Is doc review a realistic option? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm still a 2L but having failed at summer employment, despite being in a great school with good grades (all I could get were the unpaid internships), I really just want to be sure I'm not living on the streets when I graduate. I've given up on the hope of a proper legal career for now- I mean who knows, hopefully it'll happen one day. But right now all I want is money because the bills and the loans are stacking up and they need to be paid.

Assuming I remain jobless and can't find paid employment after graduation, how realistic an option is doc review? I noticed it pays anywhere from $20 to $35 an hour...seems like a salary that is right there with many small firms anyways. Is it really difficult to get a job like that doing doc review? Will employers forever peg me as the "law school failure who did doc review" guy?

[johansantana21]

School/rank?

[Anonymous User]

Op here: I hate to out myself really especially since a lot of people in my school are on TLS. Let's just say it's a T-20 and I was in the top 25%. One bad grade in the fall dropped me badly, but I'm pretty sure I can make it up this spring and be back up there. Still, as we all know, summer employment was based on my 1L grades :\...honestly I barely got any screeners despite having every single aspect of my applications covered by the CDO. I've honestly lost hope, but I really, really don't want to be homeless or jobless, I mean I would rather commit suicide, so is doc review a realistic option for me?

[rad lulz]

.

[Anonymous User]

secretly do some doc review work if you cant find anything. meanwhile intern/clerk at a decent firm if you could find any.

if you were really in the 'honors category' at some T20 or T30 when you graduate, I doubt you won't find anything.

[Anonymous User]

OP Here: I really was during my 1L year. I don't know if I'll get anything anymore. Nobody responds to my applications. It's pretty demoralizing. Oh well.

[Guchster]

craigslist

Will employers forever peg me as the "law school failure who did doc review" guy?

Yep.

[Anonymous User]

fight to keep your gpa above the cut-off!
it makes a difference!

[Geist13]

Dude, there are still plenty of jobs out there. Keep applying. You should be sending cover letter resume etc. to all the 5-50 person firms in the city. A lot of them will hire someone, even if they don't post it. Try contacting alumni in those firms to talk about the local job market/ the firm's practice etc. There is a pretty long lull in non-federal govt. hiring. After OCI not much happens until this point in the year. I had 7 interviews in the last three weeks (all at small firms, except one prosecutor's office). There's still a bunch of stuff out there man!

However, if you give up, then you will end up with nothing.

[Anonymous User]

Op here: I've applied to SO many. And I literally am sending more and more everyday. I just don't get any responses. Should I actually call alumni attorneys at small/medium firms and talk to them or should I stick to email?

[LawIdiot86]

Op here: I've applied to SO many. And I literally am sending more and more everyday. I just don't get any responses. Should I actually call alumni attorneys at small/medium firms and talk to them or should I stick to email?

How many is "SO many?" I had to contact 1,200 alums and apply to 2,500 to get my job and I was expecting/planning to apply to over 5,000 before I even began saturating my target market.

[Anonymous User]

Op here: Definitely not THAT many. I am in D.C., and I can't leave here during the summer because financially it would be unfeasible, so I've been blanketing the Virginia, Maryland and DC areas. Can I get advice on contacting alums? Should I literally call them and talk to them, or should I just send them a cover letter and resume through email?

[MrAnon]

Its an option but even doc review is hard to get this days. Anyway you will need to move immediately to a major city, and more likely DC or NYC. Of course COL in these towns will eat up a portion of your paycheck.

[TooOld4This]

OP, how did you find yourself in this situation? Top 25% at GW should have landed you something.

You need to stop focusing on the 2L summer job search, and start networking for a job after you graduate. Yes you should be contacting alumni. This is something you should have been doing since 1L. Now contact a wide range of alumni. Recent grads should be able to give you an idea of how to find a post-graduation job. Older grads may be willing to give you broader career advice. Whatever you do, do not contact alums with the idea that you are going to ask them for a 2L summer job. You should be laying the foundation for a post-graduation job -- think informational interviews. Find out how they got to be where they are, what advice they would have for new graduates. You want to establish a connection. It isn't going to happen with every person. But if it does, it can lead to things down the line if you don't burn the connection by trying to immediately convert it into a job opportunity. Patience is the key to networking.

For your 2L year, focus on non-profits and government internships. Get high quality experience, even if you don't get paid. Talk to your professors. Stop worrying about people figuring out you don't have a job. You aren't going to get one if people don't know you are looking.

Ask alumni to look at the cover letter and resume you have been sending. Also ask if any of them would be willing to conduct a mock interview with you. Something isn't working and you need to figure out what.

[Bobby Jones]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... ilit=germx

This sounds like GermX. Even the writing styles are similar...

[Borhas]

Why are you trying to out him? tool

[Indifferent]

I've given up on the hope of a proper legal career for now

Network your ass off, make connections, apply to state clerkships and other local government jobs and it's quite possible you'll find a decent job. Striking out of 2L OCI is only a death sentence if you give up hope.

[Anonymous User]

OP here: Yeah, I'm not GermX and the school isn't GW. Like I said, I have purposely made it so that I won't out myself. The school is a top school however.

Network your ass off, make connections, apply to state clerkships and other local government jobs and it's quite possible you'll find a decent job. Striking out of 2L OCI is only a death sentence if you give up hope.

That's basically going to be my job for the next 3-4 months until I get a job for this summer! Hopefully I can find one in the practice areas I'm interested in =\.

For your 2L year, focus on non-profits and government internships. Get high quality experience, even if you don't get paid. Talk to your professors. Stop worrying about people figuring out you don't have a job. You aren't going to get one if people don't know you are looking.

Thanks for the great advice. Generally even people in the top 25% at my school have not landed big law, even when they found a job, it has been at smaller firms in less competitive markets. The job market was pretty tough this year I think overall on our school.

I have already done some really great internships with the government, non-profits and with judges as well. I've basically been working non-stop since the summer.

I really can't take an unpaid position for this summer. Even $8 per hour would be better than nothing. There's too many bills and I can't just borrow more and more.

There is some good news, I've gotten a few replies this morning from employers who said they liked my resume and will forward to the hiring committee etc... I don't know how much stock I should put into that, but who knows, might be good!

[Geist13]

If you're in that dire straights for $$ this summer, make sure to get qualified for work-study funds. That means doing your taxes now so that you can fill your FAFSA out. Some PI jobs will be available only to students who are work-study eligible. Other orgs may be more willing to give you some $$ if you are work study eligible (because they would only have to pay for part of your salary). Talk to you OCS for more info about the work study process.

[romothesavior]

1) Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It will get you no where. You have solid grades at a solid school, and you should be one of the nore competitive people still searching. You have almost a year and a half til graduation. Make good use of it.

2) Many small/mid-size firms are currently looking for 2Ls. You should be carpet bombing them while simultaneously contacting alumni to make inroads. And the notion that you can't move for a 2L summer gig is quite frankly ridiculous. If a firm were to offer you a paid summer SA (which still exist at this stage) or even an unpaid internship with a possibility of full time employment, you should move in a heartbeat.

3) if you don't get a 2L gig, your focus should then be on post-grad employment. Literally almost any real legal job will be better than doc review. Going to some 30-40k job doing DUIs would be better than lampooning your career. You're probably missing the mid/biglaw boat, but that doesn't mean you can't have a legal career. The first job may suck, but if you can go out and prove yourself as an attorney, you can have a respectable career. But don't close that possibility off by throwing in the towel.

[2LsAPlenty]

A little rough but essentially I agree. It is tough out there and we are all sick of ding letters but you have to keep plugging and if you want private practice, you need to have some experience this summer at a firm even if the pay is not that great. Otherwise, things will just get worse. I would jump for a paying gig but would be willing to take low pay or possibly no pay.

[Anonymous User]

OP here: Thanks for the advice romo. I am actually not being picky at all, except that there are certain practice areas I am not interested in at all (e.g., Family/Divorce etc...). Otherwise, I'm pretty open to small/medium sized firms and I've been applying more heavily now. Some responses so far. I really hope it works out. I don't want to give up on a legal career, but I just got disillusioned after striking out so bad during OCI and then doing below-average on my fall 2L semester.

As for moving, I think the problem is that unless the job is, like you said, really good, it would be so expensive. My apartment won't let me sublease, and storing the furniture I have would be extra expense, not to mention finding a place to live, especially of the CoL was high in whatever city it is. I just really don't want to add any more expenses.

Ah well. Thanks for the advice all! Hopefully the doc review option will not be a reality for me come graduation...

I would jump for a paying gig but would be willing to take low pay or possibly no pay.

For sure, I would take $5/hr as long as it was at a firm that would give me good work to do. No pay would really be tough to swallow- I really need the money =\.

[romothesavior]

OP here: Thanks for the advice romo. I am actually not being picky at all, except that there are certain practice areas I am not interested in at all (e.g., Family/Divorce etc...). Otherwise, I'm pretty open to small/medium sized firms and I've been applying more heavily now. Some responses so far. I really hope it works out. I don't want to give up on a legal career, but I just got disillusioned after striking out so bad during OCI and then doing below-average on my fall 2L semester.

It is super disillusioning. I have some really good friends in your shoes (great grades, great personalities, T20 school, nothing to show for it yet) and I see how disappointing the whole process can be. But there is one thing that is certain: if you give up, you will get nothing.

It sounds like you came to law school for the right reasons and you really want to practice. The market is obviously horrible, but I really think someone at a T1 with top 25% grades can find something if they stay with it. Those of us who got jobs at OCI had it easy; the road is going to be significantly harder once you get past OCI. You may even be looking after you take the bar. But this is what you signed up for (we all did), and if you want to be a lawyer, it's going to take some incredible hustle. Keep chugging away.

Best of luck OP, and give us an update when you land something.

[johansantana21]

OP here: Thanks for the advice romo. I am actually not being picky at all, except that there are certain practice areas I am not interested in at all (e.g., Family/Divorce etc...). Otherwise, I'm pretty open to small/medium sized firms and I've been applying more heavily now. Some responses so far. I really hope it works out. I don't want to give up on a legal career, but I just got disillusioned after striking out so bad during OCI and then doing below-average on my fall 2L semester.

It is super disillusioning. I have some really good friends in your shoes (great grades, great personalities, T20 school, nothing to show for it yet) and I see how disappointing the whole process can be. But there is one thing that is certain: if you give up, you will get nothing.

It sounds like you came to law school for the right reasons and you really want to practice. The market is obviously horrible, but I really think someone at a T1 with top 25% grades can find something if they stay with it. Those of us who got jobs at OCI had it easy; the road is going to be significantly harder once you get past OCI. You may even be looking after you take the bar. But this is what you signed up for (we all did), and if you want to be a lawyer, it's going to take some incredible hustle. Keep chugging away.

Best of luck OP, and give us an update when you land something.

Just curious, what were these great grades your friends had that struck out?