How bad can 2L grades be? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Have a V5 (NY) offer. Planning to seriously slack off the next two years. Go to HYS (so no formal grades).

Ended 1L year top quarter or so, shooting for median or below this year. Is there any way whatsoever in which getting substantially worse grades 2L year will negatively affect my career?

Please advise.

Thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Have a V5 (NY) offer. Planning to seriously slack off the next two years. Go to HYS (so no formal grades).

Ended 1L year top quarter or so, shooting for median or below this year. Is there any way whatsoever in which getting substantially worse grades 2L year will negatively affect my career?

Please advise.

Thanks.

#1) could negatively affect clerkship chances as judges do look at 2L performance

#2) could affect chances at latin honors, which probably has at least a minimal effect on your career (for example, latin honors on your attorney bio might improve marketing/pitch efforts for new clients).

might not be huge impacts, but there is some impact.

[rad21]

A couple scenarios come to mind where you would need to rely on your updated (lower gpa) resume: (1) get no-offered or (2) get fired/laid off/quit in the next few years.

[Anonymous User]

Have a V5 (NY) offer. Planning to seriously slack off the next two years. Go to HYS (so no formal grades).

Ended 1L year top quarter or so, shooting for median or below this year. Is there any way whatsoever in which getting substantially worse grades 2L year will negatively affect my career?

Please advise.

Thanks.

#1) could negatively affect clerkship chances as judges do look at 2L performance

#2) could affect chances at latin honors, which probably has at least a minimal effect on your career (for example, latin honors on your attorney bio might improve marketing/pitch efforts for new clients).

might not be huge impacts, but there is some impact.

YHS don't do latin honors.

[bk1]

YHS don't do latin honors.

At least H does and I'm too lazy to look up S/Y.

[Anonymous User]

Have a V5 (NY) offer. Planning to seriously slack off the next two years. Go to HYS (so no formal grades).

Ended 1L year top quarter or so, shooting for median or below this year. Is there any way whatsoever in which getting substantially worse grades 2L year will negatively affect my career?

Please advise.

Thanks.

#1) could negatively affect clerkship chances as judges do look at 2L performance

#2) could affect chances at latin honors, which probably has at least a minimal effect on your career (for example, latin honors on your attorney bio might improve marketing/pitch efforts for new clients).

might not be huge impacts, but there is some impact.

YHS don't do latin honors.

Yah H has summa / magna / cum

[royilae]

Despite what people tell you...slacking off is not a good idea. Many people in the law world who move around (i.e. go in house/govt/another job/whatever) in the legal world will tell you that your grades are requested and they are reviewed. They may not look with a fine tooth comb but they will see the grades so keep them up. Your first job most likely won't be your last. I knew a mid-level associate looking to switch firms and they asked for their transcript.

[carpetmuncher]

Have a V5 (NY) offer. Planning to seriously slack off the next two years. Go to HYS (so no formal grades).

Ended 1L year top quarter or so, shooting for median or below this year. Is there any way whatsoever in which getting substantially worse grades 2L year will negatively affect my career?

Please advise.

Thanks.

Nah, worst case scenario if you graduate bottom of your class you can always go work as a legal secretary for one of those firms started up by handful of cooley grads who passed the bar on their 3rd try.
You like Michigan Winters right?

[Old Gregg]

honors on your attorney bio might improve marketing/pitch efforts for new clients).

No impact.

[Anonymous User]

None of HYS has grades/latin honors. No impact. Have fun.

[20160810]

It's probably dumb to sabatoge yourself even if you're probably set. Don't kill yourself but don't totally phone it in either.

[Old Gregg]

The best thing about law school is coincidentally also the best thing about women: curves. You can relax and have fun 2L and 3L years and still score median without breaking a sweat. I'd say just avoid B-s or below, or whatever the equivalent of that is at your law school.

Also maybe consider taking courses with term papers instead of exams, and really small seminars.

[20160810]

The best thing about law school is coincidentally also the best thing about women: curves. You can relax and have fun 2L and 3L years and still score median without breaking a sweat. I'd say just avoid B-s or below, or whatever the equivalent of that is at your law school.

Also maybe consider taking courses with term papers instead of exams, and really small seminars.

Last bit is really credited.

I went to a crappy law school, so what do I know, I'm sure you have tons more slack at HYS. that said, I got no offered, and so if I can offer any advice to 2Ls it's to prepare for the worst. My grades improved tremendously 2L year, which is why I was able to bounce back from the no offer and end up fine. If id cruised through 2L I'd be boned right now.

[Anonymous User]

HYS grad here. If you know that you don't want to clerk and can avoid getting any LP/RC grades (and if you were in the top 1/4 1L year, you probably understand the art of exam-taking well enough that you're not at serious risk of getting one) I think it is fine to slack off some. Going to a V5 makes it unlikely that you will be no-offered, and going to HYS and having opaque grading will help dull the impact of getting median-ish grades. That said, a bad 2L year will probably close the door on clerkship hiring for a while (and knock you out of latin honors contention if you're at HLS), so be very sure that you are OK with that before you check out of law school.

[20160810]

HYS grad here. If you know that you don't want to clerk and can avoid getting any LP/RC grades (and if you were in the top 1/4 1L year, you probably understand the art of exam-taking well enough that you're not at serious risk of getting one) I think it is fine to slack off some. Going to a V5 makes it unlikely that you will be no-offered, and going to HYS and having opaque grading will help dull the impact of getting median-ish grades. That said, a bad 2L year will probably close the door on clerkship hiring for a while (and knock you out of latin honors contention if you're at HLS), so be very sure that you are OK with that before you check out of law school.

Me being a broken record here, but closing the door on clerkships is dumb dumb dumb until you know you've gotten an offer from your firm. Slack off 3L, but put some effort into 2L.

[Redamon1]

What if you got an offer but didn't like your summer firm and wish to get back on the market as a 3L to find a better fit?

[Old Gregg]

What if you got an offer but didn't like your summer firm and wish to get back on the market as a 3L to find a better fit?

Better have good enough grades.

[Anonymous User]

At my firm, summer associates are required to submit 2L grades before offer decisions are made. I'm not aware of anyone getting no offered due to a precipitous decline in grades, but if you have any other issues, a big drop in grades can't help. Don't know why you'd take the risk. Also, as others have pointed out, if you want to lateral or otherwise look for another job in the foreseeable future, your prospective employer is likely to ask for a transcript.