Reaching out to Partners in practice groups of interest Forum

[Anonymous User]

If you've been reaching out to partners in the practice groups of interest at certain firms, do you send your resume on the first email?

I know it's a trivial question and likely doesn't matter, i'm just curious what the typical approach to this is.

it seems like every few people i talk to ask to see my resume before we talk/meet. So i'm just curious if this is too forward to send the resume on the first email.

[glitched]

If you've been reaching out to partners in the practice groups of interest at certain firms, do you send your resume on the first email?

I know it's a trivial question and likely doesn't matter, i'm just curious what the typical approach to this is.

it seems like every few people i talk to ask to see my resume before we talk/meet. So i'm just curious if this is too forward to send the resume on the first email.

Are you applying for a summer associate/full time position? When I applied, I sent my resume, transcript, and cover letter to the partner that I felt was a good match (law school, UG, practice area), and then pasted the contents of the cover letter directly into the body of the email. I sent that to 1 partner (2 if they were particularly good matches) and also the recruiting head of the firm. In the cover letter, I expressed an interest in the position I was seeking.

Edit: this was all first contact

[lawhopeful10]

Yea if you are applying for a summer associate position and you have some good connection to the person (they are alumni of your school and you are applying to a region/firm where that is not common) then they might forward over your resume and want to help you out. I have been sending emails like this attaching all of my materials and several people have responded favorably indicating they will pass them along. If your only connection however is just a practice area interest I don't know if they would be as interested in helping you out and they might just say send them to recruiting or not respond. You could start by asking for advice and then later see if they will pass along your materials though. Good luck.

[A. Nony Mouse]

If you're actually applying, send the resume. If you're asking them to keep an eye out for openings/put in a good word for you, send the resume. If you're asking for an informational interview ("I would love to buy you coffee and talk about how you got into international cat wrangling and what I should do to get into that field") I would not send a resume. They can ask if they want one. Maybe they all will, but I'd wait till they ask.

[ResIpsa21]

If you're actually applying, send the resume. If you're asking them to keep an eye out for openings/put in a good word for you, send the resume. If you're asking for an informational interview ("I would love to buy you coffee and talk about how you got into international cat wrangling and what I should do to get into that field") I would not send a resume. They can ask if they want one. Maybe they all will, but I'd wait till they ask.

As usual, Mouse with TCR.

I would also add, as a V40 biglaw associate, that biglaw partners are extremely busy people and (just like everyone else in the world) aren't likely to respond unless you've got some compelling hook aside from "I am interested in your practice." Most partners are too busy to do informational interviews. Also be aware that the whole point of a lead recruiter is to prevent hundreds of gunner law students from mass-mailing attorneys at the firm who need to focus on billing hours and serving clients.

My advice is not to e-mail at all unless you have something in common with the lawyer and some reason to believe they'll want to help a law student. This means you probably shouldn't e-mail the 70 year-old head of litigation who probably wouldn't meet you during your entire summer at the firm anyway, and definitely doesn't give a shit about helping you now. If you do identify such a partner, send a very short, very polite e-mail. I would not recommend copy-pasting your whole cover letter into an e-mail if you think a biglaw partner is going to read it (they don't read e-mails longer than a paragraph unless sent by a client). Short and sweet is the name of the game.

The best thing to do, though, is to e-mail associates who went to your law school and summered at that firm. Associates are more likely to care about helping people from their school and more likely to make time to actually meet you and talk to you. They might not have the pull of a partner, but at most firms, only a select few people on the hiring committee are making the hiring decisions anyway.