1L Summer Planning Forum

[grtbooks91]

I'm currently in the midst of compiling addresses for places I think I might want to work 1L summer so that I don't have as much to do late in the semester after Dec. 1 rolls around. I'm wondering, based on my background and aspirations, where I should be targeting. I was hoping that someone who has good knowledge of how ties work could help me out.

Going to be attending Notre Dame in the fall, and I've got very strong ties to the Detroit area (grew up there, HS, family still there) and somewhat less strong ones to Chicago (attended UG there). I'd be totally happy ending up back in Detroit for 5 or so years, though maybe not spending the rest of my life there.

The problem is that I'd most like to end up in Portland, and the strongest ties I have there are a longterm girlfriend whose family is from the area.

I'm aware that my chances of getting right to PDX out of ND are quite slim and that my best shot is probably working somewhere else for a few years and then trying to lateral out early in my career, but I also have been going out to Portland a lot (and will be going back this summer again) trying to establish connections, and will be aggressively mass-mailing and working any ND connections that exist in the city (a surprising amount).

I'm wondering if I should be targeting mostly Oregon based 1L summer jobs in an attempt to try to build more connections there (spending a full summer in the city and being able to tell firms that I'm available to interview anytime in that span)? Would spending the summer in Oregon 'weaken' my ties to Detroit, and to a lesser extent, Chicago? I wouldn't want a summer in Oregon to make firms in Detroit think that I'm not as interested. I know that my ties to Detroit are stellar, and I've been told by strong connections at big firms that somewhere around median should get me a pretty good job there and I wouldn't want to ruin that. Is it even worth trying to split 1L summer to cover both bases?

TL;DR: Will spending 1L summer in Oregon trying to build ties and connections hurt the already solid ones I have in another secondary market (Detroit)?

[Bildungsroman]

If you're a 0L wanting advice from current law students and graduates, we've set up a new forum just for you, which you can find here: viewforum.php?f=4

It's called "Ask a Law Student / Graduate", and it's a place for 0Ls to ask current law students questions without disturbing the "Students and Graduates" forums. Post all your questions there, including about things like classes, grades, transferring, employment, etc. Please do not continue posting your questions here in the Students and Graduates forums, as doing so might get you banned and/or your thread locked.

If you are a 0L, then use caution before posting, if you argue or post blatantly inaccurate information you may be banned for trolling.

Thank you for your understanding.

[Mce252]

TL;DR: Will spending 1L summer in Oregon trying to build ties and connections hurt the already solid ones I have in another secondary market (Detroit)?

Get good grades. Send resumes. Get interviews. Get offers. Repost.