Stuck in a nightmare! SA program cancelled! Forum

[desigirl]

Hey everyone! I am a 2L who HAD a summer associate position at an IP boutique. I worked at this firm my 1L summer and they asked me to return. I liked the firm, city, people, and pay, so I was more than happy to go back. End result - said yes to this firm and no to 3 other offers from Loyola patent program. I didn't participate in OCI either since I already had a job at that point. I got a call from the firm yesterday informing me that they are cancelling the summer program! WTF! how does this happen so late?? Their reason was that they decided to not hire any more attorneys for next year and hence, the summer program was redundant. How do they not know this earlier???I am so angry/depressed.

My question is, are there any firms still looking for summer associates? I don't think mass mailing them will get me anywhere at this point, should I call them? Any suggestions/advice would be highly appreciated!! I am desperate at this point. I am an EE major at a T2 school. Top 25%, journal and moot court. Worked as a research assistant for IP prof all year, externship at the tech transfer office, and 1 year of engineering work experience plus law firm experience last summer. I have no idea what to do!! should i try a non-ip job? Are they easier to get? I have no geographical preference either. I'll take anything, anywhere at this point. My only other option is to continue working as a research assistant, but I don't know how that will look on my resume when I'm looking for an associate position for next year.

[treeey86]

You must have contacts in the firm since you worked there last summer. Talk to them and ask for advice. Chances are the attorneys you worked closely with are familiar with your work and can pass your name/resume along to other attorneys who might have a last second need or are sympathetic to an SA who had their job pulled out last second. Start there and see where that goes. Also career services too.

[rose711]

Is there a way to discretely contact the offers you declined? If you declined on good terms with them, I think that showing some continued interest now that a program has been cancelled through no fault of your own, is a good way to at least keep in touch. I think too you should emphasize that you were going back to a firm for 2L that you had worked for 1L; that is a more palatable reason for turning them down in the first place.

I would also contact firms that might have been interested in you and vice versa during OCI. Find a tactful way to explain it and get whatever LORs you need from the firm that cancelled your S. At the very least they should be willing to do everything they can to help you find another job, including giving references and speaking up on your behalf.

Look at it this way, at least the firm that cut the SA program didn't string you along for another summer, give you an offer and then Latham you. That would be worse.

[Black-Blue]

Is there a way to discretely contact the offers you declined? If you declined on good terms with them, I think that showing some continued interest now that a program has been cancelled through no fault of your own, is a good way to at least keep in touch. I think too you should emphasize that you were going back to a firm for 2L that you had worked for 1L; that is a more palatable reason for turning them down in the first place.

I would also contact firms that might have been interested in you and vice versa during OCI. Find a tactful way to explain it and get whatever LORs you need from the firm that cancelled your S. At the very least they should be willing to do everything they can to help you find another job, including giving references and speaking up on your behalf.

Look at it this way, at least the firm that cut the SA program didn't string you along for another summer, give you an offer and then Latham you. That would be worse.

TITCR

[plex]

Also, apply to other firms as well, don't just message the three firms who offered you before. April is cutting it close, but you may be able to get in somewhere else where they have more work than they expected, and so have an unfilled spot. If you wait until May, most firms won't have enough time to respond+interview.

[GATORTIM]

Why would you have to contact the firms "discretely"?

[delusional]

Why would you have to contact the firms "discretely"?

Because just CCing them on the same email is tacky? sorry, /hijack

[Big Shrimpin]

Firm? Not like it matters, since they're not hiring anybody. Out that TTTT. What an awful thing to do.

OUT. THAT. TTTT.

[2LLLL]

Firm? Not like it matters, since they're not hiring anybody. Out that TTTT. What an aweful thing to do.

For real.

Also, consider talking to the professor you are RA'ing for and see if he can assist you at all. I'd assume that an IP professor is more likely to have useful connections than most professors who never really practiced.

[Julio_El_Chavo]

Firm? Not like it matters, since they're not hiring anybody. Out that TTTT. What an awful thing to do.

OUT. THAT. TTTT.

It's gotta be Howrey, right?

[Kohinoor]

Firm? Not like it matters, since they're not hiring anybody. Out that TTTT. What an awful thing to do.

OUT. THAT. TTTT.

It's gotta be Howrey, right?

Howrey shut down their program a while ago and the writing was on the wall for months before.

[pasteurizedmilk]

Firm? Not like it matters, since they're not hiring anybody. Out that TTTT. What an awful thing to do.

OUT. THAT. TTTT.

It's gotta be Howrey, right?

IP boutique

[desigirl]

No, not Howrey. I would rather not disclose the name, it's in Philly. I do have an update though, I managed to get an interview at an in-house patent group at a large software engineering company in California. The downside is that the pay is half of what I would have made in the firm. I really hope I get the job!

[baboon309]

No, not Howrey. I would rather not disclose the name, it's in Philly. I do have an update though, I managed to get an interview at an in-house patent group at a large software engineering company in California. The downside is that the pay is half of what I would have made in the firm. I really hope I get the job!

so the firm was going to pay you 2.5-3k?

[piccolittle]

No, not Howrey. I would rather not disclose the name, it's in Philly. I do have an update though, I managed to get an interview at an in-house patent group at a large software engineering company in California. The downside is that the pay is half of what I would have made in the firm. I really hope I get the job!

Good luck!!

[Stanford4Me]

This is crazy. IF you don't out this firm to us make sure you out the firm to 1Ls and future 1Ls. You don't want anyone else from your school to end up in that position.

[Wholigan]

It may have been Woodcock Washburn. That's the only IP boutique I know of in Philly that would pay market. Just a guess though.

[rose711]

When I said "discretely" I guess I meant in a professional way and in a way that would build relationships not burn bridges. Yes, they screwed you over and you can get back at them if you want when you have an established career, but that isn't your goal now. I still think that no matter how bad this is now, it is better than if you would have found out later.

I think you probably can't out them on here because it sounds like a small practice group and you might lose anonymity.

[dood]

Firm? Not like it matters, since they're not hiring anybody. Out that TTTT. What an awful thing to do.

OUT. THAT. TTTT.

2nd

[Kohinoor]

It may have been Woodcock Washburn. That's the only IP boutique I know of in Philly that would pay market. Just a guess though.

'I don't want to out the firm' is not quite the same thing as 'Try your hardest to guess anyway'.

[desigirl]

The firm had offered me 2k/wk. If I do get this other job, I'll get $1200/wk. I don't think this firm has any intention of hiring anyone in the near foreseeable future. I don't want to out the firm only because several associates in the firm are sympathetic to my plight and have offered to help me out by giving me LORs and/or contact information of other firms. I don't want to insult the ones helping me at this point. Sorry I can't give any other information about the firm. I don't want to get screwed further by not being able to use them as references.

[wiseowl]

It may have been Woodcock Washburn. That's the only IP boutique I know of in Philly that would pay market. Just a guess though.

'I don't want to out the firm' is not quite the same thing as 'Try your hardest to guess anyway'.

To be fair, it wasn't difficult at all to guess, or at least narrow down to 2-3 choices. My guess is that it isn't Woodcock actually.

[glewz]

yeah....you Definitely shouldn't out the firm