T14 No Summer Associate. HELP Forum

[XxSpyKEx]

a 2L. I never thought I would be in this situation. I have a few non-SA options but don't know how to even go about choosing between them.
a 2L. I never thought I would be in this situation. I have a few non-SA options but don't know how to even go about choosing between them.

You take whichever one gives you a shot at post-grad employment. But of course odds are the jobs do not since SA is pretty much the only way that happens. So take the job that gives you some $ so you can at least put a few thousand in the bank. If unpaid, just take one that is a good fit and might play well for a clerkship.

Keep grades up and get published on whatever journal you're on. At this point your goal should be getting a clerkship. You realistically have no other options.

There's no way OP is going to get a fed clerkship (or state supreme court) to backdoor his way into biglaw. There were roughly 410,000 applications for federal clerkships last year for 1200 spots. It was roughly a 67% increase in clerkship apps from the year before. This year is predicted to be much, much more competitive. The bottom line is if you couldn't get biglaw, there is no way you are getting a federal clerkship (not even for a magistrate or specialty judge).

[Anonymous User]

Yeah they have only hired one or two people right out of law school. So chances are...I will not be hired by this firm...who knows though...its through a connection anyway. But yeah...I don't know...

At the minimum it is experience in private practice and will be more helpful in terms of finding any paid job at a law firm after then any of your other options (including interning for a judge).

[SteelReserve]

There's no way OP is going to get a fed clerkship (or state supreme court) to backdoor his way into biglaw. There were roughly 410,000 applications for federal clerkships last year for 1200 spots. It was roughly a 67% increase in clerkship apps from the year before. This year is predicted to be much, much more competitive. The bottom line is if you couldn't get biglaw, there is no way you are getting a federal clerkship (not even for a magistrate or specialty judge).

At the time of this post I made, I did not not yet know he was bottom 40% at his school--he had not posted that info. Not being defensive, I just wanted to maintain my credibility and yes I agree. As I've said elsewhere, it's quite a catch 22: the only backdoor for a fairly new grad into biglaw is through a fed clerkship, yet if you didn't have the grades for biglaw, you're not getting a fed clerkship.

Just got done reading a thread where a bunch of 0Ls trying to tell reasonable_man how the legal market works, so I'm especially concerned about credibility right now!

[reverendt]

I think the key issue for the OP and many others is getting PAST thinking about biglaw, and just focusing on making yourself marketable to NON-biglaw employers...

[XxSpyKEx]

There's no way OP is going to get a fed clerkship (or state supreme court) to backdoor his way into biglaw. There were roughly 410,000 applications for federal clerkships last year for 1200 spots. It was roughly a 67% increase in clerkship apps from the year before. This year is predicted to be much, much more competitive. The bottom line is if you couldn't get biglaw, there is no way you are getting a federal clerkship (not even for a magistrate or specialty judge).

At the time of this post I made, I did not not yet know he was bottom 40% at his school--he had not posted that info. Not being defensive, I just wanted to maintain my credibility and yes I agree. As I've said elsewhere, it's quite a catch 22: the only backdoor for a fairly new grad into biglaw is through a fed clerkship, yet if you didn't have the grades for biglaw, you're not getting a fed clerkship.

Just got done reading a thread where a bunch of 0Ls trying to tell reasonable_man how the legal market works, so I'm especially concerned about credibility right now!

lol. It's all good.

I actually went to this clerkship panel and the profs were saying a few years ago that practically no judges were following the federal hiring plan and that most of clerkship hiring was going on during 2L year. It’s too bad that law school’s rebelled against this. It would make life so much better for everyone if that was how it still was because the people who didn’t get biglaw would also know right in the beginning of their 2nd year that a fed clerkship was out as well (and that they are effectively fucked as far as working for a firm, and be able to make a decision whether they should continue law school or drop out with only being 1 year in). Additionally, the people who did get biglaw and a federal clerkship would be able to slack off their last 2 years of law school. It really would be better for everyone if they ditched that hiring plan. But I guess the reason law schools all made their gay little pact to rebel against not following the federal hiring plan is because they manage to keep those students around that didn’t get biglaw with a false illusion of hope.

Got a link to that thread with reasonable_man (sounds like it could be an interesting read)?

I

[rando]

I actually went to this clerkship panel and the profs were saying a few years ago that practically no judges were following the federal hiring plan and that most of clerkship hiring was going on during 2L year. It’s too bad that law school’s rebelled against this. It would make life so much better for everyone if that was how it still was because the people who didn’t get biglaw would also know right in the beginning of their 2nd year that a fed clerkship was out as well (and that they are effectively fucked as far as working for a firm, and be able to make a decision whether they should continue law school or drop out with only being 1 year in). Additionally, the people who did get biglaw and a federal clerkship would be able to slack off their last 2 years of law school. It really would be better for everyone if they ditched that hiring plan. But I guess the reason law schools all made their gay little pact to rebel against not following the federal hiring plan is because they manage to keep those students around that didn’t get biglaw with a false illusion of hope.

I

Law schools are keeping students around that didn't get biglaw? Because they are going to drop out? I don't think that is the main concern. The reason for the hiring plan is to keep the playing field level (supposedly) and maintain a smooth process. Right now it is a total disaster. And if everyone worked on the hiring plan then the hiring would be done like Fall OCI, which, for better or for worse, runs quite smoothly. As it is now a little less than half the judges are "off-plan" and start hiring any time from October of 2L year through August. For those judges that are "on-plan" everyone gets hired at the same time in September. So for a student applying, there is an inordinate amount of research, applications, etc. to be done on a schedule that is up to 10 months long. That is not a good process, and the hiring plan is not the problem.

[SteelReserve]

Got a link to that thread with reasonable_man (sounds like it could be an interesting read)?

I didn't post in it so I don't remember where it was, but it basically went like this:

RM made his post about real-life rankings going T3>T10>T14>T30>McDonalds>Law Schools
0Ls (presumably entering schools 51-100) reacted by saying Tier1/2 is real and is way better than Tier 3 and Tier 4 in terms of employment prospects

EDIT: Oh and said 0Ls who refuse to accept reality also called RM a loser and a crappy lawyer for having the time to post on an internet board.

[reverendt]

Got a link to that thread with reasonable_man (sounds like it could be an interesting read)?

I didn't post in it so I don't remember where it was, but it basically went like this:

RM made his post about real-life rankings going T3>T10>T14>T30>McDonalds>Law Schools
0Ls (presumably entering schools 51-100) reacted by saying Tier1/2 is real and is way better than Tier 3 and Tier 4 in terms of employment prospects

EDIT: Oh and said 0Ls who refuse to accept reality also called RM a loser and a crappy lawyer for having the time to post on an internet board.

Actually.....tier 1/2 IS real and to a large extent IS better then 3/4 for career prospects.
The personal attacks on RM seem uncalled for.

[XxSpyKEx]

Got a link to that thread with reasonable_man (sounds like it could be an interesting read)?

I didn't post in it so I don't remember where it was, but it basically went like this:

RM made his post about real-life rankings going T3>T10>T14>T30>McDonalds>Law Schools
0Ls (presumably entering schools 51-100) reacted by saying Tier1/2 is real and is way better than Tier 3 and Tier 4 in terms of employment prospects

EDIT: Oh and said 0Ls who refuse to accept reality also called RM a loser and a crappy lawyer for having the time to post on an internet board.

haha.

reverendt- RM had is right. However, I would modify it to some extent to the rankings being: T3>T10>T14>T30>McDonalds>Jizz Mopping crack head> Law schools.