terrible grades and biglaw Forum

[DELG]

-Develop a breakthrough legal maneuver. (See, e.g., Martin Lipton, The Poison Pill, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareholder_rights_plan.)

Note: Martin Lipton went to NYU and was EIC of their law review, then joined a small firm, and then co-founded WLRK 10 years out of law school, and then created the poison pill 17 years later (and 27 years after graduating law school). So he himself is not a long odds story at all.

At the time NYU wasn't as well-regarded as it is now.

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

When anyone comes across a thread where a 0L is considering going to a non-T14 (or maybe even GULC and Michigan), link to this thread to show them a glimpse of their future, and tell them not to go to a school where they wouldn't feel comfortable finishing at the 25th percentile.

[KidStuddi]

When anyone comes across a thread where a 0L is considering going to a non-T14 (or maybe even GULC and Michigan), link to this thread to show them a glimpse of their future, and tell them not to go to a school where they wouldn't feel comfortable finishing at the 25th percentile.

Do you really think there are more than a couple of schools where finishing at the 25th percentile will reliably land you biglaw? If you're biglaw or bust, grades like that will fuck you at the super majority of the T14 too. That 0L just needs to be prepared to dropout if things go that poorly.

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

When anyone comes across a thread where a 0L is considering going to a non-T14 (or maybe even GULC and Michigan), link to this thread to show them a glimpse of their future, and tell them not to go to a school where they wouldn't feel comfortable finishing at the 25th percentile.

Do you really think there are more than a couple of schools where finishing at the 25th percentile will reliably land you biglaw? If you're biglaw or bust, grades like that will fuck you at the super majority of the T14 too. That 0L just needs to be prepared to dropout if things go that poorly.

It's essentially an endorsement of restricting viability for the average student to HYSCCN (the Penn debate notwithstanding) or lower T14 with a serious scholly.

[silenttimer]

I know of two guys. Both T30 grads, but both bottom 25% (I actually think one guy is bottom 10%). One guy didn't get a summer associate so he e-mailed a bunch of firms asking whether he could come in as an hourly summer clerk. He was ultimately offered an associate position after the summer. The other worked as a state prosecutor for 3 years and is now in big law. They graduated in 2010, so the market was already pretty shitty.

[terrible_student]

Why would a clerkship in a random state like Wyoming not help, whereas a clerkship in NYC or DC help? A clerkship is a clerkship and the learning experience will be similar in the corresponding courts of varying states. Can someone give a deep, meaningful comment on this without referring to 'preftige?'

[mr.hands]

You wont land a federal clerkship if you're at the 30% at a TT or TTT. That won't help you sneak into biglaw. A state clerkship, if you could land one, might help you land a firm job in the state that you clerked (depending on the state). It wouldn't allow you to transition to a major market like NY or DC though.

If you're at the bottom 30% of your class, give up the dream of biglaw and re-evaluate your options. You aren't making 160k for being at the bottom of a TTT

That said, it doesn't hurt to apply everywhere. Good luck OP

[pancakes3]

Why would a clerkship in a random state like Wyoming not help, whereas a clerkship in NYC or DC help? A clerkship is a clerkship and the learning experience will be similar in the corresponding courts of varying states. Can someone give a deep, meaningful comment on this without referring to 'preftige?'

You can't be serious.

[hichvichwoh]

Why would a clerkship in a random state like Wyoming not help, whereas a clerkship in NYC or DC help? A clerkship is a clerkship and the learning experience will be similar in the corresponding courts of varying states. Can someone give a deep, meaningful comment on this without referring to 'preftige?'

didn't you answer this for yourself when you said you could secure aforementioned clerkship through a family connection despite having terrible grades from a terrible school?

[sparty99]

It is possible. But it would be a false sense of hope for 99 out of 100.

[terrible_student]

Why would a clerkship in a random state like Wyoming not help, whereas a clerkship in NYC or DC help? A clerkship is a clerkship and the learning experience will be similar in the corresponding courts of varying states. Can someone give a deep, meaningful comment on this without referring to 'preftige?'

didn't you answer this for yourself when you said you could secure aforementioned clerkship through a family connection despite having terrible grades from a terrible school?

This is just a hypo btw. Still a 0L, but just planning for the worst.

I just don't see why a law firm would value one state clerkship over another. The skills honed will be the same. That means it must be preftige.

[baal hadad]

Why would a clerkship in a random state like Wyoming not help, whereas a clerkship in NYC or DC help? A clerkship is a clerkship and the learning experience will be similar in the corresponding courts of varying states. Can someone give a deep, meaningful comment on this without referring to 'preftige?'

didn't you answer this for yourself when you said you could secure aforementioned clerkship through a family connection despite having terrible grades from a terrible school?

This is just a hypo btw. Still a 0L, but just planning for the worst.

I just don't see why a law firm would value one state clerkship over another. The skills honed will be the same. That means it must be preftige.

Wrong forum 0L