Wait to move -- or take Bar in a different state? Forum

[terpiscore]

Hi all,

I'm a 2L who has had trouble lately figuring out my post-graduation goals. I go to a T2 school in a fairly insular state. I wanted to live in this state when I started law school, but that has changed drastically. This is the same area I went to college and I have grown deeply tired of being around the same-old, same-old. Furthermore, right before law school started I started dating someone and we are now getting married. We could stay in this state, but there is only one truly good university here, and he would like to go to grad school somewhere else. He plans to make a career out of academics, so it's pretty important that he goes to a nice school. The school here is the one he went to undergrad for, and he really would like to not go to the same school for grad school.

So, I've found myself in a situation where I really want to move to a different state and also really need to, for my fiance. I was thinking I would just take the Bar in my current state and work for a few years and then try to move after building up some experience (and a bit more money), but I'm starting to fear that if I start working in this insular state I will be stuck here forever. Does anyone have general advice on whether I should stick it out in this state and try to move after practicing for a while, or instead just move to a different state after graduating and take the Bar and look for a job there? I feel like if I stay in this state for more than a few years after graduating, I'll probably go crazy. But I'm fairly convinced that if I strike out into new territory, it's going to take me years to find someone who wants to hire me. Last summer I interviewed with various big firms in states near me, but I struck out across the board. So I'm not very convinced that any out-of-state firm likes to hire people from my state. I've looked into other ways of getting out like pursuing corporate/in-house work, etc., but I what I want the most is to work at a small or medium-sized firm.

Oh, and if it helps or matters, I am currently top 10% and am on law review and, when I graduate next spring, will have almost 3 years' worth of actual (part-time) law firm work experience under my belt.

Oh, I guess it would be relevant to also mention that, besides to my current state, I only have indirect family ties to California, but I don't think it would be a good idea to try for that state because it already seems overcrowded and competitive.