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Hello everyone. I'm at 2L at a lower-ranked law school (50-100ish), on law review, have several book awards, and have a V100 SA locked up. This firm historically has a solid offer rate.

I was at the very top of my class after 1L, but took a big hit in grades Fall 2L (got mostly Bs). I had a tough time with depression and a break-up, but obviously I need to regroup and get better grades this semester. I went from a 3.7 after 1L to my current 3.4.

I now need to decide whether to apply for law review editorial board positions. Nearly all the positions that I stand a chance of obtaining will require a substantial amount of work this semester, and most certainly over this summer. I am concerned that any of these editorial board positions will interfere with my grades this semester and my work-product this summer.

I'm pretty certain I am going to just focus on getting better grades and giving 100 percent this summer at my firm, but wanted to check in and see what folks here thought. Thanks in advance for any advice

Edit: Either way, I plan on remaining a second-year member.

Anonymous User wrote:Hello everyone. I'm at 2L at a lower-ranked law school (50-100ish), on law review, have several book awards, and have a V100 SA locked up. This firm historically has a solid offer rate.

I was at the very top of my class after 1L, but took a big hit in grades Fall 2L (got mostly Bs). I had a tough time with depression and a break-up, but obviously I need to regroup and get better grades this semester. I went from a 3.7 after 1L to my current 3.4.

I now need to decide whether to apply for law review editorial board positions. Nearly all the positions that I stand a chance of obtaining will require a substantial amount of work this semester, and most certainly over this summer. I am concerned that any of these editorial board positions will interfere with my grades this semester and my work-product this summer.

I'm pretty certain I am going to just focus on getting better grades and giving 100 percent this summer at my firm, but wanted to check in and see what folks here thought. Thanks in advance for any advice

Edit: Either way, I plan on remaining a second-year member.

Don't take the editorial positions. You are far better off focusing on your SA. While grades are given different weight at each firm when determining whether or not they give offers, firms simply will not give a hoot about your law review position. Improve your grades, produce excellent work-product: other things are secondary.

Do you want to clerk? If not, I don't think that being on the e-board is really that important. And even if you do want to clerk, getting your grades back up will be more important than being on the board.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Do you want to clerk? If not, I don't think that being on the e-board is really that important. And even if you do want to clerk, getting your grades back up will be more important than being on the board.

OP here. I have no desire to clerk. My sole goal is obtaining a permanent offer at the V100 I will be summering at.

Anonymous User wrote:

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Do you want to clerk? If not, I don't think that being on the e-board is really that important. And even if you do want to clerk, getting your grades back up will be more important than being on the board.

OP here. I have no desire to clerk. My sole goal is obtaining a permanent offer at the V100 I will be summering at.

Yeah, I think you're right to focus on grades. I think if you don't want to clerk, the only position that might give you any boost would be EIC, and even then, grades are much more important.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Do you want to clerk? If not, I don't think that being on the e-board is really that important. And even if you do want to clerk, getting your grades back up will be more important than being on the board.

OP here. I have no desire to clerk. My sole goal is obtaining a permanent offer at the V100 I will be summering at.

Yeah, I think you're right to focus on grades. I think if you don't want to clerk, the only position that might give you any boost would be EIC, and even then, grades are much more important.

Thanks. I think that's the path I will pursue. I was just concerned about closing doors/putting all my eggs in one basket by not pursuing Editorial Board positions.

law review positions mean fuck-all in the real world.

That's a pretty severe drop, especially considering your entire year of work was brought down 0.3 by 1 semester?. Unless you want to clerk, I'd focus on grades.

NinerFan wrote:That's a pretty severe drop, especially considering your entire year of work was brought down 0.3 by 1 semester?. Unless you want to clerk, I'd focus on grades.

Yeah. It was a huge blow. I'm going to just focus on grades, and most importantly my performance this summer at my firm.