Credit Utilization and Big Law Forum

[Anonymous User]

Long story short:

Recent graduate and going to a biglaw firm in NY. Paperwork says they can do credit checks, etc.

Currently have about 5 credit cards with a total aggregate of about 20k limit. I'm currently using about 19.5k out of the 20k for various purposes. Some of this was pre-law school, some of this were unexpected expenses.

Is this credit utilization going to be a problem? Or are they looking at total aggregate?

I haven't missed any payments and continue to make timely payments even if it is the minimum amount due.

[dood]

few things -

• * no one will look at ur % utilization, only ur score
  * your credit score prolly took a 50-100 point drop
  * but unlike missed payments, etc - it's easily/quickly fixed when u start earning
  * ur firm prolly wont give a fuck, ive never heard of someone getting "dinged" after they get an offer, maybe if u declared bankruptcy or something
  * C&F might care, but again - prolly only if you declared bankruptcy, if you are a current target of collections, etc

[Anonymous User]

Thanks. Yeah, my credit score was pretty good prior to utilization climbing so hoping its not bad.

Since C&F in NY is so late, I'll try to pay down my credit cards a bit before I start doing that.

Thanks for the response again.

[NinerFan]

If you're truly worried and your firm does advances, you could try getting one to pay it down some. But, if you're making all the payments, I don't see any reason why it would be a big deal when most people going into big law have 6 figure debt from student loans.

[quakeroats]

I've never heard of this being an issue.

[thesealocust]

Aggressive, unrepentant dereliction of substantial debts may be an issue. A mediocre or poor credit score will not be.

[quakeroats]

Aggressive, unrepentant dereliction of substantial debts may be an issue. A mediocre or poor credit score will not be.

Sounds right. Still, I haven't even heard a story about this.

[NinerFan]

Aggressive, unrepentant dereliction of substantial debts may be an issue. A mediocre or poor credit score will not be.

Sounds right. Still, I haven't even heard a story about this.

There was that one ATL story of the guy with massive loan debt that couldn't get admitted to Ohio or something.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Aggressive, unrepentant dereliction of substantial debts may be an issue. A mediocre or poor credit score will not be.

Sounds right. Still, I haven't even heard a story about this.

There was that one ATL story of the guy with massive loan debt that couldn't get admitted to Ohio or something.

Yeah, and there's another guy who had $450K+ of student loan debt over at least 3 degrees (BA, JD, MA from LSE or something) and had never made a single payment over something like 10 years - his state bar wouldn't admit him either (I want to say it was NY but I'm not sure).

But admission to the bar is a little different. I really doubt firms would care as long as your debts weren't so bad you couldn't get admitted anywhere.

[Sup Kid]

This will not be an issue, but if you're really concerned, you should do 3 things come fall after you start working:

1) Get another credit card. With a decent score and your salary, another one for $5k should be easy to get. Do not use it; raise limit by 25% right there.

2) Use paychecks in October/November/December to pay down credit card debt. Loans won't be due until early January, so you won't have to worry yet about those (and I'm sure your credit card interest is higher than 6.8% or whatever your loans are, so this makes financial sense as well). Keep plugging away at credit card debt while paying minimum on student loans until you pay it off (again, to save money on interest).

3) Don't apply for NY admission until January/February at the earliest. By that point, you'll probably get an interview date in the late summer, well far enough ahead to get the debt paid down. At my firm, there are still first years who have yet to submit the paperwork, so this shouldn't be a big deal at all.