Emory Law Early OCI Forum

[Anonymous User]

Have many of you accepted offers so far? Im very curious how many people in our class are employed for next summer so far.. I have talked to a lot of people with interviews but not too many with offers

I know of at least seven people who have accepted offers at firms in ATL or NYC. I know of many others who have offers but are still waiting to hear back from certain firms and/or are still deciding between their current ones.

What all firms have you heard? I have heard people will be at Jones Day, K&S, AGG, A+B, Parker Hudson, Kilpatrick and Sutherland.

P.S. Its sad that we are saying "at least 7 people"...out of 250. No other top 25 law schools really have issues like Emory does in getting students hired.

Yeah, it's really pretty awful. Even if each of those firms took a different student, that's like 3% of our class. As bad as the economy is, I still thought that at least the top 15% or so would be in pretty good shape for getting a job. To be honest, if I had known it would be like this I probably would have retaken the LSAT and tried to get in to Duke or UVA, even at full sticker price, instead of coming to Emory on scholarship. Ugh :/

[Anonymous User]

Have many of you accepted offers so far? Im very curious how many people in our class are employed for next summer so far.. I have talked to a lot of people with interviews but not too many with offers

I know of at least seven people who have accepted offers at firms in ATL or NYC. I know of many others who have offers but are still waiting to hear back from certain firms and/or are still deciding between their current ones.

What all firms have you heard? I have heard people will be at Jones Day, K&S, AGG, A+B, Parker Hudson, Kilpatrick and Sutherland.

P.S. Its sad that we are saying "at least 7 people"...out of 250. No other top 25 law schools really have issues like Emory does in getting students hired.

Yeah, it's really pretty awful. Even if each of those firms took a different student, that's like 3% of our class. As bad as the economy is, I still thought that at least the top 15% or so would be in pretty good shape for getting a job. To be honest, if I had known it would be like this I probably would have retaken the LSAT and tried to get in to Duke or UVA, even at full sticker price, instead of coming to Emory on scholarship. Ugh :/

Same here. Hell, I would have rather gone to UGA's law school for 1/3 of the price because they seem to do just as well in Atlanta as Emory. Glad I busted my ass to get good grades...

[Anonymous User]

Yeah it really is pretty awful. I am well in the top 10% and it has been hard enough to just get interviews, let alone offers... Is it the ATL market compared to other markets? Or just Emory?

[Anonymous User]

in my opinion, it's mainly an atlanta thing. atlanta, like the south generally, is a parochial type place. you've gotta know someone, be vouched for, probably moreso than in other places. also, there is a bit of southern inferiority complex at work. southern pride is a thin mask for insecurity- "so, why atlanta?" this is a much more loaded question than- "so, why chicago?"

so in atlanta, you've got two barriers between you and the goal. you've got to have the resume, and you've gotta be vouched for. "having ties" that aren't tied to a real person don't really get the job done, from what i've seen. it's just rough.

on the other hand, if you do have these two things going for you, and if you really are a southerner, it's a far easier place to find a job than tls understands. i got one offer outside atlanta and three offers in the city. so go figure.

[Anonymous User]

in my opinion, it's mainly an atlanta thing. atlanta, like the south generally, is a parochial type place. you've gotta know someone, be vouched for, probably moreso than in other places. also, there is a bit of southern inferiority complex at work. southern pride is a thin mask for insecurity- "so, why atlanta?" this is a much more loaded question than- "so, why chicago?"

so in atlanta, you've got two barriers between you and the goal. you've got to have the resume, and you've gotta be vouched for. "having ties" that aren't tied to a real person don't really get the job done, from what i've seen. it's just rough.

on the other hand, if you do have these two things going for you, and if you really are a southerner, it's a far easier place to find a job than tls understands. i got one offer outside atlanta and three offers in the city. so go figure.

I have found that ATL firms seem to prefer men more blatantly than firms in other cities... have other people found this?

[BruceWayne]

Yeah, it's really pretty awful. Even if each of those firms took a different student, that's like 3% of our class. As bad as the economy is, I still thought that at least the top 15% or so would be in pretty good shape for getting a job. To be honest, if I had known it would be like this I probably would have retaken the LSAT and tried to get in to Duke or UVA, even at full sticker price, instead of coming to Emory on scholarship. Ugh :/

If it makes you feel any better, I'm born in bred in GA, GA undergrad, and I attend UVA (I'm URM as well) and I was stone cold shut out of Atlanta. I know of others here in the same situation. Atlanta firms basically require top 1/3 here at UVA (same at Duke) and even then it's not guarantee. You wouldn't have been better off for Atlanta at UVA or Duke. The only people who have a good shot at Atlanta before coming into law school are people from the South who attend HYS.

Atlanta is brutal--probably one of the most difficult legal markets in the entire country.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah it really is pretty awful. I am well in the top 10% and it has been hard enough to just get interviews, let alone offers... Is it the ATL market compared to other markets? Or just Emory?

I probably had similar stats to you when I went through OCI (well into the top 10%) and I was shut out of Atlanta. I did extremely well in other markets. Atlanta is just a very difficult market.

so in atlanta, you've got two barriers between you and the goal. you've got to have the resume, and you've gotta be vouched for. "having ties" that aren't tied to a real person don't really get the job done, from what i've seen. it's just rough.

on the other hand, if you do have these two things going for you, and if you really are a southerner, it's a far easier place to find a job than tls understands. i got one offer outside atlanta and three offers in the city. so go figure.

Your experience and results are not representative.

[Anonymous User]

Have many of you accepted offers so far? Im very curious how many people in our class are employed for next summer so far.. I have talked to a lot of people with interviews but not too many with offers

I know of at least seven people who have accepted offers at firms in ATL or NYC. I know of many others who have offers but are still waiting to hear back from certain firms and/or are still deciding between their current ones.

What all firms have you heard? I have heard people will be at Jones Day, K&S, AGG, A+B, Parker Hudson, Kilpatrick and Sutherland.

P.S. Its sad that we are saying "at least 7 people"...out of 250. No other top 25 law schools really have issues like Emory does in getting students hired.

Out of those, I had heard K&S, A+B, Parker Hudson, Sutherland, Jones Day, Kilpatrick (returning after 1L), and McKenna (returning after 1L). Then for NYC, at least two going to Kirkland. I said at least 7 because I spoke to those people directly and so can confirm their actual acceptances. While I'm sure there are more people, I just haven't talked to them about it due to the sensitive nature of the topic. Many of the same people had multiple offers to choose from as well.

But I think you're right--things are definitely still pretty bleak percentage wise for people being offered SAs.

[Anonymous User]

You guys are missing at least 3 NY firms that were present at Emory in NY as far as accepted offers go.

[Anonymous User]

there are definitely a lot more acceptances than you guys have just listed. like another poster said, summer employment is a pretty sensitive topic, not at just emory but at many other schools as well, so it's understandable that there hasn't been much talk about it.

[Anonymous User]

there are definitely a lot more acceptances than you guys have just listed. like another poster said, summer employment is a pretty sensitive topic, not at just emory but at many other schools as well, so it's understandable that there hasn't been much talk about it.

There likely are more, but I don't think it's as many more as you think. It's generally been the same group of people getting most of the interviews at OCI, so based on those people you can likely see where a majority of the offers would have potentially gone. Obviously some people may have gotten jobs from mass mailing and/or connections, but I doubt it's a very large number at all. I attended both Early OCI and Fall OCI, as well as Emory in NY, and largely saw the same group of ~30 students interviewing. Based on what I've seen from them, I still honestly believe that less than 10% of our class has offers right now, which is ridiculous considering Emory is a top-25 school with tuition on par with the very top schools. As for me personally, it's just been super frustrating as someone who's been in GA their entire life, with journal and grades just outside the top 10%, to still have so much trouble. I'm not saying anything should be handed to me (or anyone else), but there's no reason a school like Emory should not be able to place at least 15% of their students into jobs. I mean honestly, with Fall OCI, Early OCI, and Emory in NY/DC combined, there were maybe 50 firms. That's pretty abysmal. And because Emory has done such a terrible job of networking in Georgia outside of the very top firms, we actually have fewer options overall than schools like UGA who dominate the rest of the GA legal market. It's just a mess.

[Anonymous User]

there are definitely a lot more acceptances than you guys have just listed. like another poster said, summer employment is a pretty sensitive topic, not at just emory but at many other schools as well, so it's understandable that there hasn't been much talk about it.

This, big time. I think several people have offers and no one's talking.

I think it's imperative that people look outside of Atlanta. Atlanta is incredibly parochial and on top of that, Emory students compete with a lot of T14 schools. I was almost completely shut out of Atlanta and my results were much better with firms in more than one state.

[Anonymous User]

there are definitely a lot more acceptances than you guys have just listed. like another poster said, summer employment is a pretty sensitive topic, not at just emory but at many other schools as well, so it's understandable that there hasn't been much talk about it.

I don't understand the attitude of treating it as a 'sensitive' topic. No one is embarrassed about having a job in the real world or acts shady about where they are working. If you have a summer associate position in this job market, you should be proud of it. Why try and hide it?

[Anonymous User]

because when four out of five people in your class (and that's optimistic) don't have a s.a. lined up, you look like an arrogant douche if you say anything. at best you come off like a braggart. at worst you're just mean.

i can't believe someone would have to explain that to you.

[Anonymous User]

because when four out of five people in your class (and that's optimistic) don't have a s.a. lined up, you look like an arrogant douche if you say anything. at best you come off like a braggart. at worst you're just mean.

i can't believe someone would have to explain that to you.

Perhaps. Or it could encourage them that more people than they thought from Emory are getting jobs so that they don't feel like their odds are so hopeless.

[Anonymous User]

because when four out of five people in your class (and that's optimistic) don't have a s.a. lined up, you look like an arrogant douche if you say anything. at best you come off like a braggart. at worst you're just mean.

i can't believe someone would have to explain that to you.

Perhaps. Or it could encourage them that more people than they thought from Emory are getting jobs so that they don't feel like their odds are so hopeless.

No I just think it comes across braggy/rude/mean.. When people have $200,000+ debt on the line of course jobs are a sensitive topic

[Anonymous User]

because when four out of five people in your class (and that's optimistic) don't have a s.a. lined up, you look like an arrogant douche if you say anything. at best you come off like a braggart. at worst you're just mean.

i can't believe someone would have to explain that to you.

Perhaps. Or it could encourage them that more people than they thought from Emory are getting jobs so that they don't feel like their odds are so hopeless.

I agree, its nice to know that my 6 figure degree isn't completely useless.

[Anonymous User]

so in atlanta, you've got two barriers between you and the goal. you've got to have the resume, and you've gotta be vouched for. "having ties" that aren't tied to a real person don't really get the job done, from what i've seen. it's just rough.

on the other hand, if you do have these two things going for you, and if you really are a southerner, it's a far easier place to find a job than tls understands. i got one offer outside atlanta and three offers in the city. so go figure.

Your experience and results are not representative.

Agree completely. I have major connections to Georgia (from there, went to undergrad there, entire family there) and other people from my school with ABSOLUTELY no connections go offers before me and more of them.

in my opinion, it's mainly an atlanta thing. atlanta, like the south generally, is a parochial type place. you've gotta know someone, be vouched for, probably moreso than in other places. also, there is a bit of southern inferiority complex at work. southern pride is a thin mask for insecurity- "so, why atlanta?" this is a much more loaded question than- "so, why chicago?"

so in atlanta, you've got two barriers between you and the goal. you've got to have the resume, and you've gotta be vouched for. "having ties" that aren't tied to a real person don't really get the job done, from what i've seen. it's just rough.

on the other hand, if you do have these two things going for you, and if you really are a southerner, it's a far easier place to find a job than tls understands. i got one offer outside atlanta and three offers in the city. so go figure.

I have found that ATL firms seem to prefer men more blatantly than firms in other cities... have other people found this?

This is completely wrong. If anything, I ran into the opposite problem. I had a friend get an offer at one of my target firms, and they told her at lunch that she would receive an offer because they "need more girls" in that practice group. At the firm I ended up accepting an offer from, the other two SAs from my school are female and the SAs from my school last summer were exclusively female. I have found Atlanta to be an affirmative action nightmare.

[Anonymous User]

there is definitely a preferential option for women in atlanta, or if there isn't, then women are simply outperforming men (and i'm totally open to that as a valid explanation). at two 501+ firms with major atlanta offices (i.e. 175+ lawyers), their 2011 s.a. classes had strong female majorities (as in, 70/30 female to male).

now, it's entirely possible that a female applicant could feel uncomfortable in some interview settings in atlanta. most partners are male, and there is a little bit of a boys club feel sometimes. but i don't think any firm is intentionally trying to make a woman feel uncomfortable or to privilege men in the interview room.

[Anonymous User]

I have found Atlanta to be an affirmative action nightmare.[/quote]

Completely agree with this. Last year almost every person who landed a job at a big firm in Atlanta got one through the Minority and Diversity Clerkship Program. Being a white male certainly does you no favors in getting a job at Atlanta firms.

[Omerta]

Any Emory students who'd like to talk about job shit please feel free to PM me. I'm a 3L and I'd be happy to act as a surrogate career services. The 2Ls who I've "mentored" have said that they've found my advice to be very helpful. I would be happy to exchange emails or grab a coffee sometime and do what I can to help.

[Anonymous User]

I think you're all forgetting the decent-sized group of people at Emory who are pursuing a public interest career. They have barely started applying for next summer.

Also I know of 2 Fall OCI offers that went out yesterday and today

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, it's really pretty awful. Even if each of those firms took a different student, that's like 3% of our class. As bad as the economy is, I still thought that at least the top 15% or so would be in pretty good shape for getting a job. To be honest, if I had known it would be like this I probably would have retaken the LSAT and tried to get in to Duke or UVA, even at full sticker price, instead of coming to Emory on scholarship. Ugh :/

If it makes you feel any better, I'm born in bred in GA, GA undergrad, and I attend UVA (I'm URM as well) and I was stone cold shut out of Atlanta. I know of others here in the same situation. Atlanta firms basically require top 1/3 here at UVA (same at Duke) and even then it's not guarantee. You wouldn't have been better off for Atlanta at UVA or Duke. The only people who have a good shot at Atlanta before coming into law school are people from the South who attend HYS.

Atlanta is brutal--probably one of the most difficult legal markets in the entire country.

Very true.

Look OUTSIDE of Atlanta. It's a bloodbath here. Mass mail firms in every major market, in your non-Atlanta home market if you have one, and everywhere else you can. People even get offers even in flyover states they've never been to.

[Anonymous User]

Wargo French just called after a call back... to reject me.

[Anonymous User]

Still getting some interest from some NY firms through mass mailing. There are definitely still firms looking. Keep your head up everyone.