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Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:24 pm
by Anonymous User
Hey there,
2L at a T14 school here. I'm in the top 10 percent of my class or so.
I currently have one offer in my target market (it's a secondary market that's tough to break into). The pay is find, but the issue is that the firm is not prestigious. At all. So my exit options would be slim. And, more importantly, they currently only have an IP practice and a transactional practice -- but my heart is set on litigation.
Given that this is my only offer, I'll have to accept it. But does this mean I'm doomed to practicing transactional law forever? How do I dig myself out of this mess?
DFTHREAD
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:34 pm
by Desert Fox
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:40 pm
by Danger Zone
Anonymous User wrote:Hey there,
2L at a T14 school here. I'm in the top 10 percent of my class or so.
I currently have one offer in my target market (it's a secondary market that's tough to break into). The pay is find, but the issue is that the firm is not prestigious. At all. So my exit options would be slim. And, more importantly, they currently only have an IP practice and a transactional practice -- but my heart is set on litigation.
Given that this is my only offer, I'll have to accept it. But does this mean I'm doomed to practicing transactional law forever? How do I dig myself out of this mess?
I hate TLS sometimes
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:42 pm
by rpupkin
Anonymous User wrote:Given that this is my only offer, I'll have to accept it. But does this mean I'm doomed to practicing transactional law forever? How do I dig myself out of this mess?
Well, this is your only offer in your hard-to-break-into secondary market. But I assume you applied--as a backup--to primary markets. As a top-10% student at a T14, you probably have multiple offers in at least one of those markets. If I were you, I would accept an offer at a litigation-heavy firm in a primary market, and then try to break into a litigation group in your secondary market at 3L OCI (or even after graduation).
As DF suggests, it's hard to get out of trans if you start there.
DFTHREAD
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 1:42 pm
by Desert Fox
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 2:15 pm
by Danger Zone
I accepted an offer in transactional even though I wanted lit because it was nice to have a job. Now I'm here and it's not so bad. Suck it up and be thankful.
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 6:22 pm
by DELG
idk how grateful anyone needs to be to be a lawyer
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 7:20 pm
by dixiecupdrinking
Danger Zone wrote:I accepted an offer in transactional even though I wanted lit because it was nice to have a job. Now I'm here and it's not so bad. Suck it up and be thankful.
This is garbage advice. You're talking about potentially the rest of your career. OP should probably take it but definitely keep looking for other options for next summer, apply to clerk, and do 3L OCI.
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 7:24 pm
by Danger Zone
dixiecupdrinking wrote:Danger Zone wrote:I accepted an offer in transactional even though I wanted lit because it was nice to have a job. Now I'm here and it's not so bad. Suck it up and be thankful.
This is garbage advice. You're talking about potentially the rest of your career. OP should probably take it but definitely keep looking for other options for next summer, apply to clerk, and do 3L OCI.
I didn't say OP has to do what I did. I'm just asking him to stop thinking he's entitled to anything better. Because he's not, and plenty of his classmates would kill for that offer.
Eta: or "she." Equality!
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 7:38 pm
by 84651846190
DELG wrote:idk how grateful anyone needs to be to be a lawyer
cr. we're all idiots for going to law school, just to varying degrees--except for superhumans like Xeoh who would have been successful at anything they did, but they don't really count
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2015 7:39 pm
by Devlin
Danger Zone wrote:Anonymous User wrote:Hey there,
2L at a T14 school here. I'm in the top 10 percent of my class or so.
I currently have one offer in my target market (it's a secondary market that's tough to break into). The pay is find, but the issue is that the firm is not prestigious. At all. So my exit options would be slim. And, more importantly, they currently only have an IP practice and a transactional practice -- but my heart is set on litigation.
Given that this is my only offer, I'll have to accept it. But does this mean I'm doomed to practicing transactional law forever? How do I dig myself out of this mess?
I hate TLS sometimes
I don't know about you but when I sat at my desk doing boring first year work I was relieved to remember how PRESTIGIOUS my firm is.
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 9:58 pm
by Anonymous User
OP here. Prestige matters because the exit options, obviously. And for things like snagging a clerkship. Just today I told a judge where I would be working for the summer and she said, "why didn't you pick a larger firm, like [well-known firm X?]." I'm sure that won't be the last time I get asked that.
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:27 pm
by Danger Zone
Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Prestige matters because the exit options, obviously. And for things like snagging a clerkship. Just today I told a judge where I would be working for the summer and she said, "why didn't you pick a larger firm, like [well-known firm X?]." I'm sure that won't be the last time I get asked that.
Yeah, I know the most important thing to me is impressing boomers
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:38 pm
by rpupkin
Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Prestige matters because the exit options, obviously. And for things like snagging a clerkship. Just today I told a judge where I would be working for the summer and she said, "why didn't you pick a larger firm, like [well-known firm X?]." I'm sure that won't be the last time I get asked that.
Of all the things that factor into your chances of getting a clerkship, the "prestige" of your summer law firm is quite low on the list. It's like:
Law School+Class Rank>>>>>Rec Letters>Law Review>>Work Experience>>Moot Court>Hobbies/Interests>Summer Law Firm.
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:39 pm
by Cogburn87
Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Prestige matters because the exit options, obviously.
obviously
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:43 pm
by 84651846190
Cogburn87 wrote:Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Prestige matters because the exit options, obviously.
obviously
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:48 pm
by A. Nony Mouse
rpupkin wrote:Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Prestige matters because the exit options, obviously. And for things like snagging a clerkship. Just today I told a judge where I would be working for the summer and she said, "why didn't you pick a larger firm, like [well-known firm X?]." I'm sure that won't be the last time I get asked that.
Of all the things that factor into your chances of getting a clerkship, the "prestige" of your summer law firm is quite low on the list. It's like:
Law School+Class Rank>>>>>Rec Letters>Law Review>>Work Experience>>Moot Court>Hobbies/Interests>Summer Law Firm.
Yeah. Judges may not know anything about the firm you work for, let alone care.
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:31 am
by skers
Danger Zone wrote:Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Prestige matters because the exit options, obviously. And for things like snagging a clerkship. Just today I told a judge where I would be working for the summer and she said, "why didn't you pick a larger firm, like [well-known firm X?]." I'm sure that won't be the last time I get asked that.
Yeah, I know the most important thing to me is impressing boomers
You do know that telling someone to just accept the offer to do something they don't want to do with their life and like it is it's own weird brand of boomerism, right?
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:47 am
by dixiecupdrinking
skers wrote:Danger Zone wrote:Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Prestige matters because the exit options, obviously. And for things like snagging a clerkship. Just today I told a judge where I would be working for the summer and she said, "why didn't you pick a larger firm, like [well-known firm X?]." I'm sure that won't be the last time I get asked that.
Yeah, I know the most important thing to me is impressing boomers
You do know that telling someone to just accept the offer to do something they don't want to do with their life and like it is it's own weird brand of boomerism, right?
It's like reverse bootstraps. "I accepted a shit outcome, so can you!"
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:38 am
by DELG
A. Nony Mouse wrote:
Yeah. Judges may not know anything about the firm you work for, let alone care.
I know a story about a COA judge confusing someone's V5 with a firm that went bust and asking the incoming (alumni) clerk if she was gonna be okay.
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:01 am
by TheoO
SA offers can come from just a single practice group? I thought that that happens at the end of an SA?
Re: Only offer is in a practice area I don't like
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 12:11 pm
by Anonymous User
OP here. Yes, some offers are practice area specific. Many secondary market firms and even a few large, primary market firms interviewed me for a specific practice group -- eg the trial group.
