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Hi,

I've started researching firms for OCI but have no clue what I'm doing. I've read the stickied threads here. I'm a CA resident with strong ties to LA & Bay Area, so I'll be bidding CA, TX, and maybe Chicago. No IP background, good leadership experience, limited work experience, interested in clerking out of law school.

Basically, I'm looking to establish some high end and low end baselines. Could anyone give me an idea of what firms I would be a stretch to SA at and others where I'd be a shoe-in. I realize this is a difficult question without a listing of firms, so maybe just categories of characteristics of firms would be helpful, i.e. high end = v10 low end = 5-10 attorney firm in bumf*ck Texas.

Also, I will obviously ask my placement office, but they're busy with lots of inquiries and frankly I trust TLS just as much.

Thanks.

Overall, I suggest targeting the firms with the largest summer classes: MoFo, Kirkland, Quinn, and Latham in NorCal; GDC, O'Melveny, Paul Hastings, and Skadden (among others) in SoCal. Your lack of IP background will hurt you a bit at some of these firms (especially in NorCal), but I bet that most would at least consider a student who is top 5% - 10% at UT.

Don't get hung up on Vault tiers. Skadden, for example, is a "V5," but it's not all that selective--at least not in LA. Were I you, I'd focus on firms with large SA classes. A V20 with 40 summer associate spots is likely going to be a better bet than a V50 with 8 summer associate spots. Also, given your lack of tech background, you should probably avoid the NorCal firms that are almost exclusively IP-focused: Wilson Sonsini, Fenwick, Cooley. These firms have a few summer spots for non-tech folks, but it's slim pickings.

And, as you probably already know, there are a lot more jobs in LA than SF. The NorCal market is small and is generally dominated by Stanford and Berkeley grads. If your primary concern is getting a job somewhere in California, I'd focus more on LA. But if you really want Northern California, don't be shy about applying: you have a legitimate shot at SF/SV.

Good luck!