Cook County ASA Class of 2013 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi fellow class: Is anyone else still waiting to hear from the character and fitness committee? I have not heard anything since I submitted my bar application. Is anyone else starting to feel anxious about bar results? Has anyone heard from the cook county office?

[Anonymous User]

Hi fellow class: Is anyone else still waiting to hear from the character and fitness committee? I have not heard anything since I submitted my bar application. Is anyone else starting to feel anxious about bar results? Has anyone heard from the cook county office?

I haven't heard anything from C&F either, which is probably a good thing, even though I read somewhere that if they request an interview from you before the C&F board, it generally means that you passed, but there is something that came to their attention that they want more information on.

As for bar results, I'm not too concerned about it; the common belief is that if you failed the bar, its because you bombed the MBE, and that examiners are probably not going to fail you on the essay portion unless you are totally off-topic(i.e., its a question on constitutional law, and you're talking about land sale transactions).

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the response and the information. I finally received my C&F approval last week. I think bar results are coming out on 10/1. Have you heard from Cook County yet? I am apartment hunting the first week of October.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the response and the information. I finally received my C&F approval last week. I think bar results are coming out on 10/1. Have you heard from Cook County yet? I am apartment hunting the first week of October.

They told me that they sent my C&F report to the board about a week after we took the bar. I haven't heard anything from them since, so I'm guessing that there's nothing to be worried about on that front.

As for apartment hunting, I'm going to start wilting down my list this week and begin looking around the middle of October. I believe the swear-in date for the bar is the first week of November, so I thought it would be better just to move during that time. I'm really starting to enjoy the fact that I don't have to study for another exam or anything, so procrastination is starting to set in.

As for the office, I haven't heard anything from them yet, and I suspect they won't start correspondence with us until the results have been released. Speaking of which, does anyone know how to contact them to change your address just I case they decide to use snail mail to correspond? Or do they use email to send out info?

[Anonymous User]

I emailed the office at attyhire@cookcountyil.gov to change my postal address and the office responded. I believe they will communicate with us via email, but that is just a guess.

[Anonymous User]

Hey all, I was wondering what the consensus is regarding the safety of Rogers Park. From what I'm hearing, its like a normal neighborhood(some parts are fine, but others are sketchy). I'm only planning on staying there for a year or two while I get acclimated, so I'm asking if its fine to live in for the short term.

[Anonymous User]

I was also wondering about Rogers Park? Any thoughts about the brown line near albany park? Is Irving park too far? Thanks for the help.

[Anonymous User]

Did anybody else get a job security confidence-inspiring call today?

[Anonymous User]

I received a call, but unfortunately I missed it and had to leave a message. I hope it is about job security.

[Anonymous User]

I received a call, but unfortunately I missed it and had to leave a message. I hope it is about job security.

I was being sarcastic. Long story short, someone from the office is going to call you and tell you that they may not be able to extend offers to everyone in the class because of budget cuts, and they're trying to gauge the impact that rescinding an offer would have on all of us. I told them about my situation. The call was very short, and it probably lasted all of two or three minutes.

[Anonymous User]

Oh my that is terrible. Did it sound like they are rescinding offers? How did the conversation end?

[Anonymous User]

Didn't they already extend offers to us? I accepted their offer and believe I have a contract with the office. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous User]

Didn't they already extend offers to us? I accepted their offer and believe I have a contract with the office. Any thoughts?

It was a conditional contract; the offer was predicated on certain conditions being met including the county funding the positions(along with the background check and the bar passage stuff).

[Anonymous User]

Oh my that is terrible. Did it sound like they are rescinding offers? How did the conversation end?

From the conversation, it sounded like they were merely preparing for the worst and trying to get ahead of the game by letting us know that there's a possibility that they may not be able to honor the offers because of budgetary issues. She was adamant about this not being because of something that they did, and I understood where she was coming from. My interpretation of the conversation was that they were merely raising the warning flag, and that the office really doesn't want to have to go through with it if they can avoid it. She sounded like she was masking some anger and disappointment over having to be the one to tell us this.

I'm taking it with a grain of salt though. I doubt they will have to go through with anything, but I'm dusting off my resume and looking at my options. I really don't want to take the bar in my state(simply because I just don't want to go through that bullshit again), and I'll probably either go back to school, or look for some federal work. Either way, I'm not going to get depressed over this, because we all knew it was a possibility earlier this summer.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks. I just looked at the letter. The ASA I spoke to said that they were wondering if some people could start in January. I did not get the impression that they were completely rescinding offers.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks. I just looked at the letter. The ASA I spoke to said that they were wondering if some people could start in January. I did not get the impression that they were completely rescinding offers.

That's good. I apologize for using the word "rescind" in the manner that I did, I had a feeling that they may have thought about delaying start dates.

[Anonymous User]

No apologies necessary. Thanks for giving us the heads up. I think we all will be fine. If we can't start in November, we will probably start in January. I agree, I am not going to be depressed about this. I am just hoping I passed the bar. I felt okay about the MBE, but not as solid with the IL essays. Keep your chin up! I am keeping my fingers crossed for all of the November class.

[Anonymous User]

I received a call as well. The caller was clear that he offers are still valid. They just have to push back some start dates. Don't know how many though or how far back.

[Anonymous User]

Missed a call today from a county phone number but no voicemail. Now I'm freaking out a little.

It's surprising that the office is in this situation. Sounds like they overestimated their budgetary position for this year. I thought they have a pretty good idea of where they stand at the time they make offers. I wonder what's changed since May.

[Anonymous User]

I think it has to do with the Board President and the article a previous poster posted. http://www.wbez.org/news/cook-county-fa ... ear-107887

I am going to remain optimistic. I think we all will be fine. My guess is that the office needs to cut maybe 10% of its operating budget so some of our class might be delayed.

[Anonymous User]

I'm sure all of us will eventually get placements. They'll make sure every person they've already made an offer to is sworn in before they take anyone off the waitlist or hire anyone from the class of 2014.

Not great news for the waitlist, looks like. In the past, a good majority of the waitlist would get placed in January. But this year they will likely get bumped back by those with offers.

I wonder how this will affect the c/o 2014. They might be much more conservative with offers next year. If I was applying right now I would be slightly concerned. I wonder what they're telling people with first round interviews right now.

[Anonymous User]

So it looks like either the Illinois Bar or the NCBE screwed up my MPRE score transfer. Just got an email today from my processor saying that they don't have it, and I had to dig into my email folders to find the confirmation email from NCBE that they sent to me way back in March. At least they're keeping me busy...

[Anonymous User]

That sounds like a good sign. Why would the board need your MPRE results if you did not pass?

[Anonymous User]

That sounds like a good sign. Why would the board need your MPRE results if you did not pass?

Exactly. I was thinking the exact same thing.

[Anonymous User]

Tomorrow is likely the day of bar results . . . GOOD LUCK! I hope we all start in November.