Firms after clerkship... Forum

[Anonymous User]

Figured I'd get this in before all the OCI stuff starts rolling in. I have a district court clerkship (flyover district) coming up. My stats were good enough to get the clerkship, but wasn't good enough to get a 2L SA position (poor first-semester 1L grades, crushed LS the rest of the way). I'm licensed in CA, looking at targeting mainly CA and DC, but willing to go elsewhere. I'm primarily interested in IP Lit and Appellate Lit, knowing the latter isn't exactly easy without COA and is a fairly limited practice, but would be more than happy with any sort of good litigation practice, which will explain the first list below...

Do I have a realistic shot at these firms?:

MTO
KVN
Williams & Connolly
Robbins Russell
Kellogg Huber
Susman
Irell (LA/OC--I had a callback with them prior to accepting the clerkship, so doesn't seem out of reach)

I left my full list of firms at home (I'm at work), but I'm also looking at:

MoFo (SF)
Fenwick (SV)
A&P (SF--Howard Rice)
GDC (DC/LA-Century City)
Quinn (LA)
Orrick (SV/SF?)

And pretty much all similar firms (Weil, OMM, WSGR, etc). I think the ones listed above are probably my top choices though, especially the first list. Suggestions as to any other firms to look at would also be appreciated; I've basically used Chambers and looked through a lot of threads here to come up with my list already, but there's going to be way more law firms than I can ever keep up with in my head...

[Anonymous User]

Figured I'd get this in before all the OCI stuff starts rolling in. I have a district court clerkship (flyover district) coming up. My stats were good enough to get the clerkship, but wasn't good enough to get a 2L SA position (poor first-semester 1L grades, crushed LS the rest of the way). I'm licensed in CA, looking at targeting mainly CA and DC, but willing to go elsewhere. I'm primarily interested in IP Lit and Appellate Lit, knowing the latter isn't exactly easy without COA and is a fairly limited practice, but would be more than happy with any sort of good litigation practice, which will explain the first list below...

Do I have a realistic shot at these firms?:

MTO
KVN
Williams & Connolly
Robbins Russell
Kellogg Huber
Susman
Irell (LA/OC--I had a callback with them prior to accepting the clerkship, so doesn't seem out of reach)

I left my full list of firms at home (I'm at work), but I'm also looking at:

MoFo (SF)
Fenwick (SV)
A&P (SF--Howard Rice)
GDC (DC/LA-Century City)
Quinn (LA)
Orrick (SV/SF?)

And pretty much all similar firms (Weil, OMM, WSGR, etc). I think the ones listed above are probably my top choices though, especially the first list. Suggestions as to any other firms to look at would also be appreciated; I've basically used Chambers and looked through a lot of threads here to come up with my list already, but there's going to be way more law firms than I can ever keep up with in my head...

You already passed the Bar? Good for you.

Without knowing your law school, or more of your stats, I would say your chances of landing a gig at the firms on your first are nearly nil.

As to your second list, I think you have a good shot unless you were targeting GDC's Appellate Section in DC, in which I think your odds are long to none.

PM if you want more specifics.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah, I'm actually a 2011 graduate with a 2012-13 clerkship, that's why.

I can't PM anon, I think.

[anon168]

Figured I'd get this in before all the OCI stuff starts rolling in. I have a district court clerkship (flyover district) coming up. My stats were good enough to get the clerkship, but wasn't good enough to get a 2L SA position (poor first-semester 1L grades, crushed LS the rest of the way). I'm licensed in CA, looking at targeting mainly CA and DC, but willing to go elsewhere. I'm primarily interested in IP Lit and Appellate Lit, knowing the latter isn't exactly easy without COA and is a fairly limited practice, but would be more than happy with any sort of good litigation practice, which will explain the first list below...

Do I have a realistic shot at these firms?:

MTO
KVN
Williams & Connolly
Robbins Russell
Kellogg Huber
Susman
Irell (LA/OC--I had a callback with them prior to accepting the clerkship, so doesn't seem out of reach)

I left my full list of firms at home (I'm at work), but I'm also looking at:

MoFo (SF)
Fenwick (SV)
A&P (SF--Howard Rice)
GDC (DC/LA-Century City)
Quinn (LA)
Orrick (SV/SF?)

And pretty much all similar firms (Weil, OMM, WSGR, etc). I think the ones listed above are probably my top choices though, especially the first list. Suggestions as to any other firms to look at would also be appreciated; I've basically used Chambers and looked through a lot of threads here to come up with my list already, but there's going to be way more law firms than I can ever keep up with in my head...

You already passed the Bar? Good for you.

Without knowing your law school, or more of your stats, I would say your chances of landing a gig at the firms on your first are nearly nil.

As to your second list, I think you have a good shot unless you were targeting GDC's Appellate Section in DC, in which I think your odds are long to none.

PM if you want more specifics.

Sorry, didn't mean to post anonymously.

[madame defarge]

Figured I'd get this in before all the OCI stuff starts rolling in. I have a district court clerkship (flyover district) coming up. My stats were good enough to get the clerkship, but wasn't good enough to get a 2L SA position (poor first-semester 1L grades, crushed LS the rest of the way). I'm licensed in CA, looking at targeting mainly CA and DC, but willing to go elsewhere. I'm primarily interested in IP Lit and Appellate Lit, knowing the latter isn't exactly easy without COA and is a fairly limited practice, but would be more than happy with any sort of good litigation practice, which will explain the first list below...

From the lack of useful detail in your post (law school/grades/journal/current employer), it seems that you think your district court clerkship alone could be your ticket to the most selective and prestigious litigation shops in the country. It simply doesn't work this way. A top-flight COA clerkship, maybe, but not a random flyover district court clerkship.

I think your best bet would be to focus on the less-selective firms doing IP litigation in California if you have the right kind of technical/scientific background (I'm talking CS/EE, or a Ph.D. in life sciences for biotech). Have you considering applying for COA clerkships? If you were able to swing any judge on the 9th, you could stand a chance at the firms on your first list.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a COA clerk, and I struck out with every firm on your list. I ended up landing lots of biglaw offers and other good jobs, but a clerkship without the grades/school/law review and other shit the firm looks for isn't going to land you Susman or Kellogg Huber.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks dudes, the above is the kind of info I was looking for. Looks like I'll have to significantly broaden my search.

As for the lack of useful detail, I don't want to give too much to out myself, but I'm top 5% from a t25, secondary journal. Figure lack of t14 will hurt a lot. I don't have any sort of tech background. I've been trying for COA clerkships, but it's looking less likely by now--figure late-July/early-August will be the last time-frame that they look seriously at alumni applicants, since hiring plan will be kicking in soon enough for 3L apps.

Would a D.Ct. clerkship in a competitive district in the geographical region (CDCA/NDCA/DDC) help? It's unfortunately still not a COA.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks dudes, the above is the kind of info I was looking for. Looks like I'll have to significantly broaden my search.

As for the lack of useful detail, I don't want to give too much to out myself, but I'm top 5% from a t25, secondary journal. Figure lack of t14 will hurt a lot. I don't have any sort of tech background. I've been trying for COA clerkships, but it's looking less likely by now--figure late-July/early-August will be the last time-frame that they look seriously at alumni applicants, since hiring plan will be kicking in soon enough for 3L apps.

Would a D.Ct. clerkship in a competitive district in the geographical region (CDCA/NDCA/DDC) help? It's unfortunately still not a COA.

Your chances still would be very low. The same is true even with a COA clerkship. Your initial list includes the most selective boutiques and medium-sized firms in the country. (Why not include Wachtell and Bartlit Beck while you're at it?) These firms typically require top 5% from a t14 (top 10% from HYSCCN), law review, and a COA clerkship. Someone might be able to get by without one of these credentials, especially from a better school or at Irell. But you're not in that position. And no offense, but your lack of a 2L SA position would be a black mark at these types of firms. So don't get your hopes up.

Apply broadly to the big firms in CA and DC, including Irell and the other firms on your second list (GDC DC and A&P SF are long shots). I'm sure you'll get offers at good firms.

[Emma.]

Firms like KVN can take the top students from T6 schools and they hire with the assumption that everyone is going to do at least one year of clerking, so your clerkship won't really set you apart there.

IMO, while your clerkship will likely be a huge plus in hiring, (congrats, BTW!) it probably isn't enough to get you one of those super elite firms.