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I'm at least on a secondary journal, as well as TA for our legal writing program. I know I'll be bidding for almost every d.c. firm coming to OCI, but trying to figure out which are the best chances as targets, so I can put them on the top of the list. Thoughts? Thanks!

Anonymous User wrote:I know I'll be bidding for almost every d.c. firm coming to OCI

Sounds like a great way to wind up unemployed. People with those grades from UVA did VERY, VERY poorly in the DC market last year.

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I know I'll be bidding for almost every d.c. firm coming to OCI

Sounds like a great way to wind up unemployed. People with those grades from UVA did VERY, VERY poorly in the DC market last year.

Unfortunately, I think this is probably TCR. I would seriously look at another market and hedge your bets. Even in the good economy days, most DC firms only granted interviews to top 1/3 - and its gotten worse since then.

Really, this bleak? Our career services may be fudging the numbers a bit, but they give us the median gpa's of students who received offers, and there has to be at least 10-15 d.c. firms at my range or lower.

If you don't HAVE to be in DC, there is no reason to bid on that city. Obviously if you have family there, substantial ties, etc. there is nothing you can do. You are just probably decreasing whatever your normal odds would be by like 20% if you bid DC versus other markets.

Anonymous User wrote:Really, this bleak? Our career services may be fudging the numbers a bit, but they give us the median gpa's of students who received offers, and there has to be at least 10-15 d.c. firms at my range or lower.

I think its ok to bid on those firms then, but, I wouldn't bid on other firms. I think you need to be hedging by applying to another market.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people overbid last year.

Well, fair enough. I knew it was brutal, but didn't realize it was this depressing. I guess I'll bid as cautiously as possible, with some safety bids in a secondary market, then cross my fingers...

UVA 3L here--struck out in DC with similar stats (though I wasn't a Dillard) with about 10 interviews in the area. With two and only two exceptions, I'd recommend avoiding DC-area firms entirely.

The exceptions are:
1. NoVA offices (McLean, Reston, etc.) of firms that also have DC offices, AND the NoVA office's practice areas line up with some kind of specialty background you have (engineering degree, CPA, etc.); OR
2. Specialty firms (patent, tax, etc.) if you have the background to match.

Here's my advice: bid your home market, bid a southern market where the UVA name has some pull (ATL, NC, or one or two cities in TX), and bid one of Chicago/LA/SF/NY (or if you really don't want to work in the South, two of those markets), placing more of your bids in the bigger markets. CSO is right in that you shouldn't bid too many different markets, but I think you should definitely bid more than one market ITE and probably more than two.

Finally, if there's a firm where you *really really* want to work, bid it anyway, even if it's the only firm you're bidding on in that market.

Edit: I'm assuming you're at UVA. If you're at M or P, adjust the "market where your school name has some pull" accordingly.

Anonymous User wrote:UVA 3L here--struck out in DC with similar stats (though I wasn't a Dillard) with about 10 interviews in the area. With two and only two exceptions, I'd recommend avoiding DC-area firms entirely.

The exceptions are:
1. NoVA offices (McLean, Reston, etc.) of firms that also have DC offices, AND the NoVA office's practice areas line up with some kind of specialty background you have (engineering degree, CPA, etc.); OR
2. Specialty firms (patent, tax, etc.) if you have the background to match.

Here's my advice: bid your home market, bid a southern market where the UVA name has some pull (ATL, NC, or one or two cities in TX), and bid one of Chicago/LA/SF/NY (or if you really don't want to work in the South, two of those markets), placing more of your bids in the bigger markets. CSO is right in that you shouldn't bid too many different markets, but I think you should definitely bid more than one market ITE and probably more than two.

Finally, if there's a firm where you *really really* want to work, bid it anyway, even if it's the only firm you're bidding on in that market.

Edit: I'm assuming you're at UVA. If you're at M or P, adjust the "market where your school name has some pull" accordingly.

Gotcha- I'm actually not at UVA. Our career services has really been stressing that we should spread ourselves out among too many different markets (they said 1 or two tops), but I'm guessing that's not the case? Btw D.C. would be my home market- the only market I have significant ties to.

Anonymous User wrote: Gotcha- I'm actually not at UVA. Our career services has really been stressing that we should spread ourselves out among too many different markets (they said 1 or two tops), but I'm guessing that's not the case? Btw D.C. would be my home market- the only market I have significant ties to.

Ties didn't really seem to help people in D.C. at UVA as far as I can tell. The only people I know at UVA with D.C. SA gigs are either a) on law review, or b) electrical engineers.

I wonder if everyone on TLS warning against people bidding DC will create a DC vacuum and an NY/Chicago/LA/SF clog.

.

bwv812 wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:Really, this bleak? Our career services may be fudging the numbers a bit, but they give us the median gpa's of students who received offers, and there has to be at least 10-15 d.c. firms at my range or lower.

Are these historical medians or medians from last year? Big difference.

Historical medians spanning approx the last 10 years, if i'm correct about what school OP attends. We've gotten a lot of doom and gloom from our career services this year. OCI should be an interesting week :-/