[rayiner]

Law is also a pretty insular and regionalistic field. E.g. at one of the most selective firms in the country (Susman Godfrey in Texas), a UT Austin grad has a much better chance than a Columbia grad. They think UT = Harvard down there.

It's all very strange. In most fields such blatant regionalistic favoritism isn't so encouraged.

[btilly]

In most fields the rules do not vary so much by state and to a lesser extent a small collection of states. But in law your state law matters, and even on federal law the precedents can vary according to which circuit you are in.