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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 N OV E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 5 competing with everyone else. e professors seemed like they had a lot to share, and I was pleased to hear about the school's clinical programs. e location was great. I love Portland, and I knew I'd want to practice here afterward. And Maine Law lived up to its bill- ing — I had a great time there and learned a lot." Small size, communal feeling, excellent faculty, real-world experience and location about sum up the primary reasons cited for choosing Maine Law. Add to that annual in-state tuition ($22,390 this year) that's about half the national average. For Decker — who graduated summa cum laude in 2014, clerked for Judge William J. Kayatta Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and recently joined the Bernstein Shur law fi rm in Portland as an associate attorney — this was a consideration. "Many other people have gigantic student loans," he says. "For me, it's made a huge diff erence." As Maine's public and only law school, Maine Law, founded in 1962, has more than 3,500 alumni throughout the United States and abroad. ey include judges, elected offi cials, lawyers, CEOs, authors and entrepreneurs. For fall 2015, 259 students are enrolled: 196 (76%) are from Maine. Although fi rst-year enrollment declined in recent years, from 91 in 2011 to 79 in 2015, the school remains within range of its targeted class size of 80 to 90 students. According to the most recent data, most of the class of 2014's 95 graduates work in various fi elds. From the class of 2014, two-thirds are employed in Maine. Of the graduates who replied to a survey, 24 are in fi rms with fewer than a dozen lawyers; seven are in larger fi rms; and four are in solo practice. Six work in public interest law, 11 are in judicial clerkships, 13 are in business and industry and 11 are in government. Average salaries range from $52,273 to $55,078, depending on whether a JD was directly required or not. Five others are enrolled in further graduate studies; a few are unemployed or did not reply to the survey. After graduation, Lindsey Partridge went to work as an associate in Boston for PricewaterhouseCoopers, specializing in cybersecurity, privacy and IT risk. A Wisconsin native with an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota, she landed at Maine Law as the fi scally conservative choice, she says. She was also attracted to the school's Center for Law + Innovation, which connects students to courses and career opportunities in intellectual property and information privacy law, in partner- ship with the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Networking through IAPP helped Partridge obtain her current position. "It was a great decision," Partridge says. "It enabled me to network into the privacy profession. Maine Law is such a small community, and the Maine bar is so small, that as you make your way into the fi eld and go through courses, you meet great lawyers who help to guide you in your career." e hiring climate for law school graduates in general, including Maine Law graduates, has been diffi cult since the recession. " at being said, we have an excellent network in Maine in terms of employment opportunities," says Maine Law Dean Danielle Conway, who started July 1 and is the seventh dean since the school's founding CONSULTING | AUDIT | TAX | VALUATION Our team of CPAs and consultants can help you gain control of risks, costs, and governance. We provide audit, tax, information technology, and management consulting advice that gives you traction in a changing environment. Know where you stand, with advisors who dig deep. Learn more at berrydunn.com or call 800.432.7202. GAIN FIRM FOOTING Learn more. Visit us at berrydunn.com or call 800.432.7202. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E »

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