0L SEO Corporate Law Internship Forum

[1212]

Nice amc, hadn't seen you around in a bit. Yea, it's not showing any NYC availability for me, which kind of sucks because I'm here in Jersey like five minutes away from their HQ for the next few days.

Thanks, hyakku. And I'm surprised you haven't seen me around. I've been doing a bit of celebrating and a lot of lamenting (mostly about schools taking so long to process my apps, but some about being sans KB1. Sigh). Anyway, it's good that you're in the same boat I am. I thought it must've just been something I was doing wrong not to see any availability for DC or NYC. How has your cycle been going?

t may be a better apporoach to look at what these firms actually do. The DC firms represented have strong regulatory aspects, maybe the ones in Palo Alto are more IP related? I am completely just guessing, please correct me if I am wrong. I choose DC because since my focus is more govt/PI, I felt like I could tie why I was interested in private practice into my interests and experience. I am preferencing DC, Houston (to be close to home), and SF Bay (bc I am pretty set on Stanford).

I think that there are small differences in what the firms do. The international law firms tend to be centered in DC and NYC, the Bay area has more IP, etc. But I think that in the context of what interns will actually be doing -- assisting with general corporate law-related work in fields like M&A, securities, etc.-- the special practice areas of each firm may not be so important. In fact, I think there's probably so many similarities among these large corporate firms that it might be difficult to differentiate them at all. I've heard that firm culture varies, but that's much more difficult to determine from a website than from actually going and meeting associates who work there.

I went to an SEO info session earlier this fall and they stressed that they try to place people in or close to the cities they'd eventually like to practice in. This also ties into which school you end up attending. So it would be unlikely for someone attending UVA to get placed in LA, for example, but the soon-to-be Columbia student could very well get placed in NYC. I'm not sure how this works if you attend a place with national-level prestige (i.e. Stanford) and aren't interested in practicing in California. The people who talked also said it was important to figure out whether you're more interested in transactional law or litigation because that can have an impact on your placement as well.

It sounds like a great opportunity, though. I'm more PI-focused in theory, but it'd be great to get some corporate experience under my belt before I start!

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Did the speakers mention how many corporate law interns they were taking on this year? Has the economy led to cut backs in the program?

[Champion]

Champion checking in!! Congrats to all on the interview. I have NY (hometown) as my first option, second SF (most likely attending Berkeley), and then DC third.

[hyakku]

Champion checking in!! Congrats to all on the interview. I have NY (hometown) as my first option, second SF (most likely attending Berkeley), and then DC third.

Thanks for the insights from the info session AMC, that makes a lot of sense. Some of that I've already been trying to consider (transactional vs lit.), but I also don't want to be too dogmatic before I hit campus next year.

I had similar thinking in terms of the NY firms being more likely to have offices nationally so that in the worst case scenario, if I do wish to return to LA, having ties to a BigLaw NYC firm seems to make that option more viable than if I wanted to do the reverse from LA.

[amc987]

Nice amc, hadn't seen you around in a bit. Yea, it's not showing any NYC availability for me, which kind of sucks because I'm here in Jersey like five minutes away from their HQ for the next few days.

Thanks, hyakku. And I'm surprised you haven't seen me around. I've been doing a bit of celebrating and a lot of lamenting (mostly about schools taking so long to process my apps, but some about being sans KB1. Sigh). Anyway, it's good that you're in the same boat I am. I thought it must've just been something I was doing wrong not to see any availability for DC or NYC. How has your cycle been going?

t may be a better apporoach to look at what these firms actually do. The DC firms represented have strong regulatory aspects, maybe the ones in Palo Alto are more IP related? I am completely just guessing, please correct me if I am wrong. I choose DC because since my focus is more govt/PI, I felt like I could tie why I was interested in private practice into my interests and experience. I am preferencing DC, Houston (to be close to home), and SF Bay (bc I am pretty set on Stanford).

I think that there are small differences in what the firms do. The international law firms tend to be centered in DC and NYC, the Bay area has more IP, etc. But I think that in the context of what interns will actually be doing -- assisting with general corporate law-related work in fields like M&A, securities, etc.-- the special practice areas of each firm may not be so important. In fact, I think there's probably so many similarities among these large corporate firms that it might be difficult to differentiate them at all. I've heard that firm culture varies, but that's much more difficult to determine from a website than from actually going and meeting associates who work there.

I went to an SEO info session earlier this fall and they stressed that they try to place people in or close to the cities they'd eventually like to practice in. This also ties into which school you end up attending. So it would be unlikely for someone attending UVA to get placed in LA, for example, but the soon-to-be Columbia student could very well get placed in NYC. I'm not sure how this works if you attend a place with national-level prestige (i.e. Stanford) and aren't interested in practicing in California. The people who talked also said it was important to figure out whether you're more interested in transactional law or litigation because that can have an impact on your placement as well.

It sounds like a great opportunity, though. I'm more PI-focused in theory, but it'd be great to get some corporate experience under my belt before I start!

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Did the speakers mention how many corporate law interns they were taking on this year? Has the economy led to cut backs in the program?

I don't know anything about #s of interns or whether they're cutting back because of the economy. They presented a lot of information at once and I didn't think to take notes. Not my finest moment. I do remember that the LA location is new for this year and that the SF and Houston locations have smaller intern classes than DC and NYC. I also can't recall anything about desired placement locations, but I think they take those into account as well as where you're going to school/ probably going to practice when they make decisions. Sorry y'all. Good luck to everyone applying!

[shbe0701]

Those of you who have had an interview... Do you recommend having my recommendation form completed right away, or is it okay to just wait until I get a request for an interview (if that even happens)?

[Neatrends]

Are there any required essays for the SEO Corporate Law Program?

Just submitted the app and it only asked me to upload my personal statement and listed an optional essay. Wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything..

[Rand M.]

Just a general tip. Not much matters outside of the interview. Don't stress too much about essays and recs. Their importantce pales in comparison to the interview. You really need to be prepared for it if you are going to have a reasonable expectation of getting this. Good luck, all.

[1212]

Just a general tip. Not much matters outside of the interview. Don't stress too much about essays and recs. Their importantce pales in comparison to the interview. You really need to be prepared for it if you are going to have a reasonable expectation of getting this. Good luck, all.

Thanks for the advice. By "prepared" are you primarily talking about being really familiar with the firms in the area we'd like to practice in or just general preparedness like knowing how to intelligently answer behavioral interview questions? Also, do you know how much of an advantage it is to interview in the first round? I can't make the available first round interviews in my state and am wondering if it's worth the hassle of flying to Atlanta to interview in Jan?

Thanks!

[ajudk8]

I'm completing my application now and I'm sooo happy to see this thread!

Congratulations to those who got interviews! I've been wondering, how long did it take you to hear back once you'd submitted your application? Also, when are the interviews? I head back to school pretty late in January and (in the unlikely event that I get an interview) I don't know whether to request the site closest to my house or my school on the application.

[1212]

I'm completing my application now and I'm sooo happy to see this thread!

Congratulations to those who got interviews! I've been wondering, how long did it take you to hear back once you'd submitted your application? Also, when are the interviews? I head back to school pretty late in January and (in the unlikely event that I get an interview) I don't know whether to request the site closest to my house or my school on the application.

Hi! I applied in October (first round) and received an interview invitation right before Christmas. The interviews for this round are mid to late January. If you haven't submitted your application yet, you probably will receive your interview invitation later in the spring, so I'd say school. When you get an interview invitation, you can select the site you prefer and it does not necessarily have to be the same as what you put on your original application. They ask in the application so they have a rough estimate of how many slots to make available in each city.

[horrorbusiness]

If you choose, please upload a conservative business appropriate photograph of yourself

Hmm, would a close-up headshot of me against a plain white background be ok if you can see that I'm wearing a plain black t-shirt? You can really only see right around my neck.

[ajudk8]

I'm completing my application now and I'm sooo happy to see this thread!

Congratulations to those who got interviews! I've been wondering, how long did it take you to hear back once you'd submitted your application? Also, when are the interviews? I head back to school pretty late in January and (in the unlikely event that I get an interview) I don't know whether to request the site closest to my house or my school on the application.

Hi! I applied in October (first round) and received an interview invitation right before Christmas. The interviews for this round are mid to late January. If you haven't submitted your application yet, you probably will receive your interview invitation later in the spring, so I'd say school. When you get an interview invitation, you can select the site you prefer and it does not necessarily have to be the same as what you put on your original application. They ask in the application so they have a rough estimate of how many slots to make available in each city.

Thanks!

[Sh@keNb@ke]

If you choose, please upload a conservative business appropriate photograph of yourself

Hmm, would a close-up headshot of me against a plain white background be ok if you can see that I'm wearing a plain black t-shirt? You can really only see right around my neck.

I've been told from SEO alums that you really want to be as professional as possible. SEO is very much interested in polish. I'd suggest a suit and tie with the picture taken from your shoulders up. This is another opportunity for you to show SEO that you mean business so I doubt a plain black t-shirt is going to get the job done. Just my $.02.

[unc0mm0n1]

If you choose, please upload a conservative business appropriate photograph of yourself

Hmm, would a close-up headshot of me against a plain white background be ok if you can see that I'm wearing a plain black t-shirt? You can really only see right around my neck.

I've been told from SEO alums that you really want to be as professional as possible. SEO is very much interested in polish. I'd suggest a suit and tie with the picture taken from your shoulders up. This is another opportunity for you to show SEO that you mean business so I doubt a plain black t-shirt is going to get the job done. Just my $.02.

This.

[unc0mm0n1]

Nice amc, hadn't seen you around in a bit. Yea, it's not showing any NYC availability for me, which kind of sucks because I'm here in Jersey like five minutes away from their HQ for the next few days.

Thanks, hyakku. And I'm surprised you haven't seen me around. I've been doing a bit of celebrating and a lot of lamenting (mostly about schools taking so long to process my apps, but some about being sans KB1. Sigh). Anyway, it's good that you're in the same boat I am. I thought it must've just been something I was doing wrong not to see any availability for DC or NYC. How has your cycle been going?

t may be a better apporoach to look at what these firms actually do. The DC firms represented have strong regulatory aspects, maybe the ones in Palo Alto are more IP related? I am completely just guessing, please correct me if I am wrong. I choose DC because since my focus is more govt/PI, I felt like I could tie why I was interested in private practice into my interests and experience. I am preferencing DC, Houston (to be close to home), and SF Bay (bc I am pretty set on Stanford).

I think that there are small differences in what the firms do. The international law firms tend to be centered in DC and NYC, the Bay area has more IP, etc. But I think that in the context of what interns will actually be doing -- assisting with general corporate law-related work in fields like M&A, securities, etc.-- the special practice areas of each firm may not be so important. In fact, I think there's probably so many similarities among these large corporate firms that it might be difficult to differentiate them at all. I've heard that firm culture varies, but that's much more difficult to determine from a website than from actually going and meeting associates who work there.

I went to an SEO info session earlier this fall and they stressed that they try to place people in or close to the cities they'd eventually like to practice in. This also ties into which school you end up attending. So it would be unlikely for someone attending UVA to get placed in LA, for example, but the soon-to-be Columbia student could very well get placed in NYC. I'm not sure how this works if you attend a place with national-level prestige (i.e. Stanford) and aren't interested in practicing in California. The people who talked also said it was important to figure out whether you're more interested in transactional law or litigation because that can have an impact on your placement as well.

It sounds like a great opportunity, though. I'm more PI-focused in theory, but it'd be great to get some corporate experience under my belt before I start!

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Did the speakers mention how many corporate law interns they were taking on this year? Has the economy led to cut backs in the program?

Not last year, I think we had the biggest class ever.

[JDcand]

I echo the note about not digging too hard for SAT/ACT scores. I could be wrong, but I think that was intended for the undergrads who also apply to the program. I think CL Program is going to care about the LSAT score.

I have an in-person interview next week. Recommend that when you get the email notification to make an appointment that you do it quick. I opened up calendar to see availability, spent 13 minutes finding a flight, and a few of the available slots were already gone by the time I went back to the interview appointment scheduler.

Anyone have advice for interview? I get the sense there will be some trickery involved and it won't be the typical interview. Also, does anyone know if there are multiple interviews? I hear the CFL program has a series of interviews/phone interviews.

[Rand M.]

Headshot--do the very best you can. If that was what would keep you from the program (and it very well could), that would be sad. Just do it right. I haven't seen any particular pictures, but for mine, I threw on a tie and had a picture taken. It's not hard and this program could mean too much for you to risk it. Plus, they are the type of bunch that take this type of thing seriously. They want to have confidence that they can put you in front of people who matter. If you can't show them you can handle that with your picture, they have no problem looking past you.

As far as whether it matters when you interview, I can't see it making a huge difference. They only take the people they want to. If they don't want you, being early won't help. If they want you, being late won't hurt. Just kill the interview.

What I meant about being prepared is that you need to do as much research as you can. There are lots of people who have been through the interview process and you should be in touch with them. You should be looking for potential questions, learning about practice areas, learning about markets, and even researching what a few firms are working on right now. The interview is by far the most important part. You need to focus on putting your best foot forward in the interview. Make sure that they know why you want the program and know why they ought to want you.

[Rahsaan]

Anyone have advice for interview? I get the sense there will be some trickery involved and it won't be the typical interview. Also, does anyone know if there are multiple interviews? I hear the CFL program has a series of interviews/phone interviews.

i was in the cfl program. i had a phone interview, in-person, and a skype interview. good luck this cycle, guys! i plan on applying in a few years.

As far as whether it matters when you interview, I can't see it making a huge difference. They only take the people they want to. If they don't want you, being early won't help. If they want you, being late won't hurt. Just kill the interview.

I do not think this is correct. Spots fill very fast. SEO uses rolling admission, so if they need 50, they make sure they get a good number of those admitted early on and then save just a few spots for late in the cycle.

also, dress up for the damn picture.

[1212]

Anyone have advice for interview? I get the sense there will be some trickery involved and it won't be the typical interview. Also, does anyone know if there are multiple interviews? I hear the CFL program has a series of interviews/phone interviews.

i was in the cfl program. i had a phone interview, in-person, and a skype interview. good luck this cycle, guys! i plan on applying in a few years.

As far as whether it matters when you interview, I can't see it making a huge difference. They only take the people they want to. If they don't want you, being early won't help. If they want you, being late won't hurt. Just kill the interview.

I do not think this is correct. Spots fill very fast. SEO uses rolling admission, so if they need 50, they make sure they get a good number of those admitted early on and then save just a few spots for late in the cycle.

also, dress up for the damn picture.

Oh fudgesicles! I'm trying to decide whether any advantage gained by interviewing in the first round is worth traveling to the closest feasible option. When I asked, the recruiter from SEO emailed me back saying that candidacy isn't affected by interviewing later, but the email seemed a bit disingenuous.

But anyways, thank you so much for your advice!!! I saw Wal Mart and Target are having sales on their portrait services. A nice business photo is a good and inexpensive investment for LinkedIn and other places that feature your profile (student organization websites, etc.).

[Rand M.]

As far as whether it matters when you interview, I can't see it making a huge difference. They only take the people they want to. If they don't want you, being early won't help. If they want you, being late won't hurt. Just kill the interview.

I do not think this is correct. Spots fill very fast. SEO uses rolling admission, so if they need 50, they make sure they get a good number of those admitted early on and then save just a few spots for late in the cycle.[/quote]


You are entitled to your opinion. From firsthand knowledge though, I can say that you're not on sound footing. SEO makes decisions whenever they feel like it. You can interview on the first available date and not get a decision until the end of the entire process. If they want you, you will be in. If they don't, you won't. If they are unsure, you will have to wait. The date of your initial interview makes no difference in any of that. But again, believe what you want. Overall, I'd say get the interview out of the way, but it is silly to think that gives you any kind of boost. If you're on the border, they just won't accept you until they have a better idea of the pool. SEO doesn't really have to worry about what they "need," or getting people in early enough that they won't choose something else. To a certain extent, they are the only game in town, and in the end, they will have the ~75 candidates they wanted.

[Guchster]

Guys, don't overthink this process by worrying about logistics. Apply asap out of consideration to the program and for your own peace of mind. As Rand M stated, SEO looks for professionalism and polish and these are the factors they'll consider most. They're looking for someone they can stick in front of 30-40 associates/partners/in-house counsel three times a week for 2 hours in the evening after you'ved worked a full day at your firm, who will be impressive, engaging, and a possible candidate recruiters might remember during the real summer hiring process. The interviewing process is important because it reveals whether you've got the stuff or you don't (and even if you got the stuff to be successful, some candidates may just flat out be better).

Getting into a top law school isn't necessarily SEO's priority, but it's actually the priority of the V30 (what some call the top 30) employers they'll place you at. If you're interview skills (which are hugely important in finding a big law job during a process called OCI/EIP) are not at the level for a top firm, SEO will not waste its resources on you out of pity. In terms of the bigger picture, why would they hire you if the top firms they place at would never hire you?

Be yourself in the interview (but be the best possible professional version you can be). I remember my class tried to figure out what a second or third follow-up or skype interview might mean, or whether it would be better to be interviewed in certain locations or by certain people, and at the end of the day this stuff did not really matter. The ultimate selection is done by human beings with an accurate understanding of the industry, and the process is not robotic or the same for everyone.

If you're a right fit and you're not crowded out by better candidates, you'll get in.

The stress of this process is SO WORTH IT!

[ososmooth]

Did my interview already... now i just have to send in the rest of the supplemental materials. I really hope I am given this opportunity, its such a great program.

[salsahips]

Did my interview already... now i just have to send in the rest of the supplemental materials. I really hope I am given this opportunity, its such a great program.

What was the interview like? What subject areas/questions did they cover? And can anyone shed light on the differences, if there are any, in the topics of the various interviews (phone/person/Skype)?

[jd20132013]

I agree with what Guchster said.
it's easy for us to say now but you really shouldn't overthink it. You've probably interviewed before. Just don't be an asshole, be professional, and be flexible to what they throw at you while still answering honestly

[spiritniffler189]

What's the turn around time from hearing back after your initial interview? Mine is next week, and I'm hoping to hear back soon so I can plan on a trip appropriately.

Around when do the internships start? If I get back to the US around May 20th, would that be okay, or a little on the late side? Thanks in advance!