Biglaw lawyer taking questions Forum

[3rdYrLitigator]

Is facial hair a no-no if it's kept tidy?

Facial hair doesn't bother me.

[3rdYrLitigator]

Thanks.

Follow-up to favorableness question.

To your knowledge are the T25-50 OCI's shunned by the US Attorney and government agencies such as the SEC?

Thanks

No, not to my knowledge, but I have very limited knowledge in that area.

[Anonymous User]

Is facial hair a no-no if it's kept tidy?

Facial hair doesn't bother me.

Do you know if it bothers anyone else at your firm?

[03121202698008]

Do you prefer for applicants to have hobbies/interests listed on resume for talking points or unnecessary?

[3rdYrLitigator]

Is facial hair a no-no if it's kept tidy?

Facial hair doesn't bother me.

Do you know if it bothers anyone else at your firm?

Not that I know of. I really don't think anyone would care, we have plenty of partners with facial hair.

[3rdYrLitigator]

Do you prefer for applicants to have hobbies/interests listed on resume for talking points or unnecessary?

Well I prefer that the applicant have enough WE to fill up the page. I've never asked someone a question based on their interest, but I know some people like the section.

[2011Cycle]

Thank you (for insights and the time)

[3rdYrLitigator]

Thank you (for insights and the time)

No problem

[03121202698008]

.

[Anonymous User]

I've been working as a debt collector for 2/3 of a year & I hate it, but there aren't many unskilled jobs around: Is holding a job for more than a year a serious factor even if it's debt collection?

Realistic alternatives would be Macy's or Starbucks etc.. I really wanna leave, even with pay cut, but does "Macy's" as my most recent job on the resume just sound too childish?

[shmoo597]

I think those two would be roughly equal. However, we don't do OCI at a lot of the T25-40 so those kids won't even get a shot at an interview.

So your firm only looks at transfers if they are coming from a school you are familiar with?

[Unshake]

I think those two would be roughly equal. However, we don't do OCI at a lot of the T25-40 so those kids won't even get a shot at an interview.

So your firm only looks at transfers if they are coming from a school you are familiar with?

I took his statement to mean those kids won't even get a shot because no OCI is done at their old schools, so it is impossible for them to even get looked at. However, since they are rated roughly on equal ground, and have transferred to school that OCI is conducted at they would be seen as GPAish equals during OCI and thus fare similarly all else being equal.

[Anonymous User]

Seriously thank you for starting this thread. Stuff like this is why I love TLS.

Does the school you do OCI at have a lottery bid system? (At my school, it generally works out that we bid on a firm, the firm preselects 19 candidates for screeners and then 1 rejected candidate randomly gets a lottery bid).

I received a lottery bid (wasn't preselected, but for what it's worth my GPA is above the cutoff posted by the firm on their Symplicity profile), and I'm wondering if this interview is going to be a total non-starter for me, or if these ever turn out lucky. Any tips?

[Anonymous User]

If a transfer's grades are treated as though they are still at their old school, then I have a huge mountain to climb at OCI.

I transferred from a T3 to a T14. While most of my interviews are with local and/or lower ranked firms, I also have interviews with a firms that I know are reaches (1 V5, and a couple below V50). Is the stigma attached to the T3 insurmountable? What qualities could a T3-transfer candidate show to overcome the bias?

[3rdYrLitigator]

Do you prefer for applicants to have hobbies/interests listed on resume for talking points or unnecessary?

Well I prefer that the applicant have enough WE to fill up the page. I've never asked someone a question based on their interest, but I know some people like the section.

Thanks for all of the answers. Last question I promise, are you looking for strictly legal experience to fill the resume up? I have 10 years of military experience as a police officer. If I go into any kind of detail on deployments to Iraq, unique positions I held/accomplishments...it pushes me to two pages (when properly formatted). Would you recommend I go to two pages and include the detail or just simply list 10 years in the Air Force?

(If you are uncomfortable giving personal advice...I understand.)

Edit: Fixed most typos, typing while drinking isn't advised...

I like non-legal WE, military and police officer would be more interesting to me than paralegal work. I'm very anti 2 pages, but if it's something interesting like you describe it could be worth it. Plus 10 years deserves a little more space.

[3rdYrLitigator]

I've been working as a debt collector for 2/3 of a year & I hate it, but there aren't many unskilled jobs around: Is holding a job for more than a year a serious factor even if it's debt collection?

Realistic alternatives would be Macy's or Starbucks etc.. I really wanna leave, even with pay cut, but does "Macy's" as my most recent job on the resume just sound too childish?

I don't think I'd care that much if your resume showed a place for 10 months or so.

[3rdYrLitigator]

Seriously thank you for starting this thread. Stuff like this is why I love TLS.

Does the school you do OCI at have a lottery bid system? (At my school, it generally works out that we bid on a firm, the firm preselects 19 candidates for screeners and then 1 rejected candidate randomly gets a lottery bid).

I received a lottery bid (wasn't preselected, but for what it's worth my GPA is above the cutoff posted by the firm on their Symplicity profile), and I'm wondering if this interview is going to be a total non-starter for me, or if these ever turn out lucky. Any tips?

Pure lottery system, no preselects. From what I understand sometimes people do get lucky in situations like yours, but don't go in with high hopes.

[3rdYrLitigator]

If a transfer's grades are treated as though they are still at their old school, then I have a huge mountain to climb at OCI.

I transferred from a T3 to a T14. While most of my interviews are with local and/or lower ranked firms, I also have interviews with a firms that I know are reaches (1 V5, and a couple below V50). Is the stigma attached to the T3 insurmountable? What qualities could a T3-transfer candidate show to overcome the bias?

As an answer to this and the other transfer questions, first off I assume not all firms consider transfers the same way mine does. So there are firms that will give you a boost over people at your old school, maybe even some that might treat you the same as the T14 students. So don't go in thinking you're doomed, I know transfers had a lot of success at my old school. Just go in confident and be able to explain how you ended up at a T3 in the first place.

That said, some firms won't really give transfers much consideration beyond what they would have at their old school. It does make a certain amount of sense.

[Anonymous User]

Besides grades and credentials alone, what typically distinguishes those who receive callbacks from the rest?

Like the last answer, GPA is just one factor at least these days. You need to have a personality I wouldn't mind being around 12 hours a day. Back in the day a high GPA and an ok personality would get you a callback. These days the firm is a lot more selective about who they bring back.

You must not work at Cravath. I know two people that are working at Cravath this summer and they both have the personality of a wet paper towel.

[MiamiUG]

Besides grades and credentials alone, what typically distinguishes those who receive callbacks from the rest?

Like the last answer, GPA is just one factor at least these days. You need to have a personality I wouldn't mind being around 12 hours a day. Back in the day a high GPA and an ok personality would get you a callback. These days the firm is a lot more selective about who they bring back.

You must not work at Cravath. I know two people that are working at Cravath this summer and they both have the personality of a wet paper towel.

quite empirical

[Anonymous User]

How many foreigners are there at your firm?

I mean those attorneys who graduated from a US law school but is not an american citizen.

Plus, how much networking ability do you think matters in becoming partner?

You see, as an international student starting 3L, I don't have the fraternity connections that most fellow law school students acquired through college. (Well, I do have friends from my native country but I doubt that those connections will help me here in the U.S. professionally)

Also, I worry, does networking ability become more and more crucial as years go by in your career?

[Anonymous User]

How easy is it to lateral to DC if you are doing corporate work in NYC or Boston? Let's say you want to move after a few years for family reasons - is it as competitive as it was for people trying to get SAs there this year?

[3rdYrLitigator]

Watching the game, taking questions for a bit.

[Renzo]

Tips for being a successful SA?

[3rdYrLitigator]

Tips for being a successful SA?

Generic stuff, always make sure you understand your assignment, how long you're expected to take, when it's needed, and what format it should be in. You'd be surprised how often summers (and junior associates) don't do this and miss something.

Also, even if the requesting partner/attorney asks for something fairly informal, make sure you keep track of your research trail, all the cases you reviewed, and put it in a decent format.