Dropping law review after interviews? Forum

[Dafaq]

I made LR at my school, and at the time I felt like I wanted to do it. Now that I'm actually doing it, that feeling faded. My problem is that I put it on my resume, obviously. Would my SA firm even find out if I dropped it? Also, how pissed would the LR staff be at me? I have zero desire to clerk and zero desire to strive for anything other than $190k. I don't even want to do litigation. Should I just suck it up for two years?

EDIT: I'm not dropping it. Anybody else who wants to write up criticism or support, save yourself a few minutes and don't do it!

Good move that you reconsidered. LR still comes into play (down the road) should you opt to lateral up.

[Desert Fox]

I made LR at my school, and at the time I felt like I wanted to do it. Now that I'm actually doing it, that feeling faded. My problem is that I put it on my resume, obviously. Would my SA firm even find out if I dropped it? Also, how pissed would the LR staff be at me? I have zero desire to clerk and zero desire to strive for anything other than $190k. I don't even want to do litigation. Should I just suck it up for two years?

EDIT: I'm not dropping it. Anybody else who wants to write up criticism or support, save yourself a few minutes and don't do it!

Good move that you reconsidered. LR still comes into play (down the road) should you opt to lateral up.

I think I'd literally LOL at someone who asked about journal in a lateral interview.

[Dafaq]

I think I'd literally LOL at someone who asked about journal in a lateral interview.

As an FYI: They didn't ask me, but they did make note of it. (Granted, there was no discussion about it).

[masque du pantsu]

I think I'd literally LOL at someone who asked about journal in a lateral interview.

As an FYI: They didn't ask me, but they did make note of it. (Granted, there was no discussion about it).

Yeah exactly, it's not that someone at a job interview (whether it's for an in-house or lateral position) will ask you about your journal experience (although they might, if there's some reason to, e.g. they're an alum and were on the same journal), it's that you'll get more looks in the first place because of the credential. For instance, think what you will about recruiters, but you'll get meaningfully more calls from them (and regarding better opportunities) if you have the credentials they know they can place, all of which they can see on the firm website: good undergrad, good law school, journal, brand-name current position (in no particular order).

There was even a fund manager about which a recruiter called me that ONLY hired people who had ticked the ivy undergrad, T14 law school and law review boxes, and even then would want to see your undergrad GPA; they called it "demonstrated history of excellence" or something like that. I'm not gonna try to claim it makes sense, but this is what you'll see.

Note though that this is from the perspective of NYC M&A associate, where we get recruiter and other calls multiple times per week. Having all the credentials they're looking for means you get 3 per week instead of 1 or 2. Maybe if you're in a place or practice where these people are not constantly beating down your door you would not notice a meaningful difference.

[Anonymous User]

I recently did this exact thing (quit law review after oci interviews), and wanted to post my experience in case its helpful to any future students. I certainly read through a lot of archived posts here while making the decision.

Basically, it went off pretty smoothly. I went into interviews and call backs as a member of the law review, and didn't discuss it once. I received three offers from well regarded big law firms in a very competitive market.

After getting these offers, I called back each of the hiring partners to chat a little, ask a few follow up questions, and let them know where I was stood in the decision-making process. In each of these calls, I mentioned that I was considering dropping law review in order to pick up a part time job at a small firm (which was true).

Two of the three did not seem to care at all. The third said it wasn't a deal breaker, but encouraged me to stay on the journal. I crossed the third firm off my list and accepted an offer at one of the other two. It never came up again, I had a great summer experience, and received an offer all in due course.