Biglaw OCI Interviewer Taking Questions Forum

[Anonymous User]

How important is it to be able to narrow down litigation vs. corporate/transactional in a screener or CB? Can you say that you really don't know but are excited for the opportunity to figure it out at X firm because they have great Y Litigation and Z transactional practice, or something along those lines. If you say you don't know how much does that limit your ability to give a good "why this firm" answer?

Thanks for taking the time!

[Anonymous User]

What is the best reason for saying you want to leave your 1L firm? Say both are large NYC firms, and your 1L firm has a very highly respected group in your practice area

I get that you don't want to say negative things, but what other reason could be credible?

The real reason I would consider other firms is better pay/benefits as well as maybe better work hours. But I don't think any of these would be appropriate answers either...

[Anonymous User]

Is there harm in expressing interest in multiple offices?

[Anonymous User]

Link to last years thread?

[whsy]

Thank you note after OCI ?

[TheThriller]

Link to last years thread?

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=214615

[law321]

I have median grades and so far no journal from T20 school but come from a background in IB and startups - worked on some pretty big deals. Currently have a 1L SA at an in-house gig. I've had a few interviews at V20 firms where my school alumni are partners. They've been frank and said my median grades and unknown status of journal hurts me - but my resume, work experience, and interview skills really make up for it - they just don't know how much that will carry at the point of hiring for next summer.

How, when submitting my resume, can I mitigate the impact of my grades on my resume and make sure they don't see that and ignore it - rather look at my experience as well? Should I simply keep the GPA off my resume and submit my transcript as well? Is it best if i network with partners to try and get them to go to bat to get an interview at obi or straight to the CB?

I'm very open in my CL about wanting to go into corporate, specifically PEG/VC, Startups, and M&A where I have extensive experience.

Tough question. Your questions seems more directed toward someone actually reviewing the resumes, etc submitted to determine who gets interviews (and I am generally not very involved in this process at this juncture). I can say, however, that (at least at my firm) every resume that comes in does get at least a brief look/review, and you have an uncommonly strong resume for a law student (which, in my view, may be enough to overcome median grades). I would spend ample time polishing your resume/cover letters and researching the firms coming to OCI to figure out which ones may be more forgiving with grade cut-offs.

Edit - With respect to the networking with partners portion of your question - if you have this opportunity, this would definitely help. But, I would not do this to the exclusion of submitting applications like everyone else. You may be a person who outperforms his/her law school grades. So, don't assume you are out of luck at this point (may be the case for some V20 firms, but not necessarily the case for many firms deeper in the V100).

[law321]

If you get a resume w/o a GPA on it, but you have their transcript. What's your initial gut reaction?

My gut reaction is not a positive one. I assume the GPA is extremely low (often much lower than it actually is). Leaving a GPA off a resume also makes it seem as though the candidate is trying to hide such information.

[law321]

What is a good answer to "why law"?

This may vary based on what I see on your resume. I think I answered this last year fairly thoroughly. But, I will restate here, the answer should be organized, clear, and logical and (generally align with your resume). "I like reading, writing, analyzing complex information, working with people to solve problems, and have a passion for issues related to XYZ legal speciality" would be fine. This answer is one you should be able to rattle off in your sleep.

Look up my old posts for more info on this issue.

[law321]

At schools where the first time you have access to a transcript is the moment a candidate walks in the door, how much time do you spend looking at it and when? (like while the candidate is in the room, during your break, just pass it onto recruiting, etc) Is it kind of guesswork figuring out what their GPA is and where they fall in the class at that point?

Very quick glance. I will have a general idea where the student falls in rank. But, once you are in the room with me, I care less about that and more about your interview. Thats a log way of saying, don't think about this and get distracted/thrown off in your interviews!

[law321]

As an international student at a lower t14, am I viewed any differently than a U.S. citizen? Is there anything I need to emphasize in an interview that is different from what other interviewees need to emphasize?

Nope.

[law321]

Do you look at students any differently if they have been networking with your firm and a partner (or two) that they networked with reached out to you before interviews with a positive review of that student?

Similarly, do you give any "bump" to students you interview who networked with you personally before even getting the interview?

In both of those cases, if there is a positive bump for such students, what mistakes have you seen that effectively render that bump useless?

Attempts to network with me or partners in the firm show the student actually wants my firm. So, definitely helps. What mistakes would render this bump useless? Hard to say in the abstract.

[BigZuck]

Afraid this might have been lost in the sea of anon abuse (seriously guys, every single post doesn't have to be anonymous) so I'm going to go ahead and bump it:

How should people go about learning about firms and what they do? Just reading through NALP and firm websites they all tend to bleed together- they all value diversity, they all do top notch work for sophisticated clients, they all work hard and play hard, blah, blah. Just a bunch of marketing stuff that's all kind of the same.

I get that some firms have different practices areas (one might do some admiralty law, one might have a large real estate practice). But I guess my question is how do we differentiate firms and where should we go to to find the types of information you think we should know?

[Anonymous User]

.