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Does a BIGLAW 1L SA position have any impact at 2L OCI? or will it be all about grades? Will the 1L SA ask for grades before making a decision to give an offer after 1L SA? What I'm wondering is if grades will always be controlling, or will the quality of the 1L SA position have any impact (assuming the summer goes well)? Also, if the summer goes well and an offer is given at the end of the summer, how long until a decision is required? Can I participate in 2L OCI or will I have to give a decision before that? There is some chance I would want to work in a different (and bigger) city 2L.

Having a 1L SA did not really affect me at OCI. It made it less stressful since I had a guaranteed 2L SA before I started and it made it easier to talk in interviews about why I wanted to work in biglaw, because I had experienced it somewhat. But I don't think it made me more or less attractive to hire.

I think a lot of your questions are probably firm specific i/r/t grades, timing, OCI, etc. My firm did ask to see my grades before offering to return, though I don't think my firm no offers for grades. IIRC, my firm gave 1L SAs the same deadline that NALP requires for 2L SAs, 11/1. My firm encouraged me to participate in OCI and split my 2L summer.

Anonymous User wrote:Does a BIGLAW 1L SA position have any impact at 2L OCI? or will it be all about grades? Will the 1L SA ask for grades before making a decision to give an offer after 1L SA? What I'm wondering is if grades will always be controlling, or will the quality of the 1L SA position have any impact (assuming the summer goes well)? Also, if the summer goes well and an offer is given at the end of the summer, how long until a decision is required? Can I participate in 2L OCI or will I have to give a decision before that? There is some chance I would want to work in a different (and bigger) city 2L.

2L OCI will still be as much about grades as it would be if you did anything else this summer. The conventional wisdom is that all 1L summer does is give interviewers something to ask you during interviews and that was my experience as well. I doubt I got bonus points for doing SA over a judicial internship or PI experience.

Many 1L SA "offers" are an invitation to come back for part of your 2L summer and then a real full-time offer comes after that. You'll be free to do 2L OCI in most cases. Split summers between firms are rare nowadays, but going back to your 1L firm for a few weeks is still an acceptable split with most firms. They generally will ask for grades too, but that's more a firm by firm thing.