Miami legal market

[necro8617]

Hhhhmmmmmmm....

Looks like I haven't gotten a straight answer yet. 

Quite a debate on this issue, if I end up going there I guess I should take Spanish classes as a precaution.

[billthethrill]

Hhhhmmmmmmm....

Looks like I haven't gotten a straight answer yet. 

Quite a debate on this issue, if I end up going there I guess I should take Spanish classes as a precaution.

Yeah, you will learn Spanish well enough to practice law in no time.

[keelee]

Hhhhmmmmmmm....

Looks like I haven't gotten a straight answer yet. 

Quite a debate on this issue, if I end up going there I guess I should take Spanish classes as a precaution.

As long as you don't isolate yourself to your apartment, school, and the library, it is nearly impossible to live in Miami and not pick up basic Spanish doing everyday things, like reading billboards, shopping at CVS, and asking for directions. It can be a challenge to do that stuff in English down there. 

[billthethrill]

Unless you spend most of your time in Hialeah, 99% of the people you encounter in stores, restaurants, etc. will speak English. It is not that bad.  They act like they are put out having to speak English but they do it.

[cui bono?]

Hhhhmmmmmmm....

Looks like I haven't gotten a straight answer yet. 

Quite a debate on this issue, if I end up going there I guess I should take Spanish classes as a precaution.

As long as you don't isolate yourself to your apartment, school, and the library, it is nearly impossible to live in Miami and not pick up basic Spanish doing everyday things, like reading billboards, shopping at CVS, and asking for directions. It can be a challenge to do that stuff in English down there. 

true. 

I came down to the MIA for LS and UG.  You'll pick it up a little.  But there's hardly anywhere that has solely English speaking individuals so you'll have to get used to it.     

[Lindbergh]

Also, my advisor told me If I planned on building a practice in florida I should learn spanish. If anything you increase your earning potentiol.

If you want to BUILD a practice (as opposed to work biglaw), I'm sure knowing Spanish in South Florida is very helpful.

[Lindbergh]

I would have to disagree that Spanish is a requirement. It certainly helps, especially if you want to do international work but it definitely is not a requirement. There are also several strong litigation and bankruptcy practices.

I wouldn't think it was either.  Spanish is certainly spoken in Miami, but it's hardly the dominant language. 

Yes, it is the dominant language spoken in the city. Spanish is the first language of 66.75% of the City of Miami's hosueholds.

http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&state_id=12&county_id=&mode=&zip=&place_id=45000&cty_id=&ll=&a=&ea=&order=r

In all of Miami-Dade County, it is the primary language of 59.25% of households:

http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&state_id=12&county_id=86&mode=geographic&zip=&place_id=&cty_id=&ll=top&a=&ea=&order=r

And the most watch television station in Miami? It isn't FOX, ABC, CBS, or NBC...it's the Univision affiliate:

http://www.univision.net/corp/en/pr/Miami_21062004-2.html (old PR, but it's still #1).

Keep in mind that even if it's the first language of most people in the City, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the "dominant" lanaguage.  Overall, I'm sure more people speak English than speak Spanish.  (Most Spanish-speakers will speak both.)  More importantly (for Biglaw), the people at the top of the socio-economic ladder will mainly speak English.

[Lindbergh]

You don't need to know Spanish to work in Miami biglaw. You would need it to work legal aid. I'm at UF, and none of the OCI preferences for Miami biglaw even noted a need to speak spanish.

This just goes to show how you shouldn't rely on the advice of other 0Ls on stuff like this- I'd recommend you post questions like this on the law students and grads board.

I suggest you actually look at job listings in Miami. All of the one's I looked at said it was REQUIRED or strongly prefered

First off:  Not many students at T14's speak Spanish or Portugese.  I seriously doubt this matters much to non-international practices when hiring. 

On the other hand, at other schools, the firms may well require a 2nd lanaguage as a bonus when hiring. 

[Lindbergh]

I stand by my previous statement.

And I stand by mine, and having lived in Miami, and having family in Miami's legal world, I certainly don't make it up. If you can't speak Spanish or Portuguese, you need something really amazing to make up for it to get a good legal job in Miami 95% of the time.

Like going to a top school or UF?

[Lindbergh]

Miami is where I want to practice; however, my main interests are criminal defense, personal injury and all things trial law which makes me wonder if the market in Miami is conducive towards building a successful practice since I plan on  focusing on those areas of the law. (I can’t work for anybody but myself so Biglaw is out of the question). I plan on learning both Spanish and Portuguese after I graduate undergrad and during my 3 years (possibly 4 If I go for a MBA) of graduate school. How does market  for the above mentioned law areas in terms of building a lucrative practice? Also, I know that being a t14 is good and thing but hopefully it is not the deciding factor. Even with my potentiol raw scores I still think YHS is a crap shoot.

For you, you should definitely learn Spanish.

Also, T14 is basically irrelevant for what you want to do.  Get a job with a prosecutors office for starters if possible to hone your trial and crim skills.