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First off, yes, I know this is very difficult. I'm a rising 2L at a lower T50, and would be fine with working here, but would also like to leave and go to a different market.

What would be the best way to do this? Mass mailings? Should they be via email or real mail? Cover letter, writing sample, and resume? Should I include a transcript or just put my GPA and the cutoffs on my resume?

Do Career Services Offices have any sort of reciprocity with other schools as far as access to OCI or similar?

Does anyone have an example of a cover letter that might have been successful? Some places I have family, other places I have no real ties to, but would still enjoy working there. I take it that would be a different cover letter....any examples of that?


Thanks for any help.

Bueller? Anyone?

Anonymous User wrote:First off, yes, I know this is very difficult. I'm a rising 2L at a lower T50, and would be fine with working here, but would also like to leave and go to a different market.

What would be the best way to do this? Mass mailings? Should they be via email or real mail? Cover letter, writing sample, and resume? Should I include a transcript or just put my GPA and the cutoffs on my resume?

Do Career Services Offices have any sort of reciprocity with other schools as far as access to OCI or similar?

Does anyone have an example of a cover letter that might have been successful? Some places I have family, other places I have no real ties to, but would still enjoy working there. I take it that would be a different cover letter....any examples of that?


Thanks for any help.

The best way to go about this would be to schedule informational interviews with alumni from firms in the markets that you're interested in. However, if you're not planning on traveling much in the next couple of months, that's pretty much a moot point.

So mass mailing it is. Go with email -- it's cheaper, faster, and allows recruiting coordinators to share your application with all the relevant people. Don't send a writing sample or transcript. Just a resume and a cover letter. List your GPA on your resume, but there's no need to include cutoffs. If you're in the top 10, 15, 33%, whatever, that's all you need to list.

As far as cover letters go, if you have no ties to a particular market, you're really in a bind. Unless you're applying to NYC or DC, it's hard to persuade firms that you want to be there. Unfortunately, I can't provide you with a good example of a cover letter, but in those cases, you may really want to focus on the strengths of the firm rather than trying to establish some implausible connection to the city.

And Career Services Offices do offer reciprocity, but not during the most important months. I believe August-November are off-limits. Otherwise they'd end up having to help every outsider who's trying to break into their market, to the detriment of their own students.

Another note. Even if you can't travel to your target markets to meet up with alumni, you could still try to conduct an informational interview over the telephone. Provided that it's scheduled in advance (just like an in-person informational interview), some attorneys would be willing to do it. Then, in your cover letters, you can mention what a nice chat you had with so-and-so.

Are you from this market?

rad law wrote:Are you from this market?

I'm open to most any market, really. I would prefer one of the coasts, East more than West. But I'd be fine with Nowhere, Montana as well. I do have family, tenuously, on the East Coast.

It's really more a case of OK here, a little happier somewhere else.

Also, does anyone have a sample cover letter for the mass mailing?