Writing on to law review & jobs Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm at a T20 school and got one of the purely write-on spots on law review. My grades put me a little below median, and while I didn't expect law review to totally make up for that with employers, I thought it would help somewhat. But that hasn't been my experience. I got few interviews through OCI and am now looking to friends/family contacts to try and land a summer internship.

So I'm about to be doing all kinds of work for this journal, have to be around all my law review friends that are deciding between big firm X & big firm Y, and am wondering if I'll see any benefits from this. I'm thinking about looking into clerkships next year, but I'm not sure if I'll have any more luck there either. And don't get me wrong. I am very honored and humbled to be a part of this organization. I'm just wondering if I'm about to put myself through all kinds of work and awkward conversations about my lack of job offers for little in return. So is anybody going or been through this? Will this pay off for me down the road?

[amped]

I don't really have much to say except don't quit law review. Yeah they'll probably all be talking about job offers, etc., but that's life. Just use the opportunity to learn and make friends (as much as you can with LR people...I hear they can be pretty douchey).

I think the value of having Law Review on your resume will far outweigh any short-term annoyance/discomfort. You can also try to revamp your approach to school and up your grades. That might help too.

[Anonymous User]

I don't plan on quitting law review. I like a lot of the people on there and I would still like to get the experience and have it on my resume. I just want to know what some of these benefits are that I'm holding out for since all I'm staring at right now is the costs. I know everyone says it looks good on your resume cause it's a signal to employers that you can write and that you've been trained in research & editing. Yet it's done nothing to help me get interviews. Right now it just looks like a way for employers to easily tell who's in the top 10-15% of the class, except for the write-on people like me.

What I want to know is if there's anyone out there who is or knows of someone that was in my shoes that actually had law review help them out if they weren't a grade-on. And if it did, what kind of job did it help them get? I would assume clerkships would look very favorably on having law review on your resume, but they seem more grade competitive than big law. It's just a little depressing being on the inside on the outside looking in.

[Anonymous User]

The easiest thing to do is raise your grades. You have 2/3's of your credits outstanding. If they improve, you can easily make your final resume make much more sense.

Below median at a T20 isn't going to get anything through OCI in this economy, and you would have been lucky to get anything even in a normal economy. Law review is probably the only reason you got interviews at all; I've seen that happen with friends who are pure LR write ons but who do not have acceptable grades.

Oh, and anyone who dares to brag about their job choices coming out of 2009 OCI is a massive douchebag with zero social judgment. Don't bother talking to them at all.

[Esc]

You may have missed the Biglaw boat, but remember that most public interest, government, and small/mid law jobs don't hire through OCI. With law review on your resume, you will have good chances with at least some of these employers, especially if you can raise your grades in the next two years.

Work hard and get your grades up. If you can write well enough to get on law review, you definitely have something to offer your potential employers, and having law review on your resume will show them that.

[basetommyball]

I'm at a T20 school and got one of the purely write-on spots on law review. My grades put me a little below median, and while I didn't expect law review to totally make up for that with employers, I thought it would help somewhat. But that hasn't been my experience. I got few interviews through OCI and am now looking to friends/family contacts to try and land a summer internship.

So I'm about to be doing all kinds of work for this journal, have to be around all my law review friends that are deciding between big firm X & big firm Y, and am wondering if I'll see any benefits from this. I'm thinking about looking into clerkships next year, but I'm not sure if I'll have any more luck there either. And don't get me wrong. I am very honored and humbled to be a part of this organization. I'm just wondering if I'm about to put myself through all kinds of work and awkward conversations about my lack of job offers for little in return. So is anybody going or been through this? Will this pay off for me down the road?

I'm in almost the same position. Strong regional T1, just below median, write-on for primary LR, moot court. None of these have seemed to do anything to detract from my grades. So far I've had around 5-10 interviews, 0 CB's, and 10^21 dings. I've decided to shift my focus to mid-size and small firms as well as government. I'm of course lightening my load to get my grades up, but if none of it works out, I'll be doing OYCP for AF Jag. =/

update: 1 CB and 5 more interviews, all mid-level to small firms

[Wes Henricksen]

I answered a lot of law review-related questions on another thread here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =3&t=66689. I hope this helps.

[Anonymous User]

I personally never know or have heard of LR members not being able to get something decent. seriously - LR, median grades, at a good T1, would have gotten something in a normal economy.

yeah, try your best to improve your grades.

[Anonymous User]

What I want to know is if there's anyone out there who is or knows of someone that was in my shoes that actually had law review help them out if they weren't a grade-on. And if it did, what kind of job did it help them get? I would assume clerkships would look very favorably on having law review on your resume, but they seem more grade competitive than big law. It's just a little depressing being on the inside on the outside looking in.

In addition to trying to boost your grades, I would focus on writing the best comment/note you can and hopefully you will get published. Being published can make up for lower grades, or at least give you a slight bump when interviewing with firms. Also, being published is very useful for clerkship applications and can make up for lower grades as well.

[Anonymous User]

What I want to know is if there's anyone out there who is or knows of someone that was in my shoes that actually had law review help them out if they weren't a grade-on. And if it did, what kind of job did it help them get? I would assume clerkships would look very favorably on having law review on your resume, but they seem more grade competitive than big law. It's just a little depressing being on the inside on the outside looking in.

In addition to trying to boost your grades, I would focus on writing the best comment/note you can and hopefully you will get published. Being published can make up for lower grades, or at least give you a slight bump when interviewing with firms. Also, being published is very useful for clerkship applications and can make up for lower grades as well.

Not to be a total cynic, but I don't think that's true. Many of the firms are very transparently employing a strict grade cut-off. Publication might help distinguish you as a callback from the other callbacks, but it won't get your foot in the door.

[Anonymous User]

In addition to trying to boost your grades, I would focus on writing the best comment/note you can and hopefully you will get published. Being published can make up for lower grades, or at least give you a slight bump when interviewing with firms. Also, being published is very useful for clerkship applications and can make up for lower grades as well.

Not to be a total cynic, but I don't think that's true. Many of the firms are very transparently employing a strict grade cut-off. Publication might help distinguish you as a callback from the other callbacks, but it won't get your foot in the door.

Given that it is very unlikely for a rising 2L to have been published by the time 2L OCI hits (I mean, you just got on law review!), my comments were directed more towards the benefits of law review and how the OP can better position him/herself for 3L recruiting down the road.