Top Law Schools

Rising 2L coming up on OCI. Looking to go to San Fran or Silicon Valley and currently sitting at a 3.53 at DCNG, which I think is top 30-35%. Good/bad/no chance? What firms should I be targeting? Thanks for any help!

Anonymous User wrote:Rising 2L coming up on OCI. Looking to go to San Fran or Silicon Valley and currently sitting at a 3.53 at DCNG, which I think is top 30-35%. Good/bad/no chance? What firms should I be targeting? Thanks for any help!

Are you from San Francisco or the Valley? (don't say "no but i'm from California")

Also, need more info on your school. If you go to Georgetown, that changes everything. If you go to NU, that may be better b/c you prob have work experience.

You're posting anonymously, just divulge where you go to school

Undergrad in the Bay Area, have significant work experience in a client-based business (>3 years) (also in the Bay Area). Attending NU

Anonymous User wrote:Undergrad in the Bay Area, have significant work experience in a client-based business (>3 years) (also in the Bay Area). Attending NU

These are good ties. I'd bid widely around large-ish SF/Valley firms that aren't super grade-conscious (i.e., I'd avoid Covington/Gibson/etc., but I'd go hard for Wilson/Fenwick/MoFo/Kirkland/A&P/Cooley/etc.).

I'd still bid somewhere else as a backup market, but I think a widely dispersed set of Bay Area bids will get you a few offers out here.

Anonymous User wrote:Undergrad in the Bay Area, have significant work experience in a client-based business (>3 years) (also in the Bay Area). Attending NU

Bay area is competitive and 3.5 may not be top 30% but a bit lower. More info will be available when the callback sheet comes out, but I'm guessing you'll have the most luck with a transactional focus in SV . If you have an IP background that might help get you in to SF though.

OP you are on the cusp for Bay Area firms if you are top 30-40% from NU; you could get something but you could also strike out. Your work experience and California undergrad will help. I also imagine that California is less popular at NU, so that can help get more interviews, making it a relatively safer strategy (though this can be variable class to class).

Do you want corporate or litigation? I'd probably split your bidlist half New York and half Bay Area. It might be a bit too risky to only interview with Bay Area firms. Look for the SF/SV firms with bigger classes. I agree with the earlier poster that corporate SV firms will probably like your background better and are generally slightly less grade conscious than the SF litigation-focused firms. But they also generally have smaller classes.

Looking at a grade-sheet from a peer to NU, Gibson, Quinn, and Kirkland will be reaches and probably are not worth bids. Orrick, Latham, O'Melveny, Cooley, Wilson Sonsoni are more your range.

Definitely looking to do transactional

Anonymous User wrote:Orrick, Latham, O'Melveny, Cooley, Wilson Sonsoni are more your range.

Really? Orrick and Latham are still within reach, even with that GPA? I always thought those were super-tough to get. Also, what about the smaller SV firms (e.g. Gunderson, etc.)

For NYC, my understanding was that the GPA requirements are a little lower. In that case, what should I my target firms be, given that I want to do transactional?

Orrick is not that grade conscious. Latham isn't likely but it is within reach. The problem with Gunderson and other small SV offices is that when you hire 5-10 summers (or less) there's a lot of randomness that you can't really predict as you can with NYC firms who hire in the dozens.

OP, shoot me a PM.

bumping for any additional feedback