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I'm a 2L at a T14 school with a V10 summer associate position on the east coast. I'm from California, and I was wondering whether y'all had advice on getting to CA.

I had a good number of callbacks in SF, LA, Palo Alto, but ended up accepting my upcoming summer position in NY. For whatever reason, I currently do not have any relationship with the west coast firms.

I was hoping to get some advice on the following:
(1) Whether I should do some immediate 3L recruiting. (and if so, how?)
- How does this work, timing-wise? Do I just send out my resume to recruiting departments before my summer ends?
- How do I explain things to my current firm, assuming that I get an offer at the end of the summer?
(2) How I can move to CA after a few years (advice on bar exam timing & general strat appreciated).

Much thanks!

shameless/shameful bump

1. Network as always. And keep your resume current at CA firms where you did callbacks. Also mass-mail. Participate in job fairs and OCI for any firms that have CA offices. It is best, IMO, to do these things before your 2L summer ends, unless you would have to take time off work during the summer (which is another discussion). If you decide to decline an offer from your current firm, just explain it to them in a concise, professional manner. Thank them for the opportunity.

2. If your NY firm has an office in CA, consider taking the CA bar. I probably wouldn't mention a desire to transfer offices in the short- to medium-term future.

HTH. Hopefully I'm not missing an obvious issue. Lack of replies might be due to the holiday. You're also asking a lot of questions, IMO.

Do you have competitive credentials for a clerkship? If so, try and clerk. Especially if you can snag a clerkship in CA, that will help you get back to CA.

Not hard to go from V10 to CA. People do it all the time at varying levels of seniority, though obviously will be harder the earlier you want to do it. Easiest during years 3-6.

Thanks, appreciate the comments.

I know people who were from CA who did 2L SA on the East Coast and did 3L OCI with West Coast firms. Apparently wanting to move closer to family was a perfectly good enough reason.

Agent wrote:Participate in job fairs and OCI for any firms that have CA offices. It is best, IMO, to do these things before your 2L summer ends, unless you would have to take time off work during the summer (which is another discussion).

Thanks a lot for the response. I have one more follow up question - it seems you might have the answer to it.

Let's say a firm gives you an offer, but you can't accept on the spot because you are trying to participate in job fairs & 3L OCI. What's the etiquette for this kind of situation? "Thanks, I'm still looking around"?

Once again, I really appreciate everyone's comments.

Anonymous User wrote:

Agent wrote:Participate in job fairs and OCI for any firms that have CA offices. It is best, IMO, to do these things before your 2L summer ends, unless you would have to take time off work during the summer (which is another discussion).

Thanks a lot for the response. I have one more follow up question - it seems you might have the answer to it.

Let's say a firm gives you an offer, but you can't accept on the spot because you are trying to participate in job fairs & 3L OCI. What's the etiquette for this kind of situation? "Thanks, I'm still looking around"?

Once again, I really appreciate everyone's comments.

not the prior poster, but the best strategy for this is to tell the firm you are applying for clerkships; this is a quite valid excuse for the vast majority of places as firms love hiring clerkship veterans. shopping around is viewed negatively.

Deadline to accept a permanent offer per NALP is 11/1. Looks worse the closer to that date you make a decision.

Improve on this because I haven't given it much thought, but I'd probably say something along the lines of:
"I enjoyed myself and learned a lot this summer. And I'm very grateful for the offer to return. This will be a really big step for me, so I hope it's okay with you if I take some time to discuss it with my family."

After that, I'd probably avoid radio silence by staying in touch with a lower-level member of recruiting staff via email (questions about relocating, etc.)

HTH. Maybe someone else has put more thought into it.

Anonymous User wrote:Let's say a firm gives you an offer, but you can't accept on the spot because you are trying to participate in job fairs & 3L OCI. What's the etiquette for this kind of situation? "Thanks, I'm still looking around"?

Agent wrote:Improve on this because I haven't given it much thought, but I'd probably say something along the lines of:
"I enjoyed myself and learned a lot this summer. And I'm very grateful for the offer to return. This will be a really big step for me, so I hope it's okay with you if I take some time to discuss it with my family."

After that, I'd probably avoid radio silence by staying in touch with a lower-level member of recruiting staff via email (questions about relocating, etc.)

HTH. Maybe someone else has put more thought into it

Gracias - great tips