Photo by Eric Gilliland

There’s an almost palpable gnashing of teeth as Glenn Beck et al. were just handed another reason for middle Americans to bash our nation’s capital. According to legal blog Above the Law, D.C. beat out San Francisco in a 61 percent blowout as the top destination for lawyers in a March Madness style poll.

The most obvious reason D.C. is more appealing than ever for members of the legal profession is, of course, its economy. While many large law firms across the country have cut offers and executed layoffs (43 percent of private firms have cut staff, according to a recent Lexis-Nexis survey of the industry) during the 2008-2009 downturn, the federal government directly employs legions of lawyers, whether at the Justice Department, the Supreme Court, the EPA, Congressional staff and on and on. Even the guy in the White House has a law degree right now (though we’ll admit that position is a little tougher to swing for.)

Layer on top of that all the lobbying shops, media outlets and non-profits, all of which employ plenty of J.D.s, whether or not they’re practicing law directly, and you’ve got possibly the strongest job market for lawyers in the country.

You also have plenty of law schools within close proximity of the city, of which Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington University, American, the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland all rank in the top 50 programs nationwide. Which brings us to the bar exam. The California and New York exams are known as the two toughest in the country. D.C. lawyers, meanwhile, can usually cherry-pick the D.C., Virginia or Maryland exams — or any other one in the nation, for that matter, and waive into the D.C. bar after they pass.

Lastly, lawyers are constantly trying to arbitrage how much they are paid versus how much they have to work versus the cost and quality of living. Being in a major market — firms in D.C., NYC, Chicago, L.A. tend to follow each other’s pay scales — means local lawyers bring home some sizable bacon compared to the smaller cities in Above the Law’s list. Which further means they can afford to live in a city that enjoys all those other best rankings.

As an admitted (and proud!) non-lawyer, any other reasons that D.C. might be appeal to lawyers? Or any votes to figure out a way to make it less appealing to them?