What are the best states to go to law school and practice law?

You don't have to attend a law school in the state where you want to live. A lot depends on the quality of the school. Certain law schools have a national reach and you can find employment in many different markets. For example, if you attend Columbia, you are not stuck in Manhattan. Now, if you attend Cardozo Law, you'll have more difficulty working outside New York state. Other schools are highly regional and your best chance at finding work is in the area surrounding the school. The best legal market - the market that is the most robust, at least - is New York City. NYC bounced back during the recession. Other major markets, like Chicago, San Francisco, DC, and Los Angeles, are still not doing very well. There are no Florida or Georgia law schools that are worth attending, to be quite honest. The job prospects are just so terrible. You'd be better off attending the national schools (see: the top 14) and then interviewing with firms during on-campus interviews in the states where you want to live after you graduate. For firms in secondary markets, they'd like you to have some connection to the area, so if you have family there, that'd be helpful. Keep in mind that the secondary markets don't pay as well even in biglaw, but the cost of living is often lower. If you can't get into a top-14 school, then attend the best regional school in the area you want to work, but do so cautiously. Investigate the school's job prospects, talk to current students and recent graduates, check into how many law firms do on-campus interviews there, look up firms in the are and check out whether they even recruit from that school, and don't attend a low-ranked school that offers a scholarship if the scholarship has strings, like maintaining a certain GPA or class rank. If you lose that scholarship, you don't want to be stuck at a bad school. Make the decision independent of a bad scholarship offer - would you be happy there if you hadn't been offered anything?