V15 Partner/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions... Forum

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Sep 09, 2015 9:05 am

Thanks I'll be sure to take corporations and tax!

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by BrokenMouse » Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:14 pm

lol
Last edited by BrokenMouse on Thu Apr 28, 2016 4:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

itbdvorm

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by itbdvorm » Thu Sep 10, 2015 4:27 pm

BrokenMouse wrote:Could you give some 4L advice on how to cold apply directly to a firm? 3.25 overall GPA w/ strong softs (full ride to T20 school + several major scholarships from major bar organizations). Have a pending CA bar exam result coming up in November. I've been applying online to about 20 firms stating my willingness to be tried out as a law clerk. I only get call backs from solo attorneys doing PI work wanting to hire grunts for cheap. I got one offer from a small firm to start me off as a law clerk and potential full salary after passing the bar. Backup plan is to accept the offer and build experience.

Any advice on how to approach would be much appreciated.
Um.

Take the offer and build experience.

You're a 4L. You either didn't summer at a firm or didn't get an offer. You have an OK GPA from a T20. Face reality, take a job, work your ass off.

Unless there's something extenuating I'm missing

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Sep 10, 2015 4:34 pm

Any downside to reaching out to alums at a firm Post-oci and trying to strike up a connection? Particularly, one firm posted open SA positions through career services and I know I'm slightly below their typical gpa range. Trying to see if they would forward my resume.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by itbdvorm » Thu Sep 10, 2015 4:50 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Any downside to reaching out to alums at a firm Post-oci and trying to strike up a connection? Particularly, one firm posted open SA positions through career services and I know I'm slightly below their typical gpa range. Trying to see if they would forward my resume.
No, but not much upside either. Cold-calls to random alumns vs. recruiting aren't necessarily going to open doors. Any 3Ls/very recent alums you can get an intro to? Check linkedin, etc...

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:55 pm

So I have a callback tomorrow with a firm in a secondary market. I participated in a summer program with the firm before I began law school. As part of the program, they guarantee a callback to everyone who participated in the program if they are interested. I knew about this and had been communicating with the firm since July, but they just squeezed me in now. I applied for a 1L SA at the firm and was dinged. Also, going through the list of interviewers I am meeting with tomorrow, all are associates and only one is on the hiring committee. I'm starting to get the feeling that this callback is obligatory for the sake of its program and my ding is probably already being prepared to be sent. Would that assessment be accurate?

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by rpupkin » Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:01 am

Anonymous User wrote:So I have a callback tomorrow with a firm in a secondary market. I participated in a summer program with the firm before I began law school. As part of the program, they guarantee a callback to everyone who participated in the program if they are interested. I knew about this and had been communicating with the firm since July, but they just squeezed me in now. I applied for a 1L SA at the firm and was dinged. Also, going through the list of interviewers I am meeting with tomorrow, all are associates and only one is on the hiring committee. I'm starting to get the feeling that this callback is obligatory for the sake of its program and my ding is probably already being prepared to be sent. Would that assessment be accurate?
You answered your own question. As you already know, the callback is obligatory: the firm guarantees a callback to everyone in the program that you participated in. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't take the callback seriously. It's an opportunity. Do your best to blow them away.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by txdude45 » Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:23 am

Anonymous User wrote:So I have a callback tomorrow with a firm in a secondary market. I participated in a summer program with the firm before I began law school. As part of the program, they guarantee a callback to everyone who participated in the program if they are interested. I knew about this and had been communicating with the firm since July, but they just squeezed me in now. I applied for a 1L SA at the firm and was dinged. Also, going through the list of interviewers I am meeting with tomorrow, all are associates and only one is on the hiring committee. I'm starting to get the feeling that this callback is obligatory for the sake of its program and my ding is probably already being prepared to be sent. Would that assessment be accurate?
Were you an SEO? If so, PM me and I may be able to give you more specific advice for the firm in question.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:12 am

txdude45 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:So I have a callback tomorrow with a firm in a secondary market. I participated in a summer program with the firm before I began law school. As part of the program, they guarantee a callback to everyone who participated in the program if they are interested. I knew about this and had been communicating with the firm since July, but they just squeezed me in now. I applied for a 1L SA at the firm and was dinged. Also, going through the list of interviewers I am meeting with tomorrow, all are associates and only one is on the hiring committee. I'm starting to get the feeling that this callback is obligatory for the sake of its program and my ding is probably already being prepared to be sent. Would that assessment be accurate?
Were you an SEO? If so, PM me and I may be able to give you more specific advice for the firm in question.
Not SEO but a very similar, firm specific program. And its a firm that has participated in SEO in the past. I'll PM though.

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itbdvorm

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by itbdvorm » Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:56 am

Anonymous User wrote:
txdude45 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:So I have a callback tomorrow with a firm in a secondary market. I participated in a summer program with the firm before I began law school. As part of the program, they guarantee a callback to everyone who participated in the program if they are interested. I knew about this and had been communicating with the firm since July, but they just squeezed me in now. I applied for a 1L SA at the firm and was dinged. Also, going through the list of interviewers I am meeting with tomorrow, all are associates and only one is on the hiring committee. I'm starting to get the feeling that this callback is obligatory for the sake of its program and my ding is probably already being prepared to be sent. Would that assessment be accurate?
Were you an SEO? If so, PM me and I may be able to give you more specific advice for the firm in question.
Not SEO but a very similar, firm specific program. And its a firm that has participated in SEO in the past. I'll PM though.
Hard to say but I had a similar question. Are your grades within range? 1L SA means nothing. Could even be that they know you already and are just giving you a soft-sell. If your grades are within range, just do your best.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:05 pm

itbdvorm wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
txdude45 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:So I have a callback tomorrow with a firm in a secondary market. I participated in a summer program with the firm before I began law school. As part of the program, they guarantee a callback to everyone who participated in the program if they are interested. I knew about this and had been communicating with the firm since July, but they just squeezed me in now. I applied for a 1L SA at the firm and was dinged. Also, going through the list of interviewers I am meeting with tomorrow, all are associates and only one is on the hiring committee. I'm starting to get the feeling that this callback is obligatory for the sake of its program and my ding is probably already being prepared to be sent. Would that assessment be accurate?
Were you an SEO? If so, PM me and I may be able to give you more specific advice for the firm in question.
Not SEO but a very similar, firm specific program. And its a firm that has participated in SEO in the past. I'll PM though.
Hard to say but I had a similar question. Are your grades within range? 1L SA means nothing. Could even be that they know you already and are just giving you a soft-sell. If your grades are within range, just do your best.
Grades are within range compared to my other friends who got callbacks there. The callback was standard fare, so I'll see what happens.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by BrokenMouse » Fri Sep 11, 2015 8:34 pm

lol
Last edited by BrokenMouse on Thu Apr 28, 2016 4:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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El Pollito

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by El Pollito » Fri Sep 11, 2015 9:58 pm

why are you telling firms you'll basically work for free in exchange for experience when that's not true?

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by BrokenMouse » Sat Sep 12, 2015 2:30 am

lol
Last edited by BrokenMouse on Thu Apr 28, 2016 4:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by itbdvorm » Mon Sep 14, 2015 2:43 pm

BrokenMouse wrote:
itbdvorm wrote:
BrokenMouse wrote:Could you give some 4L advice on how to cold apply directly to a firm? 3.25 overall GPA w/ strong softs (full ride to T20 school + several major scholarships from major bar organizations). Have a pending CA bar exam result coming up in November. I've been applying online to about 20 firms stating my willingness to be tried out as a law clerk. I only get call backs from solo attorneys doing PI work wanting to hire grunts for cheap. I got one offer from a small firm to start me off as a law clerk and potential full salary after passing the bar. Backup plan is to accept the offer and build experience.

Any advice on how to approach would be much appreciated.
Um.

Take the offer and build experience.

You're a 4L. You either didn't summer at a firm or didn't get an offer. You have an OK GPA from a T20. Face reality, take a job, work your ass off.

Unless there's something extenuating I'm missing
For 15 an hr in Los Angeles... it seems a little low even for law clerks no?? I didnt do 2L SA... I thought I was gonna do public interest..
So why aren't you doing public interest anymore? Making a sudden transition from PI to firm gig without a good explanation isn't going to go great. Did you do 3L OCI to try to get a job? Have you talked to career services?

I'm not trying to be an a-hole but your trajectory seems bizarre to me. You are more likely to be employable by a firm with experience elsewhere (DA/USA/Clerk??) than right now. Get a job.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by itbdvorm » Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:16 pm

someone suggested this to me elsewhere so I thought I'd ask this group:

did any future summers at Simpson consider the possibility of that JPM suit taking down the firm?

I admittedly hadn't really considered it until just now, but it's a scary possibility.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by trebekismyhero » Wed Oct 28, 2015 1:34 pm

itbdvorm wrote:someone suggested this to me elsewhere so I thought I'd ask this group:

did any future summers at Simpson consider the possibility of that JPM suit taking down the firm?

I admittedly hadn't really considered it until just now, but it's a scary possibility.
Doesn't their malpractice insurance cover any loss?

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by itbdvorm » Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:21 pm

trebekismyhero wrote:
itbdvorm wrote:someone suggested this to me elsewhere so I thought I'd ask this group:

did any future summers at Simpson consider the possibility of that JPM suit taking down the firm?

I admittedly hadn't really considered it until just now, but it's a scary possibility.
Doesn't their malpractice insurance cover any loss?
No malpractice insurance policy gets you to $1.5 billion

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:00 pm

itbdvorm wrote:
trebekismyhero wrote:
itbdvorm wrote:someone suggested this to me elsewhere so I thought I'd ask this group:

did any future summers at Simpson consider the possibility of that JPM suit taking down the firm?

I admittedly hadn't really considered it until just now, but it's a scary possibility.
Doesn't their malpractice insurance cover any loss?
No malpractice insurance policy gets you to $1.5 billion
I'm a STB summer and thought about this so I talked to older STB and non-STB lawyers. Everyone I spoke to said that would be very unlikely. Some cited to the last major malpractice issue of this caliber, which was arguably a lot worse: Vinson & Elkins/Enron where the firm was potentially on the hook for tens of billions for fraudulent misrepresentation and settled their malpractice suit for $30 million. Others cited to the possibility of catastrophic malpractice insurance for firms working on these types of deals, which is actually fairly inexpensive since these cases are so rare. It's interesting to speculate but I don't know if we'll ever really understand why both class action suits against STB were dropped.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:42 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
itbdvorm wrote:
trebekismyhero wrote:
itbdvorm wrote:someone suggested this to me elsewhere so I thought I'd ask this group:

did any future summers at Simpson consider the possibility of that JPM suit taking down the firm?

I admittedly hadn't really considered it until just now, but it's a scary possibility.
Doesn't their malpractice insurance cover any loss?
No malpractice insurance policy gets you to $1.5 billion
I'm a STB summer and thought about this so I talked to older STB and non-STB lawyers. Everyone I spoke to said that would be very unlikely. Some cited to the last major malpractice issue of this caliber, which was arguably a lot worse: Vinson & Elkins/Enron where the firm was potentially on the hook for tens of billions for fraudulent misrepresentation and settled their malpractice suit for $30 million. Others cited to the possibility of catastrophic malpractice insurance for firms working on these types of deals, which is actually fairly inexpensive since these cases are so rare. It's interesting to speculate but I don't know if we'll ever really understand why both class action suits against STB were dropped.
I am pretty confident re: the insurance policies most firms have - generally in the hundreds of millions for firms of this type

I am guessing it has to do with the credit agreement terms giving explicit authority to the agent (JPM) to act on behalf of the consortium.

My guess is JPM/STB negotiations are ongoing.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Nov 20, 2015 2:23 am

Hi -would like some advice: have federal clerkship in SDNY for 2018 lined up but am having difficulty getting a job at a big firm ...went through 3l Oci and struck out. I come from aT14 but was a 2L transfer. I'm told the reason I didn't get offered was b/c my 1L grades weren't high enough ( was in top 40 percent) from the Tier 2 school I transferred from...did very well at the t14 where I transferred to my 2L year and recently was offered fed clerkship. Not sure what to do in terms of interviewing for bigfirm jobs 1) do I mention the clerkship? 2) Will it even be possible to get interviews this late in the game?i feel like the timing and my 1L grades were the main factors in the way of me getting a job
Thanks for any advice...

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by itbdvorm » Fri Nov 20, 2015 3:19 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Hi -would like some advice: have federal clerkship in SDNY for 2018 lined up but am having difficulty getting a job at a big firm ...went through 3l Oci and struck out. I come from aT14 but was a 2L transfer. I'm told the reason I didn't get offered was b/c my 1L grades weren't high enough ( was in top 40 percent) from the Tier 2 school I transferred from...did very well at the t14 where I transferred to my 2L year and recently was offered fed clerkship. Not sure what to do in terms of interviewing for bigfirm jobs 1) do I mention the clerkship? 2) Will it even be possible to get interviews this late in the game?i feel like the timing and my 1L grades were the main factors in the way of me getting a job
Thanks for any advice...
For 2018? Is that normal? Apologies, bit confused about the clerkship market.

I would definitely mention the clerkship - I do think it's a positive sign, and firms will not hold it too far against you.

You should consider some "mid-law" firms - especially in NY, the white collar bar (Morvillo, etc.) might be interested (though they're also tough to come by). Also DA, etc. Hustle, hustle. Timing seems very weird but anything's still doable. Good luck.

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Re: V15 Senior Associate/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by jbagelboy » Fri Nov 20, 2015 4:20 pm

itbdvorm wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Hi -would like some advice: have federal clerkship in SDNY for 2018 lined up but am having difficulty getting a job at a big firm ...went through 3l Oci and struck out. I come from aT14 but was a 2L transfer. I'm told the reason I didn't get offered was b/c my 1L grades weren't high enough ( was in top 40 percent) from the Tier 2 school I transferred from...did very well at the t14 where I transferred to my 2L year and recently was offered fed clerkship. Not sure what to do in terms of interviewing for bigfirm jobs 1) do I mention the clerkship? 2) Will it even be possible to get interviews this late in the game?i feel like the timing and my 1L grades were the main factors in the way of me getting a job
Thanks for any advice...
For 2018? Is that normal? Apologies, bit confused about the clerkship market.

I would definitely mention the clerkship - I do think it's a positive sign, and firms will not hold it too far against you.

You should consider some "mid-law" firms - especially in NY, the white collar bar (Morvillo, etc.) might be interested (though they're also tough to come by). Also DA, etc. Hustle, hustle. Timing seems very weird but anything's still doable. Good luck.
its increasingly normal now. I know more people with clerkships a year or two out from graduation than for immediately after.

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Re: V15 Partner/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by itbdvorm » Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:20 pm

edit - fixed the title :)

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Re: V15 Partner/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions...

Post by cookiejar1 » Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:22 pm

itbdvorm wrote:edit - fixed the title :)
You've been one of the most helpful people on this forum. Thanks for staying active and congrats!

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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