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I'm curious if getting a 1L summer job reference is at all important for a 2L job search (I've got prof. references, but no "legal employer" references really). My concern is that I'm not doing some kind of stellar job at my 1L job that I'd rely on a reference from them. In addition, they expect me to sign up next summer and work during the year, which I'm not going to do. So regardless I'm not going to be comfortable using my current employer as a reference even if I start killing it at work because technically they will see me as "quitting." The rest of my job outlook is pretty bight (top 5%, LR, awards etc). Anyway is this anything to worry about or should I start applying the chapstick to do some serious ass kissing to partners for the rest of the summer?

Biglaw doesn't use references in the hiring process. Resume/transcript is all they want from you. And occasionally a writing sample.

All that matters for your next job are your grades. That is it. Grades. And whether you made it on a journal. If you do not get a job lined up during OCI for your 2nd summer, then maybe your work experience will count.

shock259 wrote:Biglaw doesn't use references in the hiring process. Resume/transcript is all they want from you. And occasionally a writing sample.

Uh, no. Not true. Well, maybe if you're K-JD. One of my references (employer for the 2.5 years before I went to law school) had about a dozen calls about me last summer from BigLaw recruiters. Firms seem to contact references between screeners and callbacks or between callbacks and offers, but I know at least one firm (Covington) actually contacted my references before I even screened. While it's generally the more selective firms that require references, I found that pretty much all firms will accept them and many did actually reach out to references even if they didn't ask for any.

That being said, a partner you did one assignment for as a 1L SA is probably not going to be a valuable reference.

Anonymous User wrote:All that matters for your next job are your grades. That is it. Grades. And whether you made it on a journal. If you do not get a job lined up during OCI for your 2nd summer, then maybe your work experience will count.

Must be a 0L or 1L to write this anon. You're generally right that nothing on your resume will come close to being as important as your grades, but socially awkward people underperform their paper credentials dramatically at OCI. It's not as one-dimensional as you make it out to be.

When did they even ask for your references? I did ~10 callbacks with NYC firms and I don't remember ever being asked for references. Not a K-JD.