1L Summer Job Search C/O 2018 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Don't ask me how I know this, but at least some big firms look rather closely at your writing sample/cover letter. The TLS mantra of "as long as it's not shit, it's ok" is not universally true, at least for 1L SAs.

Single misuse of punctuation = ding?

[PeanutsNJam]

Not sure if a ding yet but a recruiting attorney who's a friend made clear that it was brought up by patherns

[BigZuck]

Not sure if a ding yet but a recruiting attorney who's a friend made clear that it was brought up by patherns

Cover letter I get but who is fine tooth combing the writing sample? Recruiters might have the time I guess but it surely ain't the patherns

[Anonymous User]

Did anyone get (or hear of) a callback/offer for a 1L position at Alston & Bird in ATL for this summer?

[Anonymous User]

Any input on big federal legal internship programs (SEC/DOJ) vs smaller agency legal internship programs? Any kind of substantive work difference? Do firms view the bigger ones as more preftigious?

[PeanutsNJam]

Not sure if a ding yet but a recruiting attorney who's a friend made clear that it was brought up by patherns

Cover letter I get but who is fine tooth combing the writing sample? Recruiters might have the time I guess but it surely ain't the patherns

My guess is the patherns told some bored secretary/paralegal to comb it. I was informed that my materials had "grammatical errors" and "typos".

The best I can find is inconsistent capitalization (neglecting to capitalize O in "office" once), contraction usage, and perhaps misused commas (I wouldn't know). But people are generally shit at proofing their own documents, so maybe I'm missing a bunch of huge typo errors. I used passive voice and active voice inconsistently too. Like, it's not a polished, flawless writing sample, but it's not littered with "hte" and "waht".

Edit - Went over cover letter. Was missing a word. For example, I mean to say "look at the", but wrote "look the". Buried in the middle. Took me 3 reads to spot that.

[Anonymous User]

Received some dings from Dallas firms in the last couple days, no interview (all mass mail - T20 (not UT), top 5%, ties to market):

Sidley
Gibson Dunn
Bracewell

[legallybrunette93]

Are DC judges no longer looking for interns? I sent out 80+ apps last week (because I'm a procrastinator.) I don't expect to get any calls because I heard DC is competitive. Does anyone here actually know?

I know Judge Boasberg is still hiring and Judge Collyer is not still hiring. I'm pretty sure Magistrate Judge Harvey is still hiring and so is Judge Contreras, but I'm not positive about those two. That's all I know for DC judges

[Anonymous User]

Received some dings from Dallas firms in the last couple days, no interview (all mass mail - T20 (not UT), top 5%, ties to market):

Sidley
Gibson Dunn
Bracewell

Any detail from any of them re: being full or anything?

[Anonymous User]

Received some dings from Dallas firms in the last couple days, no interview (all mass mail - T20 (not UT), top 5%, ties to market):

Sidley
Gibson Dunn
Bracewell

Any detail from any of them re: being full or anything?

Emails said full, apply 2l, etc.

[BigZuck]

Received some dings from Dallas firms in the last couple days, no interview (all mass mail - T20 (not UT), top 5%, ties to market):

Sidley
Gibson Dunn
Bracewell

Any detail from any of them re: being full or anything?

From my experience, them saying they are full almost certainly means nothing

[RSN]

Did anyone get (or hear of) a callback/offer for a 1L position at Alston & Bird in ATL for this summer?

Yes, know someone who has a callback

[smaug]

Don't ask me how I know this, but at least some big firms look rather closely at your writing sample/cover letter. The TLS mantra of "as long as it's not shit, it's ok" is not universally true, at least for 1L SAs.

Single misuse of punctuation = ding?

If the wrong person sees it, definitely. Get someone else to proofread your shit.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for response

[smaug]

It's going to be person to person, just like it'll be once you're working. Some lawyers absolute hate typos. They think they are a sign that you're not careful and many other things.

Some don't care.

Enough care that you should have a friend look over your stuff/you should meet with your career service office and have them look through your letters. For longer writing samples, hopefully it's something that a professor has already gone through.

People care deeply about this shit.

[enibs]

Could any 2/3L or attorney speak to whether getting dinged on a 1L SA CB make a firm less likely to give a CB at OCI? Can see it going both ways as far being a known quantity

Well I know they "encourage you to apply for next summer" every single time so take that for what it's worth. I've heard it a few times now. It is getting uncomfortably close to "It's not you, it's me."

It's impossible to know whether getting dinged on a 1L SA CB makes it more or less likely that you'll get a CB at OCI, because you don't know why you were dinged. Just to give you the two ends of the spectrum: (1) they loved you and really wanted to give you an offer, but they had only one open spot and there was someone else they loved just the slighest bit more or (2) everyone you met couldn't stand you and couldn't wait to get you out of their office. Odds are you fall somewhere in between these two endpoints. If you're at or near the first end, you'll be getting a CB at OCI next summer and if you're at or near the second end, you won't. But no matter where you fall on the spectrum, you'll be "encouraged to apply for next summer" because there's no downside to the firm in saying that to everyone and no upside in saying anything else.

[Glasseyes]

It's going to be person to person, just like it'll be once you're working. Some lawyers absolute hate typos. They think they are a sign that you're not careful and many other things.

Some don't care.

Enough care that you should have a friend look over your stuff/you should meet with your career service office and have them look through your letters. For longer writing samples, hopefully it's something that a professor has already gone through.

People care deeply about this shit.

Yeah I had a callback go from great to weird when a partner suddenly started ranting about how he has no time for people who can't write—his eyes glazed over, like he was picturing reams of shitty memos from undeserving first years. I took that as my cue to hand him my writing sample. He read silently for a few minutes while I just sat there; fortunately the recruiter came and saved me when 30 mins was up. Got the offer.

Meanwhile some firms didn't even ask for the sample.

[PeanutsNJam]

So to be clear- are contractions a style thing, or an actual "grammatical error"? (I'm, they're, can't, etc.) Just feels so robotic if you write "I am" all the time in a cover letter. Idk. I have a few contractions in my writing sample that I submitted so I guess I'm not working in a firm this summer lulz.

[BigZuck]

So to be clear- are contractions a style thing, or an actual "grammatical error"? (I'm, they're, can't, etc.) Just feels so robotic if you write "I am" all the time in a cover letter. Idk. I have a few contractions in my writing sample that I submitted so I guess I'm not working in a firm this summer lulz.

Depends on who you ask

I'm cool with contractions. Smaug looks to be cool with it too (at least on TLS posts). Is pathern cool with it in your legal writing? Maybe. Maybe not.

The risk averse thing to do might be to avoid contractions I guess. I'm a bit skeptical that writing samples are scrutinized very deeply (or even read at all) as a general rule but as with all things law school related: it depends.

I wouldn't sweat it too much. Just keep blasting away.

[kade]

How much do law clerk positions usually pay; how much per hour should we be asking for? Small boutiques, large markets

[Anonymous User]

Jones Day (Boston) 1L SA offer! Going to accept; feeling very grateful right now.
Stats:
HLS, grades: 5 Hs, non-diverse, w/e highly unique but not relevant to law/business.
Good luck to those still waiting!

[smaug]

So to be clear- are contractions a style thing, or an actual "grammatical error"? (I'm, they're, can't, etc.) Just feels so robotic if you write "I am" all the time in a cover letter. Idk. I have a few contractions in my writing sample that I submitted so I guess I'm not working in a firm this summer lulz.

I would not use them in a formal letter.

I definitely would not use them in a formal writing sample.

[GreenEggs]

So to be clear- are contractions a style thing, or an actual "grammatical error"? (I'm, they're, can't, etc.) Just feels so robotic if you write "I am" all the time in a cover letter. Idk. I have a few contractions in my writing sample that I submitted so I guess I'm not working in a firm this summer lulz.

I would not use them in a formal letter.

Yeah I would stay away from using any contractions in any formal application. If you feel robotic writing "I am" all the time, start trying to vary your sentences.

[A. Nony Mouse]

So to be clear- are contractions a style thing, or an actual "grammatical error"? (I'm, they're, can't, etc.) Just feels so robotic if you write "I am" all the time in a cover letter. Idk. I have a few contractions in my writing sample that I submitted so I guess I'm not working in a firm this summer lulz.

I would not use them in a formal letter.

I definitely would not use them in a formal writing sample.

Absolutely to both of these.

[organic1992]

Anyone hear anything from White & Case for 1L SA? Had a CB 2 weeks ago.