V15 Partner/OCI Interviewer Answering Questions... Forum

[roranoa]

As a lawyer, do you get most of your stress from your work or from people around you(colleagues, clients,..etc)?

Are there times when you have "friction" with your colleagues for any reason?
(For example, I know for a fact that in banking, if your boss targets you to be his bitch he really messes you up. And this seems to be pretty common in that industry)

[Anonymous User]

As a lawyer, do you get most of your stress from your work or from people around you(colleagues, clients,..etc)?

Are there times when you have "friction" with your colleagues for any reason?
(For example, I know for a fact that in banking, if your boss targets you to be his bitch he really messes you up. And this seems to be pretty common in that industry)

Not the OP, just answering because I was talking about this the other day - I'm an SA, but from conversations with tons of lawyers in different capacities in and out of my firm, this seems to be very firm/practice group specific, and if you're coming off your 2L year rather than lateraling in, I'm not sure how you're supposed to know if there's a "problem" partner at the firm/group you're aiming for. Sure, associates can be jerks too, but associate jerk-ness seems to be born of a negative underlying environment, which comes either from firm-wide mismanagement or a jerk partner.

There's always going to be temporary friction with your colleagues, especially when you're all busy and stressed. But as for whether it's a pervasive problem, it really seems like that depends on the people.

[itbdvorm]

How much do grades matter at the CB stage? What about at the screener stage?

Depends on the firm. Usually screener is a harder cut to see if you have a chance at all. Then at CB they still matter but not as much.

[itbdvorm]

How important is interpersonal skills in the workplace?

Is it important that you smile all the time, being positive and making jokes and giving compliments to people every now and then?

Or do people not really care about all that as long as you don't bother them and provide good work product?

Incredibly important. I don't really know what you mean by the second one...but you won't find many partners at big firms without pretty good interpersonal skills. Just highly necessary (internal, dealing w/clients and dealing w/opposing counsel)

[itbdvorm]

Apologize if this was covered already, I didn't go through the whole thread, but I am trying to get an idea of what grade cutoffs are for my original school (currently ranked 26).

I am just outside top 10% at IUB (about 12%). I am looking to transfer, but I know that I'll be judged on the cutoff from my original school. Are most firms going to do a hard cutoff at top 10%? Or am I close enough to the top 10% to warrant consideration at most firms?

I have absolutely no idea.

[itbdvorm]

Thanks for taking questions! Not sure what you know about the LA market, but I figured it was worth a shot. 3.68 at UCLA/USC, no law review, planning to do moot court. Interested in firms like MoFo, Sidley Austin, Jones Day. Not shooting for QE or Gibson, but definitely aiming pretty high. I interview well and there's plenty to talk about from my resume (though one thing that makes me nervous that I would like to PM you about).

How should I approach bidding? I like to think I have a shot at these firms, but I don't want to end up with nothing because I didn't approach OCI with a strategy. Is it better to put firms with high cutoffs lower since less people will meet them with the median cutoff firms toward the top? And should expected class size affect where I rank a firm? Your insight and advice is greatly appreciated!

I could be wrong, but that seems like a pretty solid GPA, would think you'd have a shot at virtually all LA firms other than Munger/Irell/etc. I'd talk to some 2L friends

[itbdvorm]

As a lawyer, do you get most of your stress from your work or from people around you(colleagues, clients,..etc)?

Are there times when you have "friction" with your colleagues for any reason?
(For example, I know for a fact that in banking, if your boss targets you to be his bitch he really messes you up. And this seems to be pretty common in that industry)

I think that happens sometimes but it's not anywhere the same as in banking. There are some difficult personalities, sure, but I don't think people go out of their way to torture you like they do in banking. Could be it happens at other firms though.

[Anonymous User]

Any advice for someone with an outlier grade? Unexpectedly got a B- this semester. Rest of my grades are all A-/B+, currently just a hair above median at a T10 school. I know better than to try and blame anyone/get defensive about it, and I know I'm probably not in the running for your specific firm, but I was just wondering what goes through your mind when you see something like that.

Also, I'm straight through, leaning transactional, and planning to bid NY heavily.

[Julio_El_Chavo]

Any advice for someone with an outlier grade? Unexpectedly got a B- this semester. Rest of my grades are all A-/B+, currently just a hair above median at a T10 school. I know better than to try and blame anyone/get defensive about it, and I know I'm probably not in the running for your specific firm, but I was just wondering what goes through your mind when you see something like that.

Also, I'm straight through, leaning transactional, and planning to bid NY heavily.

The interviewers at my firm usually don't look at individual grades, from what I can tell. In fact, on CB interviews, a lot of interviewers just glance at your GPA to see if it's ridiculously high. If it's not, the other parts of your resume and how you perform during the interview are most important. In other words, if you can get your foot in the door with a CB interview, that means you've met the firm's GPA threshold and after that it's up to your to sell your unique skill set and talents to the firm.

[Anonymous User]

Thank you for taking questions. Any advice for non-traditional students? I am changing careers and going to law school in my mid-30's. Any ways this is a benefit to me? Any ways it is not a benefit?

Thanks.

[itbdvorm]

Any advice for someone with an outlier grade? Unexpectedly got a B- this semester. Rest of my grades are all A-/B+, currently just a hair above median at a T10 school. I know better than to try and blame anyone/get defensive about it, and I know I'm probably not in the running for your specific firm, but I was just wondering what goes through your mind when you see something like that.

Also, I'm straight through, leaning transactional, and planning to bid NY heavily.

The interviewers at my firm usually don't look at individual grades, from what I can tell. In fact, on CB interviews, a lot of interviewers just glance at your GPA to see if it's ridiculously high. If it's not, the other parts of your resume and how you perform during the interview are most important. In other words, if you can get your foot in the door with a CB interview, that means you've met the firm's GPA threshold and after that it's up to your to sell your unique skill set and talents to the firm.

Ours is vaguely similar though different people do / do not have GPA access. i would say generally not to worry too much about it. it'll hurt your GPA so for GPA cutoffs that'll matter, but it is what it is. Pretend it's not there and just even it out a little. I probably wouldn't really notice it during an interview.

[itbdvorm]

Thank you for taking questions. Any advice for non-traditional students? I am changing careers and going to law school in my mid-30's. Any ways this is a benefit to me? Any ways it is not a benefit?

Thanks.

Questions of what made you decide to go to law school, etc. will come up. You'll need to reinforce the idea of being willing to get whupped by mid-levels whom you may be 5-10 years older.

[Anonymous User]

Do you give a bump for JD/MBA students (if their area of interest is business law) or do you tend to look at them strictly based on their Law School GPA?

[itbdvorm]

Do you give a bump for JD/MBA students (if their area of interest is business law) or do you tend to look at them strictly based on their Law School GPA?

Prob a slight bump. Would say it's a solid idea to get one if you're considering it - less so because of its ability to help you get that first job, more so because of its ability to help you long term.

[Anonymous User]

Any advice for someone with an outlier grade? Unexpectedly got a B- this semester. Rest of my grades are all A-/B+, currently just a hair above median at a T10 school. I know better than to try and blame anyone/get defensive about it, and I know I'm probably not in the running for your specific firm, but I was just wondering what goes through your mind when you see something like that.

Also, I'm straight through, leaning transactional, and planning to bid NY heavily.

The interviewers at my firm usually don't look at individual grades, from what I can tell. In fact, on CB interviews, a lot of interviewers just glance at your GPA to see if it's ridiculously high. If it's not, the other parts of your resume and how you perform during the interview are most important. In other words, if you can get your foot in the door with a CB interview, that means you've met the firm's GPA threshold and after that it's up to your to sell your unique skill set and talents to the firm.

Ours is vaguely similar though different people do / do not have GPA access. i would say generally not to worry too much about it. it'll hurt your GPA so for GPA cutoffs that'll matter, but it is what it is. Pretend it's not there and just even it out a little. I probably wouldn't really notice it during an interview.

Cool, thanks, that helps ease my mind a little bit. Thankfully I'm still above that median cutoff for firms that have it.

[Anonymous User]

At or slightly below median grades at CCN, due strongly in part to significant (i.e. terminal) family illness. No excuses, but it wasn't the easiest thing to focus all the time. Upward grade trend nonetheless, but wondering if I should actually address this proactively in interviews. My career services office effectively told me to not bring it up unless asked, but I can't see why an interviewer would even notice since it's not mentioned anywhere on my resume; though transcript does give indication of special circumstances. Thoughts (for your firm or generally during interviews -- do I bring it up?). Otherwise, I've been told my resume, WE, and interviewing skills are very strong by current V10 Biglaw senior associate friends. Thank you in advance!

[itbdvorm]

At or slightly below median grades at CCN, due strongly in part to significant (i.e. terminal) family illness. No excuses, but it wasn't the easiest thing to focus all the time. Upward grade trend nonetheless, but wondering if I should actually address this proactively in interviews. My career services office effectively told me to not bring it up unless asked, but I can't see why an interviewer would even notice since it's not mentioned anywhere on my resume; though transcript does give indication of special circumstances. Thoughts (for your firm or generally during interviews -- do I bring it up?). Otherwise, I've been told my resume, WE, and interviewing skills are very strong by current V10 Biglaw senior associate friends. Thank you in advance!

Here's the thing - I don't think there's anything you can do this time around w/r/t the OCI process. I'd get the best job you can, and if you kill 2L year you can possibly "trade-up" (or trade-up a few years out).

Only thing you could (maybe) do is if you did amazingly well in a particular prof's class is talk to that prof, explain the issue, ask if he/she has any recommendations or contacts at a firm? That might help

[Anonymous User]

Is W&L a school that your firm looks favorably on...or do you need super high grades to even be considered?

[lawyerwannabe]

C'mon. Don't waste this person's time when you already know the answer.

V15s often require about top third grades or better at T14s. W&L is not a T14. Thus, you probably going to need super high grades (top 10%+) to get your foot in the door. Even assuming things have turned around for W&L ITE, the school probably only places about 20% into the NLJ250 and, obviously, that figure encompasses firms that are far less selective than V15 firms.

[LargeNinCharge]

Deleted.

[itbdvorm]

Hey thanks for doing this, incredibly helpful.

I'm currently an undergraduate at Georgetown. I'll be at a T6 law school in September 2013. I graduate this December; what should I do in the Spring and Summer to boost my resume for Biglaw OCI? I have pretty good law-related PI internships so far, and relatively extensive academic research experience.

I'm thinking of working on the Hill, but could try and nail down a consulting gig. I could also continue to work for my Professors. Thoughts?

I'd say best possible gigs are:

*I-banking summer position
*DOJ/DA position
*Consulting

Good Hill position is probably good too

good luck

[msblaw89]

Tag

[Anonymous User]

Going to a T25 this fall and want big law. have been out of school for 3 years, worked at a hedge fund and now am a senior consultant at a boutique regional consulting firm. to what extent will my work experience help me out?

[itbdvorm]

Going to a T25 this fall and want big law. have been out of school for 3 years, worked at a hedge fund and now am a senior consultant at a boutique regional consulting firm. to what extent will my work experience help me out?

medium. but not enough to overcome mediocre grades.

[Anonymous User]

Shall I look to network before I start law school this fall? If so, any tips? Thanks!