in charlotte than it would in dc or richmond. (Enjoy family, Retire Earlier, travel more, Easier to compete for a partner position than dc.)

Another thing that got my attention is that half of the fortune 500 companies have offices in charlotte. Are general counsel jobs an option. They pay well and provide stability. However I was wondering how effective I would be in a GC office and not having spent a few years in a firm.

Does anyone else have opinions on this or are also thinking about where they want to end up.

Hey can anyone tell me anything as far as how efficient recruiting is at Howard University law. Im debating between full ride at howard 50% at washinton and Lee and nothing at UVA. I heard howard is great at minority employment. But is a job at the state deptartment or a sullivan and cromwell possible. (for more than the top 10%). Im just really intimidated by the debt.

I applied the first day that LSAC would ake the applications and many schools have already drawn my LSDAS report. Does anyone know the earliest that schools send acceptance letters?

I just felt yall needed to know Sec. of State Rice has been picked by Forbes magazine as the most powerful woman in the world. (Oprah was seventh). Considering all the other female politicans, billionares, this is pretty impressive. Feel free to hate on her if you want but in my opinion this is a very accomplished woman who has done alot before and after her time in the Bush administration. I am prepared to be reamed by the rest of the boards commnets. 

In regards to howard as a urm how would my opportunities for employment compare to say american, GW or a similar level school. I hear alot about how howard is the exception to the rule in regards to tier 3 schools and it is signifigantly cheaper. At the same time I hear that many recruiters only go into the top 10%. I really want to work in the D.C. area in big law for a few years then persue other interest afterwards. I'm also concerned with recieving a strong legal education. I have a 157 lsat and 3.85 GPA in econ w/ strong work experience. I'm just don't want to shoot myself in the foot going to howard and being left out in the dcold after I graduate. Thank you.