Top Law Schools

Thought I'd start a thread so we can discuss. Also taking suggestions to edit the title to make it better (if I'm able to edit).

Edit:

For future students looking at GW as a law school, OCI is not great here. Do not come here big law or bust. Not even as IP.

Yes!! Someone finally made one. checking in


GW Law OCI 2012: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=187366

Anyone doing the GW/GT Joint program starting today? I'm interesting in K&L Gates Pittsburgh, but have no idea if I've even got a shot since its also with Georgetown. Right outside top 15%, grew up in Pgh.

Deleted for brevity.

Checking in. 3.6x, GW Scholar. Non-IP. Gunning hard for NY Regional. Will post my bid list soon.

Anonymous User wrote:Checking in. 3.6x, GW Scholar. Non-IP. Gunning hard for NY Regional. Will post my bid list soon.

NY regional is unlimited bids, thank god (even though its only 30).

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Tagging along. Transfer here.

Anonymous User wrote:Anyone doing the GW/GT Joint program starting today? I'm interesting in K&L Gates Pittsburgh, but have no idea if I've even got a shot since its also with Georgetown. Right outside top 15%, grew up in Pgh.

PM me. I think I can help.

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Checking in...will update when things start rolling

Hey GW. Our TLS presence has been pretty weak in the past and I remember wishing there was more information here when I went through OCI, so I figured I would jump in now to answer any questions specific to GW. I'm an alum, V50 associate, OCI interviewer. Glad to help as much as possible without identifying myself.

Anonymous User wrote:Hey GW. Our TLS presence has been pretty weak in the past and I remember wishing there was more information here when I went through OCI, so I figured I would jump in now to answer any questions specific to GW. I'm an alum, V50 associate, OCI interviewer. Glad to help as much as possible without identifying myself.

Thanks for this! I'm top 20%. I've bid accordingly. Not URM, no WE, have some connections to a few firms. What can I expect?

Anonymous User wrote:Thanks for this! I'm top 20%. I've bid accordingly. Not URM, no WE, have some connections to a few firms. What can I expect?

This is V50 alum. You're welcome.

Here's how biglaw hiring tends to break down: GW Scholars are presumed to get an offer, TM Scholars are 50/50, and non-ranked students are presumed not to get an offer. The presumptions are "rebuttable" in that a few GW Scholars with terrible social skills will strike out, and a few non-ranked students with great networking and interview skills will get offers. These probabilities are affected in a fairly minor way by soft factors like LR/journal, moot court, mock trial, and 1L summer position. If you have a B.S. and want to go into IP, this breakdown changes dramatically.

You're in great shape at top 20%, but you should still hustle as much as possible. Mass mail every firm that doesn't interview on campus or that you don't bid on during OCI. Network like it's your job. Without knowing if you're on moot/mock/LR, I would estimate that you'll get between 12-18 interviews out of OCI. Because you're not top 15%, you'll need to nail those interviews to convert them into callbacks and offers. TM Scholar is enough to get in the door, but you've got to bring it home yourself -- your resume won't do it for you.

Checking in. Updating as we go.

Market(s): DC, NY
Approximate class rank: Upper GW, top 5%
Law review (Y/N): Yes
Work experience (Y/N): No
IP background (Y/N): No
Anything else that might have an impact?: No
Screening Interviews: NY 7/8; DC 30/35 (20 accepted)
Mass mails: 2
Callbacks received:
Callbacks accepted:
Offers w/vault ranges:
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?
Thank-you notes sent:

Edit Aug 6: Updated for NY/DC screeners.

--Admiral Ackbar--

Can you elaborate on how the GPA threshold for people interested in IP will be? Thanks!

Here's how biglaw hiring tends to break down: GW Scholars are presumed to get an offer, TM Scholars are 50/50, and non-ranked students are presumed not to get an offer. The presumptions are "rebuttable" in that a few GW Scholars with terrible social skills will strike out, and a few non-ranked students with great networking and interview skills will get offers. These probabilities are affected in a fairly minor way by soft factors like LR/journal, moot court, mock trial, and 1L summer position. If you have a B.S. and want to go into IP, this breakdown changes dramatically.

Anonymous User wrote:Can you elaborate on how the GPA threshold for people interested in IP will be? Thanks!

This is V50 alum. Sure thing.

For people with hard sciences degrees, anyone with an honors designation is virtually guaranteed to get biglaw. I'd say the same thing about some students not getting offers if they have terrible social skills, but the bar for human interaction is really low among the engineering types (no offense). Students between 35% and median are also very likely to get biglaw. To be honest, I've never heard of any legit IP student above median not getting biglaw if they wanted it. Below median it gets a little tougher. There, work experience and type of degree become more important.

Generally speaking, practical degrees (engineering, computer science, etc.) are valued more highly than academic degrees (physics, mathematics, etc.), but anything that qualifies you for the firms' IP-only OCI schedule will do the trick. For many firms, you can even see the difference in GPA cutoff between the non-IP and IP schedules. It's usually a 0.2 to 0.4 drop. A few years of experience with a tech company or USPTO will also work wonders regardless of class rank. In sum, only K-JD students below median with less practical degrees will have serious trouble getting biglaw.

I should note that your question was specifically about "people interested in IP." My answer only applies to people with hard sciences degrees who want to do patent law (prosecution, litigation, counseling). If you're an electrical engineer but you want to do securities litigation or corporate M&A, you won't get much of a boost from your degree. If you don't have a B.S. and you're just "interested in IP," you won't get any boost at all. It doesn't take any special skills to handle soft IP matters like copyright or trademark, so you're in the same pool as everyone else who wants to do general biglaw litigation.

Thanks a lot for insight!

GULC person here. First of all, good luck to everyone for OCI! I just had an IP firm question; would you mind sharing the interview slots accorded to GW by the following firms (I'm just trying to figure out how many slots are being shared between DC schools):

1. Morrison & Foerster
2. Irell
3. Finnegan
4. Kenyon
5. Knobbe
6. Fish
7. Kirkland (IP Only)
8. Latham (IP Only)

EDIT 8/1: DC posted, updated below
EDIT 8/4: DC alternates posted, updated below
EDIT 8/15: Updating w/ callbacks received. Scary slow
EDIT 9/24: Final post-OCI update

Market(s): DC, NY, one secondary
Approximate class rank: Upper TM, something between 16-20%
Law review (Y/N): N (but secondary journal)
Work experience (Y/N): N
IP background (Y/N): N
Anything else that might have an impact?: good pre-law experiences to discuss during interview
Screening Interviews: NY 10/15, DC 15/35 + 2 alternates
Mass mails: 1 screener--NY (out of 40-50); 0--desirable secondary (out of 40-50)
Callbacks received: 2 NY; 2 DC
Callbacks accepted: 4
Offers w/vault ranges: 2 (both V50-V75)
How many firms just didn't get back with you with a rejection/callback?: only a couple.
Thank-you notes sent: sent none

Also, question: I was selected as an alternate for a couple of firms in NY regional. How likely is it that these will become screening interviews/when should I expect to know if they convert? I just don't want to be caught off guard (I want to get my research done this weekend).

--King of Torts--

Anonymous User wrote:Also, question: I was selected as an alternate for a couple of firms in NY regional. How likely is it that these will become screening interviews/when should I expect to know if they convert?

V50 alum answering questions here. BTW, glad to keep answering all cycle to the best of my ability.

From personal experience, I can tell you that I had ~8 alternative spots in the various regionals plus D.C., and not a single one converted to an actual interview. That's not to say yours definitely won't, but I think it's somewhat rare.

Two suggestions. First, go early to the interview location and go straight to the firm you got the alternative spot at. Hand over a copy of your resume and explain that you are an alternate but would love to do an interview if there is an opening. I know people who did this on-campus and succeeded. There's a story on TLS about a time when three people lined up at a door in the St. Gregory and the first person who knocked got an interview that day. It's worth trying. Second, mass mail those firms and say in the body of your e-mail something to the effect of "I was selected as an alternate for the New York regional recruiting program. I am still very interested in pursuing a summer associate position with [firm] and would appreciate the opportunity to share more about myself during an interview." You might be able to get an in-office interview or get tacked onto another school's schedule (I know GW students who have done post-schedule interviews at Georgetown).

Results just went up. Did not do well. I'm the above 5/35 DC program, top 20%.

Approximately top 1/3—got 2 screeners, an alternate, and a pending. Fun evening.

EDIT: DC program.

So I was able to schedule some preselects. Simplicity says preselect accepted, but my scheduled interviews is showing nothing. Is my time slot somehow in limbo and I'm going to get fucked or what?

I think the increase in class size really fucked some of us over.