What are the High Ranked Law Schools in the Northwest?

[Tetris]

I'm going to be applying to T1 schools for the Fall of 2008.  So far I have schools in Virginia, California, Massachusetts, and New York pegged.  But I would also really like to live in Washington or Oregon.  What are the most respected law schools in that area?  Anything that compares to schools like UCLA, Boston College/University, and Fordham? 

I've tried looking at the USN&WR rankings but the only NW school I see is U.Washington and thats all the way down at 28!  Would one of the higher-ranked U.California schools be better for someone who wanted to practice in the Northwest?

[Vapid Unicorn]

Seattle is a very insular market.  The firms there are very serious about looking for regional ties.  While someone who had lived in Washington all of their life could probably do well comming from Boalt, USC, or UCLA, anyone without those strong connections would be much better served attending UW. 

[Lindbergh]

I've gotta think Boalt, being a national school, might still be better, but who knows?

UW is obviously a strong program.

[Naliamegod]

University of Washington pretty much dominates the law market.  If you get in there, your pretty much set if you want to the NW.  After that it depends on where you want to work.  Lewis & Clark is great if you want to work in Portland for example.

[t...]

University of Washington pretty much dominates the law market.  If you get in there, your pretty much set if you want to the NW.  After that it depends on where you want to work.  Lewis & Clark is great if you want to work in Portland for example.

This sounds right. Although I do think that UW is the best school, a Martindale search on law school placement in the PNW states shows that most local schools do pretty well there, with Oregon leading the way in OR, and obviously UW leading the way in WA.

That isn't to say that UW wouldn't outplace UO in biglaw jobs in Oregon (it might), but rather that you won't be in any trouble going to almost any PNW school in the PNW* (and perhaps even fare better than if you had attending a Cali school, sans Boalt and Stanford).


*though I'm not sure about Willamette.

[Vapid Unicorn]

you won't be in any trouble going to almost any PNW school in the PNW*

The only quibble I have with this is that Oregon only puts about 42% of their grads into law firms.  Given that the number at top schools is usually 60-70%, I wonder if there simply aren't enough legal jobs within the reach of Oregon reputation to secure firm employment for those who desire it.

[t...]

Portland is really the only major legal market in Oregon, and it's well served by many top schools, as well as Oregon, LC, and Willamette (do a Martindale search for Portland, last 5 years, and tally up the number of schools).

Of course UO won't be able to place a great portion of its students in a OR or WA firm, but that doesn't mean that people aren't finding jobs in smaller markets and/or smaller firms. It's a completely different world up here than it is back east. There are a lot of "other" legal jobs, including gov't work and public interest.

ETA: I just did a search. Total lawyers in Portland, > 5 years = 278. Martindale reports that of these 278:

58 - UO
5 - UW
41/24 - Lewis and Clark College / Northwestern School of Law
1/2 - Boalt Hall / University of California, Berkeley
33 - Willamette

And so on. Those schools do well enough.

[Naliamegod]

Yeah, the Oregon law schools send alot of people into non-private careers.  UO has alot more people going into public interest then most other schools I know of.  The environmental program is a big deal in Eugene, same with L&C.