How realistic is landing a biglaw job as a rising 3L? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm at T-14, GPA went from slightly below median to slightly above median from 1l to 2l. I have a position in secondary journal, and am very involved in other things in school (research, clubs, ect..). I had terrible luck during last year's OCI. I received a lot of callbacks, but for some reason 0 offers. I finally received an offer from a non-vault ranked firm, though its NLJ/AM law 200 ranked in one of the 3 major cities (LA/Chi/NY). I'd like to re apply to see if I can upgrade my firm (mostly the salary). I have ties to all 3 major cities. So how realistic is it that I will get an offer from a better firm at one of the 3 cities, and how should I approach applying (when to start?).

Thanks in advance for your help guys.

[Tiago Splitter]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=225505

I went through the process last summer.

1. A grade increase or some other positive change to your resume (such as a clerkship) is really important. Firms that you interview with are going to ask why you want to switch, and quite frankly, an appropriate answer is that your grades increased or you got that clerkship, and this firm is much better than your other firm in the area of law you want to practice. I had a pretty sharp grade increase, and that was the answer I gave when asked. Firms get it, especially when their practice group really is much better than your other firm's group. You can also try to talk about how you had such a good experience with your old firm's group that you really want to work at the highest level, with a group like the one at the target firm.

2. The firms that are actively recruiting 3Ls tend to be the behemoths, mostly in NYC, but also in DC. Skadden, DPW, STB, Cravath, Latham, Paul Weiss, and several others were particularly active last cycle. Obviously there might be an opening or two that a firm with a SA class of 30 may need to fill, but generally the biggest firms are the most active because they are the least sensitive to over-recruiting. That being said, almost all of these firms were looking to fill positions in specific groups. Paul Weiss was only looking to fill corporate spots last cycle, and the V5s were asking at the outset which group you wanted to join. Since you have a clerkship, I would imagine you are set on litigation which is a good thing since being indecisive will probably hurt you.

3. Don't rely on OCI. At all. Even a little bit. Many of the firms that are recruiting 3Ls won't even advertise that fact at OCI, and won't allocate spots for 3Ls. Almost all of the 3L hiring occurs outside of OCI. You want to start emailing every firm or office's NALP contact a week or so before OCI. Email all of your materials, but pay particular attention to your cover letter. Seriously, a well-written cover letter, while ineffective almost all other times, will be extremely helpful in getting an interview as a 3L. I had secured an externship for the fall semester that I tied in with my other experiences to show that I was particularly set on a certain practice area. The reason that such a letter is important is because most firms won't even given you a screener. I had one phone screener for a firm, but all of the other interviews went directly to the call back stage. Therefore, the only chance you'll have to sell yourself is your cover letter. Of course, you should try to get interviews through 3L OCI, but don't count on it.

Even if you do get an interview through the OCI system, you should still have mailed that firm directly. If a firm is interested, many times they will simply set up an interview while they are on campus doing OCI. Another great strategy is to go into OCI about half hour before it starts and drop your resume off with recruiters. Sometimes you'll score an interview later in the day. Other times, they'll say they aren't interviewing 3Ls but they'll give it to the head recruiter, which can materialize into an interview later down the road. Most importantly, don't get discouraged if you don't get any calls right away. Some firms interview 3Ls at the same time as the 2Ls, but many wait until the end of the 2L cycle. A number of interviews rolled in around the first or second week of September, and one even came near October.

Apologies if that answer was kind of stream of consciousness. If you have any other questions feel free to ask on here or shoot me a PM.

[OutCold]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Anonymous User]

great, thanks for that. Is August 1 the earliest one can apply to firms?

[OutCold]

I would mail everything about two weeks before your school's OCI. That gives any firms that might want to interview you while they are on campus the opportunity to catch your application materials and set something up. Pretty much mid-July and onward.