Top Law Schools

Hi Everyone:

So I spoke with career services and they are utterly useless. They don't know/won't tell GPA cutoffs. They won't help me assemble a bid list but will "review it" once I am done, whatever that means. I thought TLS would probably be a lot more helpful in putting together a bidlist.

About me:
1L SA (by complete luck)
5 yrs work experience prior to law school (not law, but can easily relate to law)
Rising 2L at CLS, non-URM, ~ Top 20%, a pretty good place to be, but, of course, nothing is guaranteed
I don't mind long hours all that much and I really enjoy the work I have been doing as an SA this summer.
I like NYC, but would much rather live in DC (even though it's a swamp). But, I have been thoroughly scared out of bidding heavily on DC, in no small part because of this site.
I am not too concerned with prestige, but I am concerned with exit option (just in case) and these two seem to be somewhat closely linked.
I do not want to work at a firm that totally screwed people in the downtown (looking at you Latham) but ITE we take what we can get, right?
I am leaning towards transactional/corp M&A, but I am open to lit.
I also seriously prefer lockstep salary or, at least, a firm the is not a "black box" when it comes to compensation. Though discretionary bonuses don't bother me at all.
I would also really love to be at a firm that has a rotational system for the first year or two after graduation!
Here is what I have put together so far:

Gibson Dunn- in the lead, right now
Paul Hastings
Skadden
Alston & Byrd- iffie though
Bingham McCutchen
Kirkland Ellis
SulCrom
Covington
cleary
Dickstein
sidley austin
Cahill Gordon

So what's out of reach for top ~20% at CLS? Again, career services maintains that almost nothing is out of reach for almost anyone here.... *cough bullshit *cough
TYIA for all of your help!

Congrats on doing well at CLS. It sounds like you are in a good position to try to focus on DC. You're a lock for at least one of the V5 that does the heavy corporate stuff you are favoring, so I would bid on the V10 in NY. I think you can feel comfortable spending the rest of your bids on DC firms. However, I do not know of many DC firms that have heavy transactional practices. Most of the people I know interested in DC go there for the appellate litigation, regulatory, or government type stuff (they also had top grades or were a URM).

I know OCS is completely useless, it's even more frustrating for us median students who really do need to know what firms have grade cutoffs because it could mean the difference between no job and a job. You might try asking them for the contact info of some rising 3Ls with your grades who got DC last year.

timbs4339 wrote:Congrats on doing well at CLS. It sounds like you are in a good position to try to focus on DC. You're a lock for at least one of the V5 that does the heavy corporate stuff you are favoring, so I would bid on the V10 in NY. I think you can feel comfortable spending the rest of your bids on DC firms. However, I do not know of many DC firms that have heavy transactional practices. Most of the people I know interested in DC go there for the appellate litigation, regulatory, or government type stuff (they also had top grades or were a URM).

I know OCS is completely useless, it's even more frustrating for us median students who really do need to know what firms have grade cutoffs because it could mean the difference between no job and a job. You might try asking them for the contact info of some rising 3Ls with your grades who got DC last year.

Thanks a lot. Your last sentence was great advice that I had not thought of.

Any more thoughts?

Is this just a case of tl;dr?

Shameless bump. really need to get my bidlist done tonight/tomorrow.

Hey OP, I'm in a similar position (no work experience but very extensive internship experience that helped me get my summer position), top 20% at Columbia. I've talked to a lot of upper-class students, associates, etc. to try to get the best feel for things and I believe that you definitely have a shot at a V10 firm, so long as you interview well (i.e. don't come off as stupid or socially impaired).

You mentioned you don't care about prestige but you care about exit options, and just like you said, they are definitely closely linked. Some less prestigious firms have great clients who you could exit to, but since there are fewer chances are lower that you get on that work and impress those clients. That's a big part of the reason I'm aiming for mostly V10 firms.

As far as rotational systems, Cravath is obviously the big one, and I'm surprised you don't have it on there. It's definitely worth a bid for a top 20% student, particularly if you get law review. I would recommend Janice in the OCS. Her resume review is really thorough and she will tell you your chances are very low at a firm (Wachtell) and suggest firms based on your interests, based on my experience.

Good luck and congrats on a great year! Here's hoping EIP goes well for both of us

Dude or dudette, I think you aren't getting many replies because you are top 20%, with 5 years work experience, and a 1L SA position. Assuming you are a good interviewer, which is a good assumption to make considering your 1L job, you will get a number of offers at very good firms. Congratulations. So Bid even on those firms that seem like a big reach, because there are few enough of themhat you should still have plenty of other firms on your bidlist that willeasily within your range.

Anonymous User wrote:Hey OP, I'm in a similar position (no work experience but very extensive internship experience that helped me get my summer position), top 20% at Columbia. I've talked to a lot of upper-class students, associates, etc. to try to get the best feel for things and I believe that you definitely have a shot at a V10 firm, so long as you interview well (i.e. don't come off as stupid or socially impaired).

You mentioned you don't care about prestige but you care about exit options, and just like you said, they are definitely closely linked. Some less prestigious firms have great clients who you could exit to, but since there are fewer chances are lower that you get on that work and impress those clients. That's a big part of the reason I'm aiming for mostly V10 firms.

As far as rotational systems, Cravath is obviously the big one, and I'm surprised you don't have it on there. It's definitely worth a bid for a top 20% student, particularly if you get law review. I would recommend Janice in the OCS. Her resume review is really thorough and she will tell you your chances are very low at a firm (Wachtell) and suggest firms based on your interests, based on my experience.

Good luck and congrats on a great year! Here's hoping EIP goes well for both of us

Yeah. good luck!