Top Law Schools

It's been quite a while since I stumbled upon TLS and, since there's nothing quite on this topic (at least not recently), I thought I'd throw out the following question to those who've already graduated and who are already out there in the real world: Where are the associate positions in New York City?

I ask for a few reasons. But first, a bit about me. I graduated from a New York, top-30 law school in 2012 and passed the New York bar. My GPA was good by many standards (approximate top third) and I was on Moot Court and a journal. I have some decent work experience under my belt, from before and during law school, particularly in soft-IP. A few years ago, this might have been enough to get me a good job. Today, though, I'm having trouble finding long-term employment. While I'm fortunate to have a full time short-term position, I can't afford to pay rent and am living with my family outside the city. I feel profoundly stuck. In the suburbs no less.

Now, I'm not looking for pity - I know that, all things considered, things could be far worse. But having gone to countless networking events and having been passed over for associate positions because someone else with more experience applied for the entry-level position, I can't help but feel troubled and unsure about my future. Very few of my classmates and the other recent grads I've met have traditional associate positions or clerkships - and my definition here is much broader than big law. Very few, it seems, are doing anything other than just scrapping by.

This month especially there have been barely a handful of associate or associate-like positions available for recent graduates or even newish (read: 1-3 year) attorneys in NY. Has anyone else noticed that? Am I looking in all the wrong places?

1.) Just say Fordham, dude. "Top-30 NYC school" doesn't exactly require a rosetta stone to translate.

2.) Do you have any ties to a "back home" market? Decent grades from Fordham and a "home town boy looking to return" storyline could land you something in Buffalo or Cleveland or someplace like that if you're from there. It's not NYC, but there's something to be said about not paying $3,000/month for an apartment.

I suspect I know who you are, but I graduated Fordham (with you, methinks), and I recently joined a firm, post-grad, as an associate. I did it by building a small practice for myself and then presenting a proposal to a number of local firms based partially on the work I could bring in.

My grades were a bit better than yours, my extra curriculars a bit worse, but not a single client has asked what my grades were (or where I went to school). Send me a PM if you want to meet for coffee. If you continue to do legal work (even part time) you are in better shape than a lot of people, but making the jump from doing legal work to being an associate is not easy.

The New York market is brutal, even for the elites. There are still more unemployed lawyers in that city than any other. BIg law hires are down 40% percent in that last five years and it was felt in New York more than any other city. A friend who graduated Penn Law a few years back (06, 07 or 08?) was canned during the financial crisis and now works for a small family firm in NJ.

I also met a recent NYU grad ('11) last year who still looking for her first gig more than year after graduating. Mind you, you could see her bitterness wafting off her like bad perfume. You must learn to bury those frustrations when speaking to others ANYWHERE, unless they are your closest friends and family. BItching and complaining will not get anyone to recommend you for a gig. That's just networking 101. I certainly will not forget her and it's been a year since I met her.

These are only anecdotes, so YMMV. Keep your head up and listen to SBL's suggestions.

I'd love to be in NYC, but I'm concentrating on the D.C. market (so much freakin' better) and the market by my law school (also better than NYC). Disclosure: born and raised in NYC, current 3L. Can't wait to get back home for the holidays. Good luck!

For what it's worth I think you guys graduated in Fordham's worst class for job placements in 20-30 years and it looks like things are picking up a bit for the classes of 2013-14... But I guess for me there was never that much pressure because my fallback career eventually pays big law associate rates and the JD could have helped for a transition to management anyway.

Keep trying, there's still jobs out there and some boutiques will hire grads for IP I've seen.