law firm employment: depends on law school or grades? Forum

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bottledwater

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law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by bottledwater » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:34 pm

I have a general question about legal employment, summer associate or long-term employment.

I've heard from other people that in order to land a good job ($100K+ salary/good pay during the summer/prestigious law firm), employers look at the law school you go to. I've also heard that your GPA is also important.

So is it true that top law schools students or graduates are a priority to employers? What about grades? Shouldn't grades be the important factor at the end? What if you go to an average school but get good grades?

What else do employers look at besides law school and GPA?

Thank you in advance. =)

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General Tso

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by General Tso » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:43 pm

it depends on both. the worse your school, the better grades you need. for a lower T2, you need to be top 10% to land a really good job. for a school in the 20-50 range, you probably need to be in the top 1/3. T20 - usually top 1/2 is in really good shape. Often the bottom 1/2 is also in good shape out of T14.

of course you know the economy is terrible right now, so at this point it is hard to base future expectations on past results

gollymolly

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by gollymolly » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:47 pm

.
Last edited by gollymolly on Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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thesealocust

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by thesealocust » Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:56 pm

edit: never mind
Last edited by thesealocust on Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Chem_PhD

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by Chem_PhD » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:44 pm

for a lower T2, you need to be top 10% to land a really good job. for a school in the 20-50 range, you probably need to be in the top 1/3. T20 - usually top 1/2 is in really good shape. Often the bottom 1/2 is also in good shape out of T14.
Hahahaha... not even close. Perhaps 3 years ago...

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edgarderby

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by edgarderby » Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:06 pm

*CLASS OF 2005*


THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN STOP POSTING IT JESUS CHRIST THINK OF THE CHILDREN

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thesealocust

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by thesealocust » Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:12 pm

edit: never mind
Last edited by thesealocust on Wed Jun 30, 2010 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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edgarderby

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by edgarderby » Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:13 pm

thesealocust wrote:
edgarderby wrote:
*CLASS OF 2005*


THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN STOP POSTING IT JESUS CHRIST THINK OF THE CHILDREN
Sure, but it still demonstrates beautifully the relationship between school and grades.
...how? I know plenty of law review kids who struck out at OCI this year.

gregw8705

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by gregw8705 » Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:55 pm

ITE, networking is probably the most important legal employment related factor.

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09042014

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by 09042014 » Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:59 pm

edgarderby wrote:
thesealocust wrote:
edgarderby wrote:
*CLASS OF 2005*


THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN STOP POSTING IT JESUS CHRIST THINK OF THE CHILDREN
Sure, but it still demonstrates beautifully the relationship between school and grades.
...how? I know plenty of law review kids who struck out at OCI this year.
I heard it was 10% at ND to even have a shot this year. Is that accurate?

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nealric

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by nealric » Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:54 am

ITE, networking is probably the most important legal employment related factor.
I wouldn't call it the most important- at least for biglaw.

Candidate A: All Hs from Yale, has no connections
Candidate B: 2.5 from the local TTT, best friends with a hiring partner

Candidate A is almost certain to get biglaw, while candidate B is almost certain NOT to get biglaw. Or even a more realistic scenario:

Candidate A: 3.4 from Duke, no connections
Candidate B: 3.2 from GW, best friends with a hiring partner

Candidate A still is probably going to win. This is because firms have certain hiring cutoffs based on school/grades that are very difficult to significantly bend (especially ITE). That hiring partner friend still has to go to her hiring committee and justify why she wants to take a "less qualified" applicant. True, there are exceptions (cue Matthies), but they are exceedingly rare- especially in major markets. I've literally seen a chart that one firm used giving different percentile cutoffs for each school.

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edgarderby

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by edgarderby » Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:52 am

Desert Fox wrote:
edgarderby wrote:
thesealocust wrote:
edgarderby wrote: *CLASS OF 2005*


THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN STOP POSTING IT JESUS CHRIST THINK OF THE CHILDREN
Sure, but it still demonstrates beautifully the relationship between school and grades.
...how? I know plenty of law review kids who struck out at OCI this year.
I heard it was 10% at ND to even have a shot this year. Is that accurate?[/quote

Hard to estimate top 10% since we don't rank, but law review is higher than that, and most of them struck out...so I'd say top 5% for major markets.

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TTT-LS

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by TTT-LS » Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:28 pm

.
Last edited by TTT-LS on Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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09042014

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by 09042014 » Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:30 pm

TTT-LS wrote:
edgarderby wrote:law review is higher than that, and most of them struck out...so I'd say top 5% for major markets.
Holy shit. Really? NOTE TO CLASS OF 2013 APPLICANTS.
I was worried about Eding at Nothwestern because I might have got money at somewhere like WUSTL, UIUC or ND, but I'm glad I didn't. Most LR striking out? Holy fucking shit is right.

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rayiner

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by rayiner » Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:42 pm

edgarderby wrote:Hard to estimate top 10% since we don't rank, but law review is higher than that, and most of them struck out...so I'd say top 5% for major markets.
Holy balls.

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General Tso

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by General Tso » Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:57 am

oh yeah? well at my school only top 0.2% gets work in major markets.

top that tough guy

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OperaSoprano

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by OperaSoprano » Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:10 am

swheat wrote:oh yeah? well at my school only top 0.2% gets work in major markets.

top that tough guy
Wait, what? Elaborate please.

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General Tso

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by General Tso » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:01 am

OperaSoprano wrote:
swheat wrote:oh yeah? well at my school only top 0.2% gets work in major markets.

top that tough guy
Wait, what? Elaborate please.
Naw I was just kidding...top 15% at Hastings is still doing quite well as far as I know.

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reasonable_man

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by reasonable_man » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:04 am

ITT.... I just laugh.

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General Tso

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by General Tso » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:09 am

reasonable_man wrote:ITT.... I just laugh.
you seem to laugh at a lot of unfunny things lately

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reasonable_man

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by reasonable_man » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:20 am

swheat wrote:
reasonable_man wrote:ITT.... I just laugh.
you seem to laugh at a lot of unfunny things lately

Not really... This is pretty funny.. A thread asking about whether grades and school ranking is important? That's pretty funny as the answer should be pretty fucking obvious; no?

As for the breakdown of the thread to the conversation of ITE; if that stopped me from laughing at something else that's funny, I wouldn't really get to laugh anymore, now would I? ITE is everywhere. Not going to let it stop me from laughing at something else.

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thesealocust

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by thesealocust » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:21 am

edit: never mind
Last edited by thesealocust on Wed Jun 30, 2010 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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reasonable_man

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by reasonable_man » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:24 am

thesealocust wrote:
reasonable_man wrote:ITE is everywhere. Not going to let it stop me from laughing at something else.
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los blancos

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by los blancos » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:24 am

edgarderby wrote:Hard to estimate top 10% since we don't rank, but law review is higher than that, and most of them struck out...so I'd say top 5% for major markets.

I'm not going to law school anymore.

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General Tso

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Re: law firm employment: depends on law school or grades?

Post by General Tso » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:37 am

reasonable_man wrote:
swheat wrote:
reasonable_man wrote:ITT.... I just laugh.
you seem to laugh at a lot of unfunny things lately

Not really... This is pretty funny.. A thread asking about whether grades and school ranking is important? That's pretty funny as the answer should be pretty fucking obvious; no?

As for the breakdown of the thread to the conversation of ITE; if that stopped me from laughing at something else that's funny, I wouldn't really get to laugh anymore, now would I? ITE is everywhere. Not going to let it stop me from laughing at something else.
Oh yeah I agree dumb thread. I thought you were laughing about the shitty OCI outcomes.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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