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Many people here suggest that if you must do something the summer before law school begins, start getting your 1L summer ducks in a row. What does this mean? What specifically should we do?

Write your cover letter template(s), update your resume, and compile a list of employers with mailing addresses (and personalized sentences if desired) for mail merging with your cover letter template(s). (And if you've never mail merged before, learn how to do it.) You can do all of this, of course, during your spare time.

Create a list of firms/positions to apply to, create a mail merge maybe, update your resume/format it correctly, write a generic cover letter, take a look at the externships/internships offered by your school, maybe check out the doj honors website http://www.justice.gov/oarm/arm/int/internsum10.htm

I'm sure many people have more helpful advice but that's a good start.

Would this include starting to contact connections you have?

A family friend who is the President/CEO of a bunch of banks in the South gave me a couple of names of attorneys to get in contact with at firms I am interested in, but I planned on waiting until some time in 1L to drop them a line.

If it's not too early, how should I go about it? A current 1L said I should ask my family friend to send them a heads up, then drop them a line asking if I could take them out to lunch to pick their brains about law school and then just maintain the communications until interview season.

Thanks for the tips, especially mail merge.

One more ?: are these applications usually e-mailed or snail mailed?

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks for the tips, especially mail merge.

One more ?: are these applications usually e-mailed or snail mailed?

You can e-mail most large firms (obtained from NALP Directory), but I think it's easier to snail mail most judges, PI organizations, and government agencies.

TheBigMediocre wrote:Would this include starting to contact connections you have?

A family friend who is the President/CEO of a bunch of banks in the South gave me a couple of names of attorneys to get in contact with at firms I am interested in, but I planned on waiting until some time in 1L to drop them a line.

If it's not too early, how should I go about it? A current 1L said I should ask my family friend to send them a heads up, then drop them a line asking if I could take them out to lunch to pick their brains about law school and then just maintain the communications until interview season.

I'm basically in the same position as you butI've been doing exactly what you said above. Plus its nice to get their opinion about law school stuff and what not. They actually usually bring up on their own applying for positions and most have said something along the lines of "send me your resume during your 1L year". Not saying what I've been doing is the 'correct thing' (I know a lot fo ppl who say not to start trying to contact these ppl as an 0L), but its been working pretty well for me.

Read or at least browse through Guerrilla Tactics to the Legal Job of Your Dreams.

Also, now is the time to start getting comfortable with building relationships with lawyers who know about stuff you might be interested in/could help you get a job. As your 1L friend said, invite them to coffee or lunch and ask if you can ask them for advice about making the most of law school. If you want a book about networking try Never Eat Alone or The Opportunity Maker.

When do 1Ls usually send out resumes for 1L summer jobs? December? When do you interview for these jobs?
What about biglaw firms? Do they come on campus to interview 1Ls or do you just mail them your resume?

groundkontrol wrote:When do 1Ls usually send out resumes for 1L summer jobs? December? When do you interview for these jobs?
What about biglaw firms? Do they come on campus to interview 1Ls or do you just mail them your resume?

You aren't allowed to mail anything until December 1, at least for most employers. Small firms sometimes don't follow this.
That's why you want to have it done early, since thats the week before exams.

Interviews, if any, are usually held over winter break or sometime in January.

1L OCI varies. Definitely mail, firms may come to campus or they may not. Plan on them not.

wiseowl wrote:

groundkontrol wrote:When do 1Ls usually send out resumes for 1L summer jobs? December? When do you interview for these jobs?
What about biglaw firms? Do they come on campus to interview 1Ls or do you just mail them your resume?

You aren't allowed to mail anything until December 1[strike], at least for most[/strike] only for employers who are members of NALP.

Only NALP employers abide by the December 1 date. You can contact any non-NALP employer (firms, governments, nonprofits, judges, etc.) prior to December 1.

What exactly should I have prepared to mail Dec. 1st? I have my resume i sent to law school, what else do I need?

MSUPHL wrote:What exactly should I have prepared to mail Dec. 1st? I have my resume i sent to law school, what else do I need?

you're going to need cover letters tailored to each employer, with correct address and a real name to send it to ("To whom it may concern" is the fast track to the garbage bin). you'll either need to email everything or snail mail everything; it's your call I guess but if you can afford snail mail I think it makes a better impression and is less likely to get deleted/spam foldered/ignored. if you choose to snail mail you're going to need to print, stamp and stuff all the envelopes.

i was not prepared for how long this was going to take. i snail mailed over 200 letters.

MSUPHL wrote:What exactly should I have prepared to mail Dec. 1st? I have my resume i sent to law school, what else do I need?

Cover letter, list of references, updated resume (target your resume for employment rather than law school).

wiseowl wrote:

MSUPHL wrote:What exactly should I have prepared to mail Dec. 1st? I have my resume i sent to law school, what else do I need?

you're going to need cover letters tailored to each employer, with correct address and a real name to send it to ("To whom it may concern" is the fast track to the garbage bin). you'll either need to email everything or snail mail everything; it's your call I guess but if you can afford snail mail I think it makes a better impression and is less likely to get deleted/spam foldered/ignored. if you choose to snail mail you're going to need to print, stamp and stuff all the envelopes.

i was not prepared for how long this was going to take. i snail mailed over 200 letters.

+1 to everything, especially the "to whom it may concern."

ggocat wrote:

MSUPHL wrote:What exactly should I have prepared to mail Dec. 1st? I have my resume i sent to law school, what else do I need?

Cover letter, list of references, updated resume (target your resume for employment rather than law school).

This is important. My resume from my law school apps looks nothing like my resume now. You'll need a retool from your career services before you send it out...unfortunately many career service offices won't meet with you until November.

Your law school will have info on its website to get your resume in shape. It's fairly important to 'fall in line' with your law school's standards, at least for the big stuff, or you'll look off.

Also, just a PSA: 1L firm jobs are about as common as unicorns ITE. I still think given the payoff it's worth TRYING, but keep in mind that you need realistic back ups (judges, RA positions, PI gigs, etc.). I know too many people who bet the farm on a 1L firm job, then lost the farm.

you probably need to make an honest assessment of whether or not you are a good candidate for a firm job. if you aren't, it may be better to just target judges and PI from the start.

thanks alot guys. I am still in UG so my resume is very weak. Probably not a candidate for a law job. Will favorite this thread for the summer. Tons of great advice that I appreciate a ton. `

see if your career office will give you their username and password ahead of time for "The Leadership Library". Gold mine for judge contact info.

wiseowl wrote:you probably need to make an honest assessment of whether or not you are a good candidate for a firm job. if you aren't, it may be better to just target judges and PI from the start.

And keep in mind this is hard to do.

The people I know who got summer jobs combined most - but never all - of the following attributes:

*Strong law school
*Strong first semester grades
*Strong connections to the location of the firm
*The firm's location was NOT a major legal market
*Strong pre-law school experience (UG, UG grades, relevant work experience, etc.)
*Strong personal connections to the firm
*The candidate was an under represented minority in firm hiring

Actually, of those 7 criteria, I think every 1L I know who got a firm job met exactly 5 Go figure.

wiseowl wrote:

MSUPHL wrote:What exactly should I have prepared to mail Dec. 1st? I have my resume i sent to law school, what else do I need?

you're going to need cover letters tailored to each employer, with correct address and a real name to send it to ("To whom it may concern" is the fast track to the garbage bin). you'll either need to email everything or snail mail everything; it's your call I guess but if you can afford snail mail I think it makes a better impression and is less likely to get deleted/spam foldered/ignored. if you choose to snail mail you're going to need to print, stamp and stuff all the envelopes.

i was not prepared for how long this was going to take. i snail mailed over 200 letters.

And all this is done before 1L grades come out? Do most people get hired without the firm/judge/organization seeing their grades? Also, I assume that working for a judge 1L summer is unpaid? (Do most schools provide grants to balance this out?)

groundkontrol wrote:

wiseowl wrote:

MSUPHL wrote:What exactly should I have prepared to mail Dec. 1st? I have my resume i sent to law school, what else do I need?

you're going to need cover letters tailored to each employer, with correct address and a real name to send it to ("To whom it may concern" is the fast track to the garbage bin). you'll either need to email everything or snail mail everything; it's your call I guess but if you can afford snail mail I think it makes a better impression and is less likely to get deleted/spam foldered/ignored. if you choose to snail mail you're going to need to print, stamp and stuff all the envelopes.

i was not prepared for how long this was going to take. i snail mailed over 200 letters.

And all this is done before 1L grades come out? Do most people get hired without the firm/judge/organization seeing their grades? Also, I assume that working for a judge 1L summer is unpaid? (Do most schools provide grants to balance this out?)

most places will ask to see your grades once they come out. judges are unpaid. some schools give grants, some don't. i got one and was lucky.

It is absolutely retarded that anyone would draft cover letters and update resumes this far in advance.

/thread

T14_Scholly wrote:It is absolutely retarded that anyone would draft cover letters and update resumes this far in advance.

/thread

T14_Scholly, are you a 0L? Epic fail.

Here's the skinny: Come December 1st, you're going to be shitting bricks. Finals will be looming and you will be a bundle of stress, nerves, stress, and liquor.

Also, the 1L job search will officially begin. The problem is, you won't have time OR energy.

And, you also won't have any new legal knowledge. Nothing you'll include in a resume or cover letter on December 1st, 2010 is unknown to you on April 21st, 2009. Nothing.

90%+ of 1Ls face the following dilemma: Spend hours writing cover letters and printing dozens of mailing addresses to stuff into envelopes in the precious days before your exams OR put the job search off until after exams.

For what it's worth, I'd say that of the people I know who got choice 1L summer jobs, 80%+ did their applications before exams (i.e. on or about December 1st).