ACLU/Public Interest affiliations Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm an ACLU intern, active in the ACLU at my school, and my resume is packed with other public interest stuff- there's definitely no hiding the fact that I'm a lefty.

How do conservative biglawish firms view this? Will it make it difficult to convince an interviewer that I am legitimately interest in spending hundreds of hours per week servicing corporate America? Will I even get an interview?

I'm specifically looking for feedback from 3Ls or grads who have already been through OCI and have firsthand knowledge, instead of fellow rising 2Ls just speculatin'.

(If it matters: top 10%, secondary journal, T50)

Thanks.

[frost]

I had a lot of public interest and government work on my resume, including an advanced degree and multiple years of work experience in very non-corporate settings. I had no problem getting offers during OCI (I'm a rising 3L). The experience I gained from my background and work helped me tremendously during interviews because I had lots of interesting stories from my public sector jobs. A few of the junior and mid-level associates that interviewed me actually wanted to go into government/public interest and one even asked me a lot of questions about my work experience for his own personal knowledge.

Just think about why you are legitimately interested in servicing corporate America, other than the huge paycheck. For example, working at a law firm means that you're getting terrific resources and experiences that you won't get in the public sector. You're bound to get questions about why X firm or why corporate, and your experiences may help you craft a much more convincing answer than someone who doesn't have any legal experience.

[Wholigan]

Will it make it difficult to convince an interviewer that I am legitimately interest in spending hundreds of hours per week servicing corporate America?

If you can convince them you will spend hundreds of hours per week working at their firm, I am sure they will hire you on the spot.