Just passed CA Bar, no work exp...need help Forum

[Anonymous User]

-->Just passed CA Bar on 2nd try.
-->Very young with no full time work experience(ever...not even after college).
-->Resume includes 1L and 2L summer gigs, but nothing really beyond that legal related.
-->Bottom 10 percent of class
-->Tried tapping into connections, but nothing is really panning out. Most jobs out there say they want at least 1-2 years experience in a given field. I have 0 years and am trying to find "entry level" jobs.

-->What would a standard shitlaw salary be in my position if I wanted to work in the Bay Area? Honestly, at this point even though I am licensed, I wouldn't mind even shadowing an attorney or interning for $15/hour just to get some experience. This also sounds stupid, but I'm not a huge fan of legal research and writing. I definitely need more practice writing memos/complaints and working with lexis. I dread it, but I suppose every attorney does?

What kind of resources should I be using to find jobs? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

[hiima3L]

First, I would strongly suggest you look beyond the Bay. It is absolutely brutal there. I went to Hastings, and I know people in the top 10-15% of the class who had trouble FOR YEARS finding anything in SF.

There are parts of the state that are dramatically less competitive. In general, the farther away from the coast you go, the less competitive. I have a friend who was bottom of the class like you who is now County Counsel for Bumfuck County, CA. It's up in the mountains and a beautiful, cheap place to live. He is getting better experience than most people from our class. You are facing a very, VERY steep uphill battle if you limit yourself to the Bay Area. I cannot emphasize how important it's going to be to expand your geographic search. If you want a job, and you want one soon, you must be willing to move anywhere in the state.

Second, apply to every single place you can find, even if they're not hiring. Just send your resume. Go meet solo attorneys and try to pick up work from them.

To be blunt, you are in a horrible, horrible place to be and you have absolutely no room to be picky.

[Anonymous User]

bump

[XxSpyKEx]

Just be happy if you find any legal job. Obviously, the key will be to get some kind of substantive experience in some area of the law, even if it means working unpaid. I graduated in 2011, and back then even unpaid positions were extremely competitive, since there were a billion unemployed recent grads (including a huge part of the t14). I'm not sure how much better it is now, but you're definitely not in a position to be picky.

[Anonymous User]

bump

Above poster was spot on. What law school did you go to? If it's a regional CA school, network with alums/use your career services office. But your grades are terrible and because of your bar failure, you now have a huge employment gap on your resume. You'll also be competing with all of the recent 2014 grads that will get their bar results in a few months.

You need to expand your search or you may continue to be unemployed for a very long time. It would not be wise to focus only on the Bay Area, especially if you're trying to target SF. The market here is small and places heavy emphasis on ties to the region.

[WhiskeynCoke]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, you're in a VERY tough spot. I'm in the bay area and know lots of recent grads at various places (and unemployed). I hate to break this to you, but you have NO chance at landing ANY legal job here (unless those connections end up panning out). The bay is simply WAY too competitive and over saturated. You'll be competing with tons of T14 kids with far more impressive resumes for just about every position you find. Even top 10% at Hastings isn't employment-secure here.

Honestly, I know you don't want to hear this, but it might be a good idea for you to consider abandoning law altogether. Lots of startups in the area are hiring people with no experience right now for marketing/sales type jobs, and tend to pay quite well.

BUT... if you insist on struggling on, you'll need to do what the above posters said and apply to literally every job you find in every awful, shitty bumfuck town in this state. You CANNOT be picky whatsoever. Even if you do this, I still highly doubt you'll have any success. Sorry.

My Questions:
1. What school did you attend? I seriously hope it's not Thomas Jefferson....
2. I assume you graduated in 2013. WTF have you been doing since then, besides failing the bar once and sitting on your parents' couch? Sorry this sounds harsh, but any attorney who looks at your resume will immediately be VERY concerned. I hope you have a compelling story. Even without your bad grades/lack of experience, this gap alone is a big enough red flag to ding you at most places.
3. If you hate research and writing, WTF are you doing attempting to limp along in this profession?
4. What were your summer jobs? They are literally the ONLY thing you have going for you.

Sorry dude, but I really think you've blown your chances at a legal career. Bottom 10% with 0 experience, 1 bar fail, employment gaps, and hates legal research and writing = way too many red flags for legal employers.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

-->Just passed CA Bar on 2nd try.
-->Very young with no full time work experience(ever...not even after college).
-->Resume includes 1L and 2L summer gigs, but nothing really beyond that legal related.
-->Bottom 10 percent of class
-->Tried tapping into connections, but nothing is really panning out. Most jobs out there say they want at least 1-2 years experience in a given field. I have 0 years and am trying to find "entry level" jobs.

-->What would a standard shitlaw salary be in my position if I wanted to work in the Bay Area? Honestly, at this point even though I am licensed, I wouldn't mind even shadowing an attorney or interning for $15/hour just to get some experience. This also sounds stupid, but I'm not a huge fan of legal research and writing. I definitely need more practice writing memos/complaints and working with lexis. I dread it, but I suppose every attorney does?

What kind of resources should I be using to find jobs? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

If that is the case you are better off getting training in transactional work b/c litigation is a ton of writing and research.

Congratulations on passing the bar! I think you have the right attitude (wanting to get experience, and recognizing that the job market may be tough).

[hiima3L]

Honestly, I know you don't want to hear this, but it might be a good idea for you to consider abandoning law altogether. Lots of startups in the area are hiring people with no experience right now for marketing/sales type jobs, and tend to pay quite well.

This is a good idea. I know plenty of people with BA's in liberal arts that are now making pretty good money in the tech world.