What points of research are important going into OCI? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am curious what exactly should be I be researching to prepare myself for OCI?

What are some particular bullet points of information that I need to know about a firm before I sit down for an interview? And what sources are best for this?

[Anonymous User]

1. Interviewer
-a. Name
-b. Practice area(s)
-c. Associate/partner/counsel. If associate, year. Did they start at the firm or lateral in? Did they summer there (might be hard to know, okay if you don't)? Did they clerk?
-d. Recent news (but there might not be any)
-e. Law school (only matters if it's also yours, or maybe if it's in the same city)
-f. Undergrad/other grad school (see above)
-g. Any other interesting information in their firm bio

2. Firm
-a. Name
-b. Practices area(s)
--i. Specialties
--ii. Practice areas the firm does not have (either at that particular office or in general) or has only a few people practicing
-c. Summer program details
--i. Length of program
--ii. System of assigning work (at least a vague idea)
--iii. Any fluffy things the firm website says about the program, e.g., strong mentoring
-d. Details of associate life, as far as they are available
-e. Recent news, especially news about practice areas that interest you
-f. Recent history, e.g., mergers or splits (probably only need to know things that happened in the past 3-5 years)
-g. Any fluffy things the firm website says about the firm, e.g., interaction with offices internationally or collegiality

That's all that comes to mind for me. Almost all, usually all, of this information can be gathered from the firm website.

[englawyer]

1. Interviewer
-a. Name
-b. Practice area(s)
-c. Associate/partner/counsel. If associate, year. Did they start at the firm or lateral in? Did they summer there (might be hard to know, okay if you don't)? Did they clerk?
-d. Recent news (but there might not be any)
-e. Law school (only matters if it's also yours, or maybe if it's in the same city)
-f. Undergrad/other grad school (see above)
-g. Any other interesting information in their firm bio

2. Firm
-a. Name
-b. Practices area(s)
--i. Specialties
--ii. Practice areas the firm does not have (either at that particular office or in general) or has only a few people practicing
-c. Summer program details
--i. Length of program
--ii. System of assigning work (at least a vague idea)
--iii. Any fluffy things the firm website says about the program, e.g., strong mentoring
-d. Details of associate life, as far as they are available
-e. Recent news, especially news about practice areas that interest you
-f. Recent history, e.g., mergers or splits (probably only need to know things that happened in the past 3-5 years)
-g. Any fluffy things the firm website says about the firm, e.g., interaction with offices internationally or collegiality

That's all that comes to mind for me. Almost all, usually all, of this information can be gathered from the firm website.

Symplicity should market an add-on that will automatically print all of this out for you based on your interviewer. I would pay ~ $1/firm for this info I think. hmm could be a website idea haha

[Anonymous User]

This is the OP:

Thanks! That's a great outline and gives me another data point to work with as far as framework of knowledge I need.

Question regarding the practice group/specialties: how in-depth does this need to be? I'm interested in litigation, so I'm not really sure if there really is much to find out about this (aside from firms that have a focus on patent, tax, or some other particular area of litigation - which I assume is something you work into later on anyway).

Thanks again!

[HETPE3B]

1. Interviewer
-a. Name
-b. Practice area(s)
-c. Associate/partner/counsel. If associate, year. Did they start at the firm or lateral in? Did they summer there (might be hard to know, okay if you don't)? Did they clerk?
-d. Recent news (but there might not be any)
-e. Law school (only matters if it's also yours, or maybe if it's in the same city)
-f. Undergrad/other grad school (see above)
-g. Any other interesting information in their firm bio

2. Firm
-a. Name
-b. Practices area(s)
--i. Specialties
--ii. Practice areas the firm does not have (either at that particular office or in general) or has only a few people practicing
-c. Summer program details
--i. Length of program
--ii. System of assigning work (at least a vague idea)
--iii. Any fluffy things the firm website says about the program, e.g., strong mentoring
-d. Details of associate life, as far as they are available
-e. Recent news, especially news about practice areas that interest you
-f. Recent history, e.g., mergers or splits (probably only need to know things that happened in the past 3-5 years)
-g. Any fluffy things the firm website says about the firm, e.g., interaction with offices internationally or collegiality

That's all that comes to mind for me. Almost all, usually all, of this information can be gathered from the firm website.

Symplicity should market an add-on that will automatically print all of this out for you based on your interviewer. I would pay ~ $1/firm for this info I think. hmm could be a website idea haha

Maybe a career services rep should also do the interview for you. How much would you pay for that?

[hls_2013]

This is the OP:

Thanks! That's a great outline and gives me another data point to work with as far as framework of knowledge I need.

Question regarding the practice group/specialties: how in-depth does this need to be? I'm interested in litigation, so I'm not really sure if there really is much to find out about this (aside from firms that have a focus on patent, tax, or some other particular area of litigation - which I assume is something you work into later on anyway).

Thanks again!

interested in this as well. confused on how specific we have to be

[Anonymous User]

This is the OP:

Thanks! That's a great outline and gives me another data point to work with as far as framework of knowledge I need.

Question regarding the practice group/specialties: how in-depth does this need to be? I'm interested in litigation, so I'm not really sure if there really is much to find out about this (aside from firms that have a focus on patent, tax, or some other particular area of litigation - which I assume is something you work into later on anyway).

Thanks again!

interested in this as well. confused on how specific we have to be

Probably not very, but many firms specialize their litigation. Do they mostly do plaintiff litigation for corporate mergers gone bad, mostly defense litigation on finance and securities, etc. Not necessary to know, but helpful.

[lawgod]

Symplicity should market an add-on that will automatically print all of this out for you based on your interviewer. I would pay ~ $1/firm for this info I think. hmm could be a website idea haha

Maybe a career services rep should also do the interview for you. How much would you pay for that?

Heckuva lot