Top Law Schools

How's it going?

My school has been doing financial aid exit counseling for graduating students. It's painful. Many, many people do not have jobs yet. Certainly most people I know. Meanwhile, the school has been strongly campaigning for donations for the "senior gift." Tacky?

I am working on some employment prospects through people I know, but no dice yet. I am staying at my place through the bar exam, but if I am not employed after that, I'm packing up and moving to my mom's. I'm lucky to have that option though it still feels demoralizing.

What's your plan, jobless 3Ls?

I'm a 2L not a 3L so I cannot help here except to say I feel for you and wish you the best--hopefully things will turn around.

Did you do the clerkship cycle?

There is an NYT article today about "boomerang" kids who are moving back with the parents after graduation. I think that's going to be the situation for a lot of graduating 3Ls.

Meanwhile, the school has been strongly campaigning for donations for the "senior gift." Tacky?

If it's for the school itself and not some kind of scholarship fund, I do kind of agree. At the same time, the school has probably been doing this for years, and come to rely on it for some program or another. They can't really be expected to stop fundraising just because there is a recession on.

I'm in the same boat. Working on a few leads, decided to take an unpaid internship over the summer. It feels a bit overwhelming at times.

I really, really don't want to have to move in with my parents after all this.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=111208

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bernie shmegma wrote:http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=111208

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I vote most if not all these options will leave you jobless as a 3L.

hth.

bernie shmegma wrote:http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=111208

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I vote you stay out of the employment forum.

Seriously, though. I'm on track to graduate w/ honors from a T-14, have made (almost) all the right moves academically, and was told repeatedly that I was doing a great job as a summer associate.

I'm still finding myself anonymously bitching about my terrible job prospects 2 months before graduation. Take that as my response to your poll.

You guys should add a poll and see what ranks of schools are having trouble getting their students jobs (t-14, t20-50, 50-10, TTT)

nycparalegal wrote:You guys should add a poll and see what ranks of schools are having trouble getting their students jobs (t-14, t20-50, 50-10, TTT)

Why, because there's not enough anecdotal evidence for you? Seriously, all schools are having problems now. Schools that historically had problems are FUBAR; schools that historically had great prospects don't have career services set up to help 3L's.

Things are shitty all over. /Poll Over.

Anonymous User wrote:

nycparalegal wrote:You guys should add a poll and see what ranks of schools are having trouble getting their students jobs (t-14, t20-50, 50-10, TTT)

Why, because there's not enough anecdotal evidence for you? Seriously, all schools are having problems now. Schools that historically had problems are FUBAR; schools that historically had great prospects don't have career services set up to help 3L's.

Things are shitty all over. /Poll Over.

Yes, this shit has been known since at least 2007. Putting in a poll would have been quick and easy and you could have remained anonymous. It was more information for people, but obviously you got bigger problems to fry.

Did you do the clerkship cycle?

Yes.

At the same time, the school has probably been doing this for years, and come to rely on it for some program or another. They can't really be expected to stop fundraising just because there is a recession on.

I don't disagree with this. However, there is a disconnect between the fundraising and the reality of unemployment for a big segment of the students. The fundraising just seem to lack tact, which is turning off a lot of students. It might be different if they acknowledged the situation and maybe didn't schedule a fundraising event the same week as financial aid exit counseling. It comes across not as "we know these are hard times and appreciate it even if you are only able to make a small contribution", but rather...

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I don't care where you go to law school. That's not what this thread is about.

Anyway, I am not saying I am without hope. Like I said, I am still working on some prospects. I am still enjoying most of my classes. I am still looking forward to graduating. I know I still need to focus myself for the bar.

There is just a nagging worry about the future because of the shortage of jobs. I worry about me. I worry about my friends.

nycparalegal wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

nycparalegal wrote:You guys should add a poll and see what ranks of schools are having trouble getting their students jobs (t-14, t20-50, 50-10, TTT)

Why, because there's not enough anecdotal evidence for you? Seriously, all schools are having problems now. Schools that historically had problems are FUBAR; schools that historically had great prospects don't have career services set up to help 3L's.

Things are shitty all over. /Poll Over.

Yes, this shit has been known since at least 2007. Putting in a poll would have been quick and easy and you could have remained anonymous. It was more information for people, but obviously you got bigger problems to fry.

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hombredulce wrote:but obviously you got bigger problems to fry.

Award for the best mixed-metaphor of the day!

nycparalegal wrote:You guys should add a poll and see what ranks of schools are having trouble getting their students jobs (t-14, t20-50, 50-10, TTT)

The relative dislocation is worst at the better schools. The reason is that below 30ish you never had much chance of going into BigLaw in the first place and the school wasn't assuming that. Maybe you were, but that's a due diligence problem on your end.

Because of how this hit, a lot of the pain has landed squarely on the good school, good grades kids who either were unable to find a SA position, had a likely/confirmed SA position fall out from under them, or who were no-offered for economic reasons. Or who have been deferred for a year or more (hint: waiting around for at-will employment is not intelligent).

..

So for those who are now jobless, what would your best advice be for incoming law students about getting a job?

Or is there nothing we can do about it.

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another rejection today. i didnt expect this to be easy when i started school but i didnt expect it to be this bad either.

Just another 2L, chiming in to say "good luck to you folks."

Most of the 3Ls in the top 5% of my low-ranked school are jobless. They all had biglaw SA gigs but got no-offered. The clerkship season was brutal, and most of them decided not to settle for less prestigious work. At the same time, a number of people further down in class rank are getting jobs with small firms in small markets.

Class of 2009 had it great; at least most of them either got to start late or do public interest fellowships. But I can't decide who had it worst; 2010 or 2011. Class of 2011 simply didn't get as many SA gigs in the first place, but at least those firms are (probably) more likely to make offers (because presumably they took on SAs already knowing how bad the economy was).

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Oblomov wrote:If you look at the new NALP numbers, 2011 got boned way more than 2010. Even if the numbers were the same for post-3L employment, I'd argue that it's marginally better to have a summer at a vault firm on your resume than an internship with a non-profit.

I was more so suggesting that the students could have gotten SA gigs with smaller firms who actually ended up hiring if the no-offering biglaw opportunities hadn't been there. But I guess that would have just hurt the students who would have gotten those small law jobs in a "normal" economy. So either way, somebody gets screwed.

- anon @ 4/3/2010, 12:02 p.m.