Top Law Schools

Anyone have this for 3L OCI? What is it?

It's a federal banking regulator.

Grades are key (top 10-20%) to get callback just like at any V100. They interview all over the country at the best schools and are very selective. If you make it to an in-house interview, highlight awards received (publications, law review editorial board, etc.). They also are interested in those with i-banking, securities backgrounds.

so, if someone with zero banking experience has a preselect with them what book would you have them read to be best prepared to understand what they do?

I'm not sure. I imagine most people they interview have a business background. Have you taken business/securities classes at school? No one will know everything there is out there, but have a good understanding. Your interviewer will most likely have a good sense for people that have an insincere interest in banking regulation, so maybe don't bullshit them - say you have an interest but are willing to learn along the way.

As of recently, they love hiring out of top 10 law schools. You certainly don't need a business background to get an interview, at least if you attend a top law school. Interest in regulatory work and the public sector is probably necessary. They look for business law courses and administrative law on your transcript. That is probably sufficient to demonstrate an interest, plus being up to date on business and regulatory law in general through WSJ and legal publications. Compensation is very good, lower than big law but in the six figures (can't remember exactly what it was). Good luck! The final round is known to be a black box.

If they want top law schools, why are they coming to my T2?

And would an A in Admin Law be enough to get a look?

kalvano wrote:If they want top law schools, why are they coming to my T2?

And would an A in Admin Law be enough to get a look?

I was a finalist at a similar agency last year. Of the 500 resumes they got, they interviewed 30 finalists (they didn't do screeners) for 3 slots. 25 of the 30 finalists had interned at the FDIC/OCC/FRB. From the prior year's class, 5/6 hires were former interns. While you can probably play the "my school didn't have a banking law course, so I just aced admin instead," it'll be a hard sell if you could have had an internship at an agency because of location and you have a soft liberal arts background.

LawIdiot86 wrote:

kalvano wrote:If they want top law schools, why are they coming to my T2?

And would an A in Admin Law be enough to get a look?

I was a finalist at a similar agency last year. Of the 500 resumes they got, they interviewed 30 finalists (they didn't do screeners) for 3 slots. 25 of the 30 finalists had interned at the FDIC/OCC/FRB. From the prior year's class, 5/6 hires were former interns. While you can probably play the "my school didn't have a banking law course, so I just aced admin instead," it'll be a hard sell if you could have had an internship at an agency because of location and you have a soft liberal arts background.

I haven't had a chance to intern at a financial agency, but I did intern with the USAO. Helpful?

kalvano wrote:

LawIdiot86 wrote:

kalvano wrote:If they want top law schools, why are they coming to my T2?

And would an A in Admin Law be enough to get a look?

I was a finalist at a similar agency last year. Of the 500 resumes they got, they interviewed 30 finalists (they didn't do screeners) for 3 slots. 25 of the 30 finalists had interned at the FDIC/OCC/FRB. From the prior year's class, 5/6 hires were former interns. While you can probably play the "my school didn't have a banking law course, so I just aced admin instead," it'll be a hard sell if you could have had an internship at an agency because of location and you have a soft liberal arts background.

I haven't had a chance to intern at a financial agency, but I did intern with the USAO. Helpful?

Was it at all related to the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force or the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section? Those are the only sorts of cases that would be remotely relevant. Probably not helpful.

Oh well. Thanks for the info.

kalvano wrote:Oh well. Thanks for the info.

Sorry for the bad news. I had mediocre grades at a T14, but several financial agency internships and extensive relevant pre-law school work experience and I couldn't even get a callback from them.

LawIdiot86 wrote:

kalvano wrote:Oh well. Thanks for the info.

Sorry for the bad news. I had mediocre grades at a T14, but several financial agency internships and extensive relevant pre-law school work experience and I couldn't even get a callback from them.

It's OK, I figured they were looking for better than SMU, school-wise. Only reason I can guess as to why they are bothering with OCI is because of the Dallas office.

I'll find out Tuesday if I got anything. I just thought it was weird they were coming in the first place.

kalvano wrote:

LawIdiot86 wrote:

kalvano wrote:Oh well. Thanks for the info.

Sorry for the bad news. I had mediocre grades at a T14, but several financial agency internships and extensive relevant pre-law school work experience and I couldn't even get a callback from them.

It's OK, I figured they were looking for better than SMU, school-wise. Only reason I can guess as to why they are bothering with OCI is because of the Dallas office.

I'll find out Tuesday if I got anything. I just thought it was weird they were coming in the first place.

Eh, don't write yourself off too quickly. Remember, it's the government and they don't/can't care about name value as much as class rank. If you're truly the top of your class, that may be sufficient. Also, research what the Dallas office does relative to the DC headquarters. I know DC legal does all 5-7 of the functions, but the regional office may only do one or two to support the examination/enforcement activities. If you can, try to play up your love of investigations.

LawIdiot86 wrote:

kalvano wrote:

LawIdiot86 wrote:

kalvano wrote:Oh well. Thanks for the info.

Sorry for the bad news. I had mediocre grades at a T14, but several financial agency internships and extensive relevant pre-law school work experience and I couldn't even get a callback from them.

It's OK, I figured they were looking for better than SMU, school-wise. Only reason I can guess as to why they are bothering with OCI is because of the Dallas office.

I'll find out Tuesday if I got anything. I just thought it was weird they were coming in the first place.

Eh, don't write yourself off too quickly. Remember, it's the government and they don't/can't care about name value as much as class rank. If you're truly the top of your class, that may be sufficient. Also, research what the Dallas office does relative to the DC headquarters. I know DC legal does all 5-7 of the functions, but the regional office may only do one or two to support the examination/enforcement activities. If you can, try to play up your love of investigations.

Not top of the class. Not even within their preferred ranking (top 25%) but close. Thanks for the tip, if by some miracle I get an interview, I'll definitely do that.

It's the feds--they focus on grades/class rank more than school rank.

Let us know how it goes! I have a screener coming up at our OCI, too.
I wonder if they prefer a SA position or gov't internship for 2L summer?

LawIdiot86 wrote:

kalvano wrote:

LawIdiot86 wrote:

kalvano wrote:Oh well. Thanks for the info.

Sorry for the bad news. I had mediocre grades at a T14, but several financial agency internships and extensive relevant pre-law school work experience and I couldn't even get a callback from them.

It's OK, I figured they were looking for better than SMU, school-wise. Only reason I can guess as to why they are bothering with OCI is because of the Dallas office.

I'll find out Tuesday if I got anything. I just thought it was weird they were coming in the first place.

Eh, don't write yourself off too quickly. Remember, it's the government and they don't/can't care about name value as much as class rank. If you're truly the top of your class, that may be sufficient. Also, research what the Dallas office does relative to the DC headquarters. I know DC legal does all 5-7 of the functions, but the regional office may only do one or two to support the examination/enforcement activities. If you can, try to play up your love of investigations.

Not the OCC. I know this for a fact. Exception would of course be for regional schools, but even then, last year they were hiring from the top schools.

Does anyone have experience interviewing with them? I got a pre-select with mediocre grades at a T10 and relevant experience (fed agency/ finance / ug business) and would really appreciate some tips on how to prep and what types of things they are looking for in an applicant (other than the obvious).

This thread is relevant to my interests since I have a screener at 3L OCI for an entry-level position at the Federal Reserve. But I have no idea how I got it since I have literally no background in finance at all. My grades are pretty good (top 15% at a T25 and LR) and I've only worked in gov since coming to law school (though, again, none of it was related to finance). In my CL, I basically just said "I'm committed to working in government and would love to serve my country." Can I ride this explanation to a CB or do I need a better story for the screener?

Preselect with the OCC. Huh.

kalvano wrote:Preselect with the OCC. Huh.

Anon from above. Also found out I got a preselect with the FCC having no communications or admin background. Hopefully our stories just show that the competition for 3L hiring in the federal government is easy again and we're going to be swimming in those bigfed offers (lol yeah right).

Good luck!

Had my screener today. The guy was super laid-back and awesome, and the job sounds amazing. I doubt I'll get the job just because of the competition, but if you get CB'ed, it sounds like an incredible job.

What is the logic of screening students in the top 1/3 of a Tier 1 school with government but no finance experience (that's me) if they only hire top 10% in the end? I mean, I believe the people who are saying that. I'm just curious what the logic behind interviewing me if I have 0 chance is, or if there's something that can make a screener go amazing enough to get a callback. Thoughts?

The guy that interviewed me was definitely not top 10% from a top 10 school. And he was hired in 2009-2010. So there is that.

He also indicated that a finance background was by no means required, and said that several of the new hires did not have one.