Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle) Forum

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:08 pm

First ding! V10 on the East Coast.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:44 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Am I too late here? I am currently serving in a state court clerkship in PA. I would like to relocate back to Rochester, NY this fall and begin work at a firm. Am I too late to apply? Or is January/February about the right time for this?

Also, I have no firm experience, as I did both my summers at non-profit type law offices. Am I screwed?
Unless you are interested in Fed govt, my understanding is that now is the time to apply, Jan-April. So you should be fine as long as you start now or sometime in feb. Smaller firms hire further out and from what I heard from some friends, will tell you to reapply closer to the end of your clerkship. But my understanding is the big dogs usually start looking at apps from clerks late jan to april. Again this is based on what I read on here and from talking to few recruiters, but the best bet is to reach out to the firms you are interested in and ask.

As far as for your non-profit summer gigs, the hard part would be getting past the screener and explaining "why firm now?". No really clear cut answers, but if I was in your situation, I would just apply to all the firms that I am interested in, drop a line or two in my cover letter with why I am interested in the firm (basically letting them know why you shifted your interest without really saying you shifted your interest). A subtle line like "I am interested in civil litigation and your firm has bla bla". Personal networking (maybe have your judge contact people for you") might be huge for you as the hard part for you is getting a chance to interview and show that you are really interested in firm life. Getting someone batting for you might get you that chance to explain that.

Again, this is just my 2 cents but at this point it does not matter if your are screwed or not based on your summer gigs. There are too many variables that goes into that (school, rank, law review, prestige of your clerkship, etc). But at this point, you can't control any of those things, so apply as if it does not matter, be ready for that question and have a sharp answer and apply everywhere. Hope this helps, good luck!!

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:47 pm

East coast update. Ding from V5 firm. Another "we have already finished hiring" ding from v10 firm.
My milkshake brings all the firms to the yard...i know it, just waiting for that low selfesteem firm to put out real soon!! lol

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:01 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Am I too late here? I am currently serving in a state court clerkship in PA. I would like to relocate back to Rochester, NY this fall and begin work at a firm. Am I too late to apply? Or is January/February about the right time for this?

Also, I have no firm experience, as I did both my summers at non-profit type law offices. Am I screwed?
Unless you are interested in Fed govt, my understanding is that now is the time to apply, Jan-April. So you should be fine as long as you start now or sometime in feb. Smaller firms hire further out and from what I heard from some friends, will tell you to reapply closer to the end of your clerkship. But my understanding is the big dogs usually start looking at apps from clerks late jan to april. Again this is based on what I read on here and from talking to few recruiters, but the best bet is to reach out to the firms you are interested in and ask.

As far as for your non-profit summer gigs, the hard part would be getting past the screener and explaining "why firm now?". No really clear cut answers, but if I was in your situation, I would just apply to all the firms that I am interested in, drop a line or two in my cover letter with why I am interested in the firm (basically letting them know why you shifted your interest without really saying you shifted your interest). A subtle line like "I am interested in civil litigation and your firm has bla bla". Personal networking (maybe have your judge contact people for you") might be huge for you as the hard part for you is getting a chance to interview and show that you are really interested in firm life. Getting someone batting for you might get you that chance to explain that.

Again, this is just my 2 cents but at this point it does not matter if your are screwed or not based on your summer gigs. There are too many variables that goes into that (school, rank, law review, prestige of your clerkship, etc). But at this point, you can't control any of those things, so apply as if it does not matter, be ready for that question and have a sharp answer and apply everywhere. Hope this helps, good luck!!
Thanks for this reply, it's good to hear that my timeline isn't too far off.

In terms of going from non-profit experience to firms, my interest area hasn't actually changed in terms of the type of law I want to work in. I am interested in education law, which was the focus of the two non-profit offices I worked at (public interest law kind of stuff for education law clients). I worked at one of these offices continually for two years while I was in school. I'm looking at firms now because it seems like there might be more opportunities in firms with an education law division than there are elsewhere. Hopefully the fact that my area of interest hasn't changed will help me. Thanks again!

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:13 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Am I too late here? I am currently serving in a state court clerkship in PA. I would like to relocate back to Rochester, NY this fall and begin work at a firm. Am I too late to apply? Or is January/February about the right time for this?

Also, I have no firm experience, as I did both my summers at non-profit type law offices. Am I screwed?
Unless you are interested in Fed govt, my understanding is that now is the time to apply, Jan-April. So you should be fine as long as you start now or sometime in feb. Smaller firms hire further out and from what I heard from some friends, will tell you to reapply closer to the end of your clerkship. But my understanding is the big dogs usually start looking at apps from clerks late jan to april. Again this is based on what I read on here and from talking to few recruiters, but the best bet is to reach out to the firms you are interested in and ask.

As far as for your non-profit summer gigs, the hard part would be getting past the screener and explaining "why firm now?". No really clear cut answers, but if I was in your situation, I would just apply to all the firms that I am interested in, drop a line or two in my cover letter with why I am interested in the firm (basically letting them know why you shifted your interest without really saying you shifted your interest). A subtle line like "I am interested in civil litigation and your firm has bla bla". Personal networking (maybe have your judge contact people for you") might be huge for you as the hard part for you is getting a chance to interview and show that you are really interested in firm life. Getting someone batting for you might get you that chance to explain that.

Again, this is just my 2 cents but at this point it does not matter if your are screwed or not based on your summer gigs. There are too many variables that goes into that (school, rank, law review, prestige of your clerkship, etc). But at this point, you can't control any of those things, so apply as if it does not matter, be ready for that question and have a sharp answer and apply everywhere. Hope this helps, good luck!!
Thanks for this reply, it's good to hear that my timeline isn't too far off.

In terms of going from non-profit experience to firms, my interest area hasn't actually changed in terms of the type of law I want to work in. I am interested in education law, which was the focus of the two non-profit offices I worked at (public interest law kind of stuff for education law clients). I worked at one of these offices continually for two years while I was in school. I'm looking at firms now because it seems like there might be more opportunities in firms with an education law division than there are elsewhere. Hopefully the fact that my area of interest hasn't changed will help me. Thanks again!
oh if you aready have a speciality and you are staying in that speciality, you should be golden at those firms that have such departments. But then again, who knows what these firms are thinking when they hire. I swear sometimes I think they just have a dart board with applicants name on it and hire the ones they hit lol. good luck!

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 27, 2014 3:55 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Am I too late here? I am currently serving in a state court clerkship in PA. I would like to relocate back to Rochester, NY this fall and begin work at a firm. Am I too late to apply? Or is January/February about the right time for this?

Also, I have no firm experience, as I did both my summers at non-profit type law offices. Am I screwed?
Unless you are interested in Fed govt, my understanding is that now is the time to apply, Jan-April.
When should people be applying to BIGFED positions?

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 27, 2014 4:01 pm

Is anyone working with a recruiter? If not, why not? Are there disadvantages to working with a recruiter?

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by legalese_retard » Mon Jan 27, 2014 4:08 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Is anyone working with a recruiter? If not, why not? Are there disadvantages to working with a recruiter?
If you have prior firm experience then you should probably consider it. However, it probably depends on if a recruiter will want to work with you. There are some firms that don't pay recruiters for people coming straight from clerkships. I have seen a couple of recruiter job postings asking for people with clerkship experience, but most of those are looking for people with additional legal experience.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Jan 27, 2014 5:44 pm

legalese_retard wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Is anyone working with a recruiter? If not, why not? Are there disadvantages to working with a recruiter?
If you have prior firm experience then you should probably consider it. However, it probably depends on if a recruiter will want to work with you. There are some firms that don't pay recruiters for people coming straight from clerkships. I have seen a couple of recruiter job postings asking for people with clerkship experience, but most of those are looking for people with additional legal experience.

I agree with this for the most part, though I do know that some recruiters are willing to work with non-experienced clerks. The question is whether the Firms would want to work with the recruiter in that case.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Jan 28, 2014 1:40 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:We've started receiving biglaw "please apply to us, clerks," mailings in my district. I'm not looking for a job, so I haven't been paying much attention, but if anyone wants to know the firms, I can share. West coast, by the way.
Which firms, if you don't mind?
ditto this. i'm also out west, and have only gotten two or three of these. i'd been assuming our market was just a little behind ny/dc.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Jan 28, 2014 11:07 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:We've started receiving biglaw "please apply to us, clerks," mailings in my district. I'm not looking for a job, so I haven't been paying much attention, but if anyone wants to know the firms, I can share. West coast, by the way.
Which firms, if you don't mind?
ditto this. i'm also out west, and have only gotten two or three of these. i'd been assuming our market was just a little behind ny/dc.
I only remember two: Fenwick and SullCrom. Both were within the last 4-6 weeks.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Jan 28, 2014 12:04 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:We've started receiving biglaw "please apply to us, clerks," mailings in my district. I'm not looking for a job, so I haven't been paying much attention, but if anyone wants to know the firms, I can share. West coast, by the way.
Which firms, if you don't mind?
ditto this. i'm also out west, and have only gotten two or three of these. i'd been assuming our market was just a little behind ny/dc.
I only remember two: Fenwick and SullCrom. Both were within the last 4-6 weeks.
thanks. we got the s&c also (from what i've heard, it seems like every clerk everywhere might have gotten it). and fenwick sounds vaguely familiar. it might have been one of the other two and i'm simply not remembering it specifically. just want to make sure i don't get left behind :)

the other one we got came in like, late october. something small in new york, and their pitch started off by saying they might not pay as much but their quality of life was better. seems like an outlier.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:36 pm

I feel like in my District, not that many clerks are even applying for jobs. Nearly everyone I know (aside from me, of course) is going back to their 2l/old firm. Is this generally the case in your districts?

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by ndirish2010 » Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:53 am

All four of the clerks in my building were looking for post-clerkship jobs. Three of us already know where we are going, but none of us are going to a firm. We haven't received any solicitation letters from firms, but this isn't the most major district in the world.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 03, 2014 11:25 am

Anonymous User wrote:I feel like in my District, not that many clerks are even applying for jobs. Nearly everyone I know (aside from me, of course) is going back to their 2l/old firm. Is this generally the case in your districts?
i think it's a mixed bag. there are a fair number of clerks here who aren't straight from law school. i think a lot of them came to clerk thinking they'd get away from their firm, so now they're looking for something new.

but that "something new" seems like it's split between gov't and small firms. so when you add them to the people who are straight through but looking for public interest . . . yeah, i don't think a ton of people are looking for big firms.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 03, 2014 3:20 pm

Any updates? I have submitted apps to big law firms in the East coast in the last few weeks and have not heard a thing. No rejections, no calls, no updates (few sent an automated response email saying they recieved my apps)... nothing. I thought this was the time firms are interviewing to hire law clerks. I am a bit confused and a tad bit nervous. at what point is it okay to call in and follow up?

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Citizen Genet » Mon Feb 03, 2014 3:28 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Any updates? I have submitted apps to big law firms in the East coast in the last few weeks and have not heard a thing. No rejections, no calls, no updates (few sent an automated response email saying they recieved my apps)... nothing. I thought this was the time firms are interviewing to hire law clerks. I am a bit confused and a tad bit nervous. at what point is it okay to call in and follow up?
It's going to vary firm-to-firm, but my understanding is that the advice is apply in January because applications start to be reviewed in February/March. I've talked to a few clerks who went to new firms post clerkship and most were hired in April-July.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:29 pm

Just got a packet from Cleary DC. Besides that, networked into another interview with a lit boutique.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Feb 09, 2014 12:05 am

I'm interested to hear about how the market is treating IP clerks, especially IP lit. Interested to hear from both flyover district clerks and coastal clerks.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by legalese_retard » Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:17 am

Finally started receiving rejection letters/emails from firms. Most have said they filled their new associate hiring needs through their summer programs.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by ndirish2010 » Mon Feb 10, 2014 10:09 am

Anonymous User wrote:Just got a packet from Cleary DC. Besides that, networked into another interview with a lit boutique.
Got the Cleary packet here too.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 10, 2014 10:20 am

Anonymous User wrote:I'm interested to hear about how the market is treating IP clerks, especially IP lit. Interested to hear from both flyover district clerks and coastal clerks.
+1. im interested to hear about this as well.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:05 pm

legalese_retard wrote:Finally started receiving rejection letters/emails from firms. Most have said they filled their new associate hiring needs through their summer programs.
I did a blast of preliminary emails a few weeks ago to a bunch of recruiting coordinators/directors/etc. to see if their firms were accepting post-clerkship apps for Fall. Only about a third of them responded. Most said essentially "we're not really looking right now and we don't know if we're going to hire anyone, but feel free to send your stuff and we'll hold onto it." Many said what you've heard - that their summer program has yielded all the new associates they want and/or need, so don't even bother. Nobody specifically said "yes"... so that was a little disheartening.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 11, 2014 7:41 pm

Guess firms are starting to move, we just started getting few recruiting letters from few firms too.

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Re: Post-Clerkship Job hunt (Fall 2014 cycle)

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:41 am

So, I'm also looking in the Texas market. So far I've cranked out about 30 applications to litigation firms with > 100 or so lawyers. Received a flat rejection from two ("not hiring at this time"), radio silence on the others. I keep telling myself they're all going to have a hiring meeting ... starting tomorrow.

This brings up another question - so far, I've applied to all of the firms I knew about already, plus ones I've been finding on Martindale. Anybody have any tips on finding others?

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