V15 Partner/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions... Forum

[Anonymous User]

How long after the last interview for a summer associate position does it take to decide and notify the person an offer is being made to?

[Anonymous User]

i look really young. like 18/19 and many ppl have commented i have a 'babyface'. would this incorrectly signal immaturity? probable ding cause?

[pedroia]

i look really young. like 18/19 and many ppl have commented i have a 'babyface'. would this incorrectly signal immaturity? probable ding cause?

This has already been answered - respect the guy's time and read the thread first. The answer is, it depends how you act, not what you look like.

[Anonymous User]

What sort of work experience really catches your eye when looking at candidates? Would something like experience working at an Investment Bank in a corporate law/legal related area make up for less than top notch grades?

Are their any other sectors that you seem particularly drawn to when looking at candidates with prior experience?

[Anonymous User]

This isn't directly OCI related, but it is firm-hiring related, so hopefully this question isn't beyond the scope of this thread.

I already have a state supreme court judicial clerkship lined up for immediately after graduation (two year stint). If I set up a federal court of appeals judicial clerkship after that (one year), is that a negative, neutral, or positive when evaluating my merits of joining the firm as an associate? My concern is the three years post-graduation of no associate work being a problem.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks so much for all your thoughts here.

I'm a 1L.

Couple questions:

1) I've emailed with a couple of contacts I've met at various functions. Although they've mentioned at the time that they'd like to keep in touch, some of these contacts haven't responded when I've emailed them. I assume they're just busy, may have forgotten me, whatever. Do you recommend contacting them again? I don't want to lose networking contacts, but also don't want to be aggressive/pushy/forward/annoying to people who I know have bigger fish to fry than meeting up with clueless 1L's like me. If I did, how would you recommend phrasing it? Make reference to a prior email, or no? Tread lightly, mentioning how busy they are, etc., or does this just come across as pandering and pathetic?

2) I'm several years out of school, have a good story, strong academic backgorund, strong personal skills. I think I'd be an asset to a firm this summer - at the very least, I'd like to try for a spot, especially since I've made some good contacts and I think I'm a comparatively strong candidate. However, several of the firms I'm interested in only hire 1Ls as part of a "diversity fellowship." I'm a white straight male. I could certainly write a solid essay about a commitment to diversity as I understand it/have practiced it, could substantiate it with a few things (nothing earth-shattering, but I wouldn't be completely lying either). Do you think it's a good idea to write up an essay like this and go for one of these spots? It seems unlikely (impossible actually) that a white straight male would get a diversity spot (even though the firms say you don't *have* to be a minority to get it - but I'm skeptical). I don't want to appear desperate, opportunistic, or tone-deaf to what a firm is trying to do, thereby jeopardizing opportunities for OCI and 2L summer. But also don't want to pass on current opportunities if I had a shot, or pass on showing initiative/interest in a firm where it might be appreciated for 2L recruiting. Recommendations? Apply/don't apply? Does your firm have something like this? Any experiences with it if so? Do you think they'd care for 2L OCI whether or not a candidate had applied to something like this? Would you recommend meeting up with a firm's recruiting manager to talk over coffee...? Thanks so much for any insights.

[Myself]

.

[20130312]

Does this guy even answer questions anymore?

His last post ITT was on Thursday. Just relax, bro. The guy has a big boy job and we should be thankful he spends time here at all.

[Anonymous User]

I'm currently a 2L with a SA position lined up for the summer. Do you think taking a bar course (or two) pass/fail will be a red flag in any way?

Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

What makes or breaks an interview for you?

What questions do you like being asked?

How much of a role does "fashion" play? Given roughly equal qualifications, does a well-fitting suit/shoes/etc. mean something to you in an interview?

[itbdvorm]

How long after the last interview for a summer associate position does it take to decide and notify the person an offer is being made to?

depends both firm to firm and person to person. we do have a "maybe" pile

[itbdvorm]

What sort of work experience really catches your eye when looking at candidates? Would something like experience working at an Investment Bank in a corporate law/legal related area make up for less than top notch grades?

Are their any other sectors that you seem particularly drawn to when looking at candidates with prior experience?

IBanking, consulting, impressive public work (ironically, better in many cases to have the "connected" position than the "qualified" position), etc. Engineering. but nothing's going to truly make up for grades that are below our cut.

[itbdvorm]

This isn't directly OCI related, but it is firm-hiring related, so hopefully this question isn't beyond the scope of this thread.

I already have a state supreme court judicial clerkship lined up for immediately after graduation (two year stint). If I set up a federal court of appeals judicial clerkship after that (one year), is that a negative, neutral, or positive when evaluating my merits of joining the firm as an associate? My concern is the three years post-graduation of no associate work being a problem.

i think a federal appellate court will always be a plus in terms of getting hired as an associate, especially since many firms may not give you credit for both years as a state supreme court clerk. so you'd come in as a 3rd year w/two clerkships (one fed appellate) under your belt - not bad

[itbdvorm]

Thanks so much for all your thoughts here.

I'm a 1L.

Couple questions:

1) I've emailed with a couple of contacts I've met at various functions. Although they've mentioned at the time that they'd like to keep in touch, some of these contacts haven't responded when I've emailed them. I assume they're just busy, may have forgotten me, whatever. Do you recommend contacting them again? I don't want to lose networking contacts, but also don't want to be aggressive/pushy/forward/annoying to people who I know have bigger fish to fry than meeting up with clueless 1L's like me. If I did, how would you recommend phrasing it? Make reference to a prior email, or no? Tread lightly, mentioning how busy they are, etc., or does this just come across as pandering and pathetic?

2) I'm several years out of school, have a good story, strong academic backgorund, strong personal skills. I think I'd be an asset to a firm this summer - at the very least, I'd like to try for a spot, especially since I've made some good contacts and I think I'm a comparatively strong candidate. However, several of the firms I'm interested in only hire 1Ls as part of a "diversity fellowship." I'm a white straight male. I could certainly write a solid essay about a commitment to diversity as I understand it/have practiced it, could substantiate it with a few things (nothing earth-shattering, but I wouldn't be completely lying either). Do you think it's a good idea to write up an essay like this and go for one of these spots? It seems unlikely (impossible actually) that a white straight male would get a diversity spot (even though the firms say you don't *have* to be a minority to get it - but I'm skeptical). I don't want to appear desperate, opportunistic, or tone-deaf to what a firm is trying to do, thereby jeopardizing opportunities for OCI and 2L summer. But also don't want to pass on current opportunities if I had a shot, or pass on showing initiative/interest in a firm where it might be appreciated for 2L recruiting. Recommendations? Apply/don't apply? Does your firm have something like this? Any experiences with it if so? Do you think they'd care for 2L OCI whether or not a candidate had applied to something like this? Would you recommend meeting up with a firm's recruiting manager to talk over coffee...? Thanks so much for any insights.

1) so long as you do it the right way it probably couldn't hurt, but they are 75% just being friendly / trying to recruit you to their firm. don't email just to email - maybe see if you could buy them a coffee sometime (closer to OCI) with questions about the firm or questions about law school or something. or you could try closer to now and see if you could find out thoughts from them about if your grades would be competitive / if they would have recommendations for you.

2) couldn't hurt to try talking to the recruiting manager so long as you aren't annoying/cloying about it. a conversation about how much you're interested in the firm and would love to have an opportunity, but not sure you qualify, etc. just know that no matter how much you think you'd be an asset you probably won't be this summer...

[itbdvorm]

I'm currently a 2L with a SA position lined up for the summer. Do you think taking a bar course (or two) pass/fail will be a red flag in any way?

Thanks!

no

[itbdvorm]

What makes or breaks an interview for you?

What questions do you like being asked?

How much of a role does "fashion" play? Given roughly equal qualifications, does a well-fitting suit/shoes/etc. mean something to you in an interview?

enthusiasm, intelligence, presentation, poise. i like being asked specific questions about the firm/practice/my own experiences (example - asking cravath about the impact of its rotation system on person's development).

what i think about fashion is i shouldn't notice it. if i think "this person presents well / looks good" that is a plus (though i likely won't cite fashion as to why). if i think "this person looks ridiculous" that is a strong minus

[Anonymous User]

Asked this question in another thread, but I wanted various perspectives:

I'm a current 3L. I have a job lined up. Many of my classes this semester are pass/no pass. In fact, I only have one regular graded class. Will this look bad? Will it limit my lateral opportunities? I have a pretty good GPA overall (at least top 25%), but I don't want this to hold me back.

[Anonymous User]

This obviously doesn't happen very often, so I don't have much of a frame of reference. How do you think you'd view a candidate at a top 30 school with less-than-impressive grades who landed a federal clerkship? Are the grades going to be less of a factor?

[itbdvorm]

Asked this question in another thread, but I wanted various perspectives:

I'm a current 3L. I have a job lined up. Many of my classes this semester are pass/no pass. In fact, I only have one regular graded class. Will this look bad? Will it limit my lateral opportunities? I have a pretty good GPA overall (at least top 25%), but I don't want this to hold me back.

nah / maybe, but probably not

[itbdvorm]

This obviously doesn't happen very often, so I don't have much of a frame of reference. How do you think you'd view a candidate at a top 30 school with less-than-impressive grades who landed a federal clerkship? Are the grades going to be less of a factor?

case-by-case

[Bobnoxious]

I'll be 51 when I graduate. I've spent the last 20+ years in my family's small contracting business, and my brother now has his exit strategy worked out so it's time for me to do what I've been putting off for decades. Have you ever interviewed someone coming out of law school who is in their 50s?

[itbdvorm]

I'll be 51 when I graduate. I've spent the last 20+ years in my family's small contracting business, and my brother now has his exit strategy worked out so it's time for me to do what I've been putting off for decades. Have you ever interviewed someone coming out of law school who is in their 50s?

i don't think i have. do you really want to work 90 hour weeks reporting to people half your age? serious question and one for you to carefully consider

[Bobnoxious]

Do I want to? No. Am I willing to in order to get where I want to go? Yes. I've done it before, and it's just another hoop to jump through. We all do things we don't want to do, often for long periods of time, because it has to be done if we want the prize at the end. Besides, being younger than me has absolutely nothing to do with the level of competence. I've hired a lot of people my age and had them trained by 19 year old technicians. Why? Because the 19 year old knew more then the 40+ year old. It happens and it isn't uncommon.

Thanks for the response. This entire thread has been very informative!

Bob

[itbdvorm]

Do I want to? No. Am I willing to in order to get where I want to go? Yes. I've done it before, and it's just another hoop to jump through. We all do things we don't want to do, often for long periods of time, because it has to be done if we want the prize at the end. Besides, being younger than me has absolutely nothing to do with the level of competence. I've hired a lot of people my age and had them trained by 19 year old technicians. Why? Because the 19 year old knew more then the 40+ year old. It happens and it isn't uncommon.

Thanks for the response. This entire thread has been very informative!

Bob

where do you "want to go"? i could be wrong but practically speaking i'd be surprised for a host of reasons if working at a large law firm was a good idea for you

[Bobnoxious]

Primarily plaintiff-side civil litigation and insurance recovery. Ideally have my own shop doing support for real estate investment companies dealing with catastrophic property losses, public adjusters, and disaster restoration firms. As far as how specifically to get there goes, I only have the vaguest of notions other than the network of restoration contractors and property management companies I've been working with for the past 20+ years (no guarantees, though I'm sure I can count on some hefty collections work), which is why I'm here, there, and everywhere looking for input and ideas.