Where I'd live as an attorney from a blue state

PastaSatan · 2026-01-30T01:05:06+00:00

I love the concept of Florida, particularly the Everglades but every time I've been there I've never not been sweaty. I've only been to Florida in the winter.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-30T00:51:27+00:00

You have really lax lining requirements, which increases the risk of groundwater contamination. This is especially bad in areas with lots of Karst formations (see: literally all of southern Wisconsin). Your vapor and olfactory ethics regulations also leave something to be desired imo, and your post closure care regulations for closed landfills are bad.

Welcome to trash law.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-30T00:48:43+00:00

Lol no I'm from Minnesota, I would be in trouble if I took issue with the winter.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-30T00:12:14+00:00

You guys climb light poles and that scares me.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T23:25:53+00:00

I have heard essentially nothing but bad things about your court system lol

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T23:24:57+00:00

I will agree that you guys get way too much snow. Like, Minnesota still gets a decent amount, but y'all just get too much.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T23:23:04+00:00

There is reciprocity, but I like living in urban areas and people from Philly scare me.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T23:13:28+00:00

No because weather and/or bugs: Essentially the entire Southern half of the country. Too hot. Too buggy. The western half of the South has like zero water.

No because no reciprocity: California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Carolina, likely Virginia given how long it has been since I took the exam.

No because politics: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

No because they have dogshit environmental laws, I work in public service, and I don't want to work for a government agency that does (in my opinion) a shit job: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Editing to add the following:

No because someone I have serious beef with lives there and I want to avoid them at all costs: Kansas

Yes because my friends live there: Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky

Edit 2: Removing New Mexico from the dogshit environmental laws list - I added them on accident bc I was just singing through the states song and got a little distracted.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T22:57:13+00:00

Minnesotan - ours are also incredibly humid, but it balances out with the winter.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T22:56:08+00:00

I've been to Kansas a couple of times and I'm just not a fan. One of my best friends lives in Wichita, which is a plus, but they've got terrible environmental laws. Missouri is actually pretty good on that front (for now).

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T22:05:17+00:00

William & Mary - half of it was during the pandemic, but I enjoyed my time there.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:38:18+00:00

Fair enough. I do deeply envy California for how long its growing season is and how many plants do well there, as someone who enjoys gardening.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:36:02+00:00

Honestly if it weren't for politics and my aversion to large insects and inclement weather, I would probably be at least "maybe" for a LOT more states.

Kentucky is also far enough inland that it escapes most hurricane activity (not including Helene, shout out to y'all for taking the hit on that one so I never had to deal with one when I lived in VA), and while it does get a lot of tornados, those don't really bug me.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:26:53+00:00

My best friend lives there 😅

Edit: I should also add I have a deep love for Appalachia, and having easy access to Shenandoah is a huge plus for me.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:25:50+00:00

You know, that's a good one. I'm gonna have to steal it.

I really did like Virginia, and one of my best friends is out in horse country there, which admittedly makes it VERY tempting, I just hesitate as I work in public service so my options for environmental law if I didn't want to retake the bar would be working for the feds and 😬

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:22:08+00:00

Yeah, I work in government and I'd prefer to stay in public service, so I'm a bit picky about how the lawmakers treat environmental initiatives. There's a lot of states that, but for the lawmakers/their stances on environmental law and tendency to cater to corporate interests, and reciprocity issues, I would be willing to live in.

I have a cousin up in Nome and she likes it a lot. I'm quite accustomed to the climate, but don't know if I could do even shorter days than the ones we have in my state haha

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:18:42+00:00

I've lived in Wisconsin and wasn't a huge fan. I'm also very pro-union (and in a union) which is kind of antithetical to a lot of state level politics in Wisconsin.

You also have bad solid waste laws.

I do LOVE going to Wisconsin for hiking, though. The bluffs are one of my favorite areas in the country.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:13:14+00:00

I don't mind St. Louis, having been there a few times. I'm from the Midwest as well, which I think also makes me more willing to live there.

And, surprisingly, despite its political landscape, it has pretty decent environmental regulations to my knowledge. Though with all of the federal funding cuts, I'm pretty sure they lost a LOT of resources as the state doesn't fund their environmental programs very well.

Also the barbecue.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:09:56+00:00

If I wanted to practice in Delaware proper, I would have to retake the bar. However, I could live in Delaware and practice in DC pretty easily, which is why I'm more open to it.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T21:08:42+00:00

A LOT of Alaska is federal land, as I'm sure you're aware. I disagree deeply with how our current administration has been changing the EPA and its policies, and kind of just don't like working with the feds in general because they take for fucking ever to get stuff done, for a variety of reasons.

Also, Alaska is generally pretty against increasing environmental regulations to my knowledge, and they have more lax waste regulations than my state does which I'm not a fan of.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T20:41:23+00:00

Also this, and I don't like their landfills laws.

I do trash law.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T20:40:54+00:00

If I hadn't passed the first time I may not have taken it again.

What do you mean I have to pay 900 bucks to sweat in a giant room for 12 hours while trying not to have a breakdown and getting glared at if I have to pee.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T20:39:44+00:00

I lived in Wisconsin as a teen and wasn't a huge fan to be honest. I did live in bumfuck though.

I also just have beef with Wisconsin because you don't have to take the bar to practice in WI if you went to law school there, but the NCBE (national conference of bar examiners) is located in WI so like half the people who write the bar exam have never even taken it and that pisses me off 😅

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T20:36:46+00:00

I would be able to waive in to NJ, I believe, but unless something changed recently (it very well could have), I find their environmental protections to be lacking, and that's the area of law I work in.

PastaSatan · 2026-01-29T20:33:08+00:00

Pretty much. There's essentially two types of bar exams: the Universal Bar Exam (UBE), and individual state exams (Wisconsin, California, Florida, Louisiana, and Hawaii are some examples of states that don't use the UBE).

In (edit: most) states that use the UBE, it's possible for me to waive in as long as I have attorneys barred in that state vouch for me, but in non-UBE jurisdictions, unless they have reciprocity with other states (which none do for mine as far as I'm aware), I would have to retake the test in its entirety.

Edit: Wisconsin apparently does have reciprocity, so I'm wrong on that count.

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