What to do if no good options from OCI? Forum

[chitown825]

Tier 2 (80-90) regional law school
Top 10%, top law review, strong resume (no full time WE), good social and interviewing skills.

Basically, nobody came to my school's OCI this year. It's not certain yet, but there's a chance I won't have any appealing options for next summer. What are my options at this point if this is the case? Too late to apply anywhere else? Any good agencies/firms/summer programs have late deadlines?

[Bosque]

Please tell me you have already started mailing out your resume. Especially since you went INTO OCI knowing (or at least you should have known) that there was almost no chance you were getting a job from it. If you haven't been, I have no sympathy for you.

If you have been, and have just not heard anything positive yet, I wouldn't give up hope entirely. Some firms are just now starting to go through their mailed resumes to find the students they want to plug the holes in their summer classes with, having exhausted their crop of good looking OCI candidates.

That said, keep on applying. Never stop applying until you have a job you like. I would try and list off some specific options you might not have thought of, but I don't really know what you are interested in.

[Anonymous User]

Some fed gov positions have late deadlines. Check out Arizona's handbook for more info. Also, some mid-sized firms have just begun their hiring process.

[MrKappus]

What's a "top law review"?

[chitown825]

What's a "top law review"?

My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto

[Aqualibrium]

What's a "top law review"?

Flagship journal at school with multiple journals?

*disregard if you knew that, and just wanted to poke fun at his language.

[MrKappus]

What's a "top law review"?

My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto

Haha that's called "law review."

[Bosque]

What's a "top law review"?

My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto

Haha that's called "law review."

Yes yes, as opposed to a "journal." We all understood what he meant, lets move on.

[MrKappus]

What's a "top law review"?

My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto

Haha that's called "law review."

Yes yes, as opposed to a "journal." We all understood what he meant, lets move on.

Sorry to waste your busybusy interwebz time, Mr. supersweet avatar. I asked b/c there are "top law review," as LR's are ranked, but none of them are at T80-90 schools. @OP: what do you want people to tell you? Start mass-mailing, even though its way late in that game. You won't have much success at V100 firms, but midlaw seems to hire throughout the year, depending on the region. Good luck.

[20160810]

Please tell me you have already started mailing out your resume. Especially since you went INTO OCI knowing (or at least you should have known) that there was almost no chance you were getting a job from it. If you haven't been, I have no sympathy for you.

If you have been, and have just not heard anything positive yet, I wouldn't give up hope entirely. Some firms are just now starting to go through their mailed resumes to find the students they want to plug the holes in their summer classes with, having exhausted their crop of good looking OCI candidates.

That said, keep on applying. Never stop applying until you have a job you like. I would try and list off some specific options you might not have thought of, but I don't really know what you are interested in.

This is about right. OP is the classic example of someone (great grades at a bad law school) who is likely to not do well at OCI but who might be a VERY strong candidate for direct mailings to smaller firms in markets w/ties. If you haven't been mailing start yesterday.

[Aqualibrium]

Please tell me you have already started mailing out your resume. Especially since you went INTO OCI knowing (or at least you should have known) that there was almost no chance you were getting a job from it. If you haven't been, I have no sympathy for you.

If you have been, and have just not heard anything positive yet, I wouldn't give up hope entirely. Some firms are just now starting to go through their mailed resumes to find the students they want to plug the holes in their summer classes with, having exhausted their crop of good looking OCI candidates.

That said, keep on applying. Never stop applying until you have a job you like. I would try and list off some specific options you might not have thought of, but I don't really know what you are interested in.

This is about right. OP is the classic example of someone (great grades at a bad law school) who is likely to not do well at OCI but who might be a VERY strong candidate for direct mailings to smaller firms in markets w/ties. If you haven't been mailing start yesterday.

Hell op would have had a shot at bigger firms as well (by bigger I mean secondary market big law shops...I never quite know what TLS people mean when they say smaller firms). With top 10% and law review, if he had sent out stuff late July to early August, someone would have bit and at least given him an interview.

I also still dispute the importance of ties. I applied to several markets, only two of which I had ties to, and got offers from all of them. Being a lawyer is about oral and written advocacy; if you can get into the room, you should be able to convince a firm that you are worth their time regardless of if it's the first time you've ever even set foot in their city (and I had to do that several times).

[MrKappus]

Hell op would have had a shot at bigger firms as well (by bigger I mean secondary market big law shops...I never quite know what TLS people mean when they say smaller firms). With top 10% and law review, if he had sent out stuff late July to early August, someone would have bit and at least given him an interview.

I also still dispute the importance of ties. I applied to several markets, only two of which I had ties to, and got offers from all of them. Being a lawyer is about oral and written advocacy; if you can get into the room, you should be able to convince a firm that you are worth their time regardless of if it's the first time you've ever even set foot in their city (and I had to do that several times).

Probably true except for SF and DC, and super-tight mid-mkt firms w/ really small SA classes.

[dscummy21]

Sorry to waste your busybusy interwebz time, Mr. supersweet avatar. I asked b/c there are "top law review," as LR's are ranked, but none of them are at T80-90 schools. @OP: what do you want people to tell you? Start mass-mailing, even though its way late in that game. You won't have much success at V100 firms, but midlaw seems to hire throughout the year, depending on the region. Good luck.

Pompous jerk.

[rdt854]

Sorry to waste your busybusy interwebz time, Mr. supersweet avatar. I asked b/c there are "top law review," as LR's are ranked, but none of them are at T80-90 schools. @OP: what do you want people to tell you? Start mass-mailing, even though its way late in that game. You won't have much success at V100 firms, but midlaw seems to hire throughout the year, depending on the region. Good luck.

Pompous jerk.

Yeah dude your an asshole

[drew]

What's a "top law review"?

My school has multiple law journals, one is by far the hardest to get onto

Haha that's called "law review."

Yes yes, as opposed to a "journal." We all understood what he meant, lets move on.

And while a huge douche bag, he's still wrong.

http://www.georgetownlawjournal.org/

[vanwinkle]

Pompous jerk.

Yeah dude your an asshole

A lot of unnecessary anonymity going on in this thread.

[Bosque]

I have no issue with Kappus, let me get that on the record in case there is more anonymous posting. Especially if I can keep that nickname.

[MrKappus]

I'm not sure what I did that was pompous or douchey, but sorry for offending everyone's delicate sensibilities. Sheesh. That G-town link explicitly states it's the school's "flagship law review," so I'm uncertain as to what that post was meant to prove, except that I'm "still [not] wrong." You'd think a Gamecocks fan'd be in a better mood this week.