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what does one do?

Are you a 1L. If so, chill out. Just do the oft-quoted "something legal." Get some legal experience. You probably won't get paid. Work for a judge, or a legal aid clinic or something. Anything to give you non-classroom experience.
If you're a 2L....welcome to the party!
I would say you do the same thing that me and most of my companions at a NON-T14 are doing. Work as a law clerk at a small firm, or work for a judge, or do PI.

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a 2L. I never thought I would be in this situation. I have a few non-SA options but don't know how to even go about choosing between them.

a 2L. I never thought I would be in this situation. I have a few non-SA options but don't know how to even go about choosing between them.
a 2L. I never thought I would be in this situation. I have a few non-SA options but don't know how to even go about choosing between them.

You take whichever one gives you a shot at post-grad employment. But of course odds are the jobs do not since SA is pretty much the only way that happens. So take the job that gives you some $ so you can at least put a few thousand in the bank. If unpaid, just take one that is a good fit and might play well for a clerkship.

Keep grades up and get published on whatever journal you're on. At this point your goal should be getting a clerkship. You realistically have no other options.

..

I am not on a journal and I am bottom 40%. What do I do?

oh and I'm not the only one.

Okay so the question is...do i just lay back and chill out for the summer? I did a PI gig my first summer...Can i just go for OCI again in the fall and hope something happens instead of doing a non-paid gig for the summer?

Which mini-tier is your T14 in? Just curious. MVPB?

the bottom 4. Any advice anyone?

Anonymous User wrote:Okay so the question is...do i just lay back and chill out for the summer? I did a PI gig my first summer...Can i just go for OCI again in the fall and hope something happens instead of doing a non-paid gig for the summer?

I think that'd be the worst thing you can do.
You need to build your resume as much as you can.
I hate to break it to you, but unless you have serious connections (and it doesn't sound like you do) "biglaw" is largely forclosed. If you're in the bottom 1/2 of your class, you're not gonna pull up enough to attract their attention.
So I think you need to rethink your strategy starting from the position you're in right now. It's not a bad position. You're over halfway to a JD from a great school.
There are lots of lawyers (the majority, really) who work for small/mid sized firms and do just fine. If your goal is the private sector, THAT is what you should be focusing on now. If you keep focused biglaw, you're just gonna screw yourself out of more and more options. So focus now on being as attractive as you can be to small and mid-sized employers comes next fall. Find a little firm, or a solo lawyer, or whatever, who needs a clerk for the summer. Do research for them. You'll probably make 10 - 20 bucks an hour, depending on what market you're in. More importantly, you'll learn, and when you send out your resume next fall you'll have private practice experience.
I would think to NOT have that experience (or some really good work with a judge) on your resume next fall would be the kiss of death as far as getting employment with ANY sized firm.
And sure, try again for 3L OCI if you can (I plan to). Just realize that it's a LONG shot. HOPE for biglaw/OCI success, but PLAN to get a job with a smaller firm.
Good luck with whatever you do!

Thanks for your post. Does it matter if I do something I am interested in rather than working for a small law firm as a clerk? For example, the ACLU. Would that hinder my OCI/firm prospects generally?

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Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the ACLU is a very prestigious place to work. It might be just as difficult to get an internship there as it would at a BigLaw firm and they're probably done hiring for the summer.

What makes you think that?

Proof:

GradPath2011 wrote:
I kept hearing a lot about how the ACLU is really prestigious and hard to get into...what happened?


The national ACLU is. State affiliates aren't.

Anonymous User wrote:
I hate to break it to you, but unless you have serious connections (and it doesn't sound like you do) "biglaw" is largely forclosed. If you're in the bottom 1/2 of your class, you're not gonna pull up enough to attract their attention.
There are lots of lawyers (the majority, really) who work for small/mid sized firms and do just fine. If your goal is the private sector, THAT is what you should be focusing on now. If you keep focused biglaw, you're just gonna screw yourself out of more and more options.

+1 - Biglaw is done. 3L OCI is nonexistent and will be absolutely swamped with people that got no-offered or deferred indefinitely but have much better credentials than you.
Why does everyone assume that biglaw is the only way to go vs. unemployment? try networking. Make phone calls and send emails to every small/mid-size firm in the area you want to work. It is going to take persistence.
You might want to try to get a clerkship. Though Federal might be out of the ballpark given no journal and bottom half of class.

Based on what I have read on here and heard from attorneys, working at the ACLU (provided it is the national ACLU, not a local branch) is a prestigious place to work. However it also means you'll be seen as an activist-sort. The ACLU is basically one of the best opportunities to work in Constitutional rights issues and since there are a lot of people who want to work in such a field, competition can be stiff and therefore it's prestigious if you land an internship with them.

Wait so are you saying an ACLU affiliate would not be prestigious? Why the difference?

I have no idea.

viking138 wrote:Based on what I have read on here and heard from attorneys, working at the ACLU (provided it is the national ACLU, not a local branch) is a prestigious place to work. However it also means you'll be seen as an activist-sort. The ACLU is basically one of the best opportunities to work in Constitutional rights issues and since there are a lot of people who want to work in such a field, competition can be stiff and therefore it's prestigious if you land an internship with them.

If you work at the ACLU full-time then seen as an activist sort. Not so much for a summer gig.

But the question is...is the affiliate (regional) ACLU still prestigious? And if not, what would I be looking at?

bump

I think the ACLU or anything like that would be time well spent. I gather many lawyers go from that sort of thing to private practice....I'm sure law students can do the same.