Law firm recruiter answering questions for a bit Forum

[Anonymous User]

Two quick questions:

1) I was asked by a firm to come to a screening interview at their firm and the recruiter sending the email asked that I bring a writing sample. Once I arrived I was interviewed by a partner and associate for a short period of time and the writing sample never came up, so I never gave it to them. Should I have offered it out of the blue?

2) Not sure how similar private and government interviewing are, but I would appreciate whatever advice anyone can give. I have an interview with a component of DOJ tomorrow for a fall internship. I emailed them a writing sample, transcript, cover letter, resume, and references in order to get the interview. I have no updates on any of those items, do I still need to bring a copy of each just in case?

2b) If not, what should I take?

[lawfirmrecruiter]

I think we all really appreciate your willingness to provide help in our career search. This truly reinforces your prior statement that you became a recruiter to help others realize their goals of being a lawyer.

My question is this, I go to a school ranked around 25-30 and my GPA places me around the top 15%. However, I'm being offered interviews by V10 firms and other firms who state that their required cutoff is top 10% - something doesn't seem right. I have a pretty good feeling that this is because I'm an underrepresented minority with a rather lengthy resume, as well as some interesting achievements. I was wondering if these firms who I'm truly out of the traditional ballpark for are actually seriously considering hiring me or if they're just providing me that proverbial snowball's chance to wow in an interview. In other words, if a candidate seemed interesting enough to interview although their grades are not exactly what your firms demands, does this mean you really want to hire this candidate or that you're just cracking the door a bit?

I would say that if you have an interview, you have a chance. Attorney time is a very valuable commodity and we don't waste it.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

I have a question about cover letters before EIP... Columbia uses a pure lottery system for scheduling/bidding on interviews, and only a handful of firms require cover letters in addition to resumes. Furthermore, our Career Services has told me that cover letters are simply not necessary. However, I have prepared and am considering sending cover letters to all of the firms that I've landed interviews with, simply to introduce myself/attempt to get on their radar. Is this worthwhile? Or does the negative impact of, say, a mistake, outweigh any potential positives to be gained given that I already have the interviews scheduled? How would you react to receiving a cover letter before EIP if you know that you'll be meeting the person in only a few days?

Where possible, I would email these letters directly to the attorney who is listed as the interviewer and cc the relevant recruiter. Just FYI, I'm a rising 2L at Columbia, with below median grades (A-, B+, then all B's), and am looking for any edge at all in what could prove to be a rough interview cycle considering my grades.

Thoughts? Thank you in advance.

Hoping the Recruiter will respond to this later, but anyone else have thoughts on the above in the meantime?

I don't really see how this could be a negative unless you write a truly awful letter. Anything you can do to keep yourself top of mind is a good thing.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

How would you look at it if a Partner called from another office and "put in the good word" for me before the interview?

I really did earn the review on merit - it isn't my uncle's friend from college or anything like that. Is this a hiring faux pas, or impressive, or neither?

Completely depends on the partner, but in general, it would be a good thing.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

What are your thoughts on the "Tell me about yourself" question? What are interviewers looking for when they ask it?

Personally I think it is a lazy question and entirely too open ended. Try to come up with a succinct description of your work and school experience.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

I've had one interview so far, I think it went well, but I have more down the road.

One of the questions I was asked was, "What do you like about law school?"

My answer was, "I enjoy the friendship and camraderie law school produces. I like that, unlike my undergraduate work, teamwork and cooperation were essential to maserting the material and preparing for exams. Also, because there isn't usually a correct answer, but rather, better and worse answers, the imprtant role discussion and multiple view points play in achieving the best result."

Is this too warm and fuzzy? Should I change it in the future?

Actually I think this is a very insightful answer. Good job.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Two quick questions:

1) I was asked by a firm to come to a screening interview at their firm and the recruiter sending the email asked that I bring a writing sample. Once I arrived I was interviewed by a partner and associate for a short period of time and the writing sample never came up, so I never gave it to them. Should I have offered it out of the blue?

2) Not sure how similar private and government interviewing are, but I would appreciate whatever advice anyone can give. I have an interview with a component of DOJ tomorrow for a fall internship. I emailed them a writing sample, transcript, cover letter, resume, and references in order to get the interview. I have no updates on any of those items, do I still need to bring a copy of each just in case?

2b) If not, what should I take?

1. I would email it directly to the recruiter

2. I would take copies of each just in case

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Sorry I have been MIA. Really busy time right now but I will do my best to keep up with your questions.

[Anonymous User]

When people talk about having ties to a market, is something like this enough:

• Visited the area several summers as a teenager
• Have a lot of extended family in the area (none of which, unfortunately, I keep in touch with)
• Lived in the state (not in city where law work is) for half a year as a teenager
• Have family and want to raise kids in the area

The market I'm interested in is a secondary market and I will be coming from a T14.

edit: I can't seem to make the list function work. Sorry.

I think you might have missed this one.

Thanks for doing this!

[Anonymous User]

thanks for taking our questions!

i studied at ut austin for undergrad, but i'm not from texas, and i'm going to law school in a different state. i'm looking to apply at an austin firm, and i'll definitely play up how much i loved austin, have great friends there, and would love to go back there to work. should i also mention my friends/family in houston and dallas in the cover letter (for example, i spent summers in dallas as a kid), or should i just focus on austin?

[lawfirmrecruiter]

When people talk about having ties to a market, is something like this enough:

• Visited the area several summers as a teenager
• Have a lot of extended family in the area (none of which, unfortunately, I keep in touch with)
• Lived in the state (not in city where law work is) for half a year as a teenager
• Have family and want to raise kids in the area

The market I'm interested in is a secondary market and I will be coming from a T14.

edit: I can't seem to make the list function work. Sorry.

I think you might have missed this one.

Thanks for doing this!

I would stick with 2 and 4

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for answering these questions. I'm wondering if one of ur big clients asked u to take someone on as ur sa and ur firm decides to give him an interview is it usually courtesy or serious contention?

[Anonymous User]

I'm a rising 3L and I was fortunate enough to obtain an offer from my summer employer (a V5). I'm looking to make the move to a different market, though, and am considering sending off a handful of applications to a very specific set of firms. Would it be best to send off my materials ASAP or is there some benefit to waiting until closer to graduation when firms may have a better idea of their hiring needs?

Thanks so much for your time.

[nymario]

Thanks for answering these questions. I'm wondering if one of ur big clients asked u to take someone on as ur sa and ur firm decides to give him an interview is it usually courtesy or serious contention?

Good thing you posted this anon -- If I were doing hiring, I would never, ever hire someone who typed like this in any context.

[TommyK]

Thanks for answering these questions. I'm wondering if one of ur big clients asked u to take someone on as ur sa and ur firm decides to give him an interview is it usually courtesy or serious contention?

Good thing you posted this anon -- If I were doing hiring, I would never, ever hire someone who typed like this in any context.

Hey, come on. This is actually a useful thread. Don't fuck it up with typical TLS bullshit.

[Anonymous User]

I just got offered an (unpaid) fall internship with the U.S. Attorney's Office. It would take around 15-20 hours a week, and I'm not sure I want to load up like that on my already limited time.

Is that something that is a decent resume boost, or is it nothing special, really?

Edit - or anyone else who might know, please feel free to chime in.

[Anonymous User]

Law firm recruiter, I have very good grades and two CBs coming up next week. I'm also quite social and had almost all personal conversations with my OCI interviewers. If this begins to happen at the CB would you recommend that I just go with it or keep trying to find ways to highlight my achievements? Thank you for doing this thread!

[Anonymous User]

OP, I was hoping to get our perspective on something. I did a callback with a firm in a secondary market where I live, and they made me an offer a few hours after the interview. They obviously liked me if they were willing to make me an offer so soon. But then I heard that NALP guidelines dictate that they only need to keep the offer open for 28 days. So does the whole situation sound shady to you (i.e that they made me this offer just to force me into making a decision before I complete my callbacks with other firms that hire on a more traditional schedule)? I was excited about the offer, and certainly liked the firm, but I am a bit uncomfortable with making a decision before I can unbiasedly consider and compare all options available. Just wondering what "vibe" you get from this scenario.

[Anonymous User]

So, I've been interviewing for the past two weeks in my home markets (markets which my school has limited access to, but they know my school).

Almost every one has been a callback, and they've all told me that because OCI hasn't started yet for the most part, I won't be hearing for at least two weeks. Is there a disadvantage to interviewing so early? Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

OP, I was hoping to get our perspective on something. I did a callback with a firm in a secondary market where I live, and they made me an offer a few hours after the interview. They obviously liked me if they were willing to make me an offer so soon. But then I heard that NALP guidelines dictate that they only need to keep the offer open for 28 days. So does the whole situation sound shady to you (i.e that they made me this offer just to force me into making a decision before I complete my callbacks with other firms that hire on a more traditional schedule)? I was excited about the offer, and certainly liked the firm, but I am a bit uncomfortable with making a decision before I can unbiasedly consider and compare all options available. Just wondering what "vibe" you get from this scenario.

Just put in an application to DoJ Honors or some other PI and then they have to hold it open until the spring.

[Anonymous User]

OP, I was hoping to get our perspective on something. I did a callback with a firm in a secondary market where I live, and they made me an offer a few hours after the interview. They obviously liked me if they were willing to make me an offer so soon. But then I heard that NALP guidelines dictate that they only need to keep the offer open for 28 days. So does the whole situation sound shady to you (i.e that they made me this offer just to force me into making a decision before I complete my callbacks with other firms that hire on a more traditional schedule)? I was excited about the offer, and certainly liked the firm, but I am a bit uncomfortable with making a decision before I can unbiasedly consider and compare all options available. Just wondering what "vibe" you get from this scenario.

Just put in an application to DoJ Honors or some other PI and then they have to hold it open until the spring.

Just by virtue of applying to a single PI job, the 28 day deadline for all offers goes out the window and they are forced to keep them open until the spring? Really?

And on another note, I'd still like to get OP's opinion on what vibe he gets from this situation, and whether he thinks its shady. I'm more looking to find out if it says something about the firm, more so than what I should do about it.

[StyrofoamWar]

To echo everyone else here, thanks for taking the time to do this, it's much appreciated.

My question has to do with the gap between OCI and callbacks. How long does it generally take for a firm to extend all of their call back offers? In other words, I guess what I'm asking is how long after an interview should we start to get worried if we haven't gotten a call?

Sorry if the question has already been asked, I tried to search through the different pages and couldn't find anything but totally possible I missed something

[Anonymous User]

how do firms view you if you were top 10%, but dropped to top 25% due to summer classes?
grades just came out, and although they are not bad, they dropped my overall GPA outside of top 10%.
However, I'm still supposed to put top 10% on my resume (w/ the honors), but my updated transcript will not reflect that.

will they now look at my like i am below top 10%?

[lawfirmrecruiter]

Thanks for answering these questions. I'm wondering if one of ur big clients asked u to take someone on as ur sa and ur firm decides to give him an interview is it usually courtesy or serious contention?

Depends on your qualifications.

[lawfirmrecruiter]

I'm a rising 3L and I was fortunate enough to obtain an offer from my summer employer (a V5). I'm looking to make the move to a different market, though, and am considering sending off a handful of applications to a very specific set of firms. Would it be best to send off my materials ASAP or is there some benefit to waiting until closer to graduation when firms may have a better idea of their hiring needs?

Thanks so much for your time.

I'd go ahead and send now.