Delaware Interview Advice Forum

[Anonymous User]

I have an upcoming CB with a Big 4 firm and was looking for some advice. I am from the East Coast but don't have specific ties to DE. I am interested in corporate law, but besides that I don't know how I should sell myself to the firm or how to explain why I want to be in DE. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Anonymous User]

You need to talk about DE like its the greatest place in the world. Say you want to do the sophisticated work that is offered in DE, but don't like the NY lifestyle. If you have any ties whatsoever - i.e., if you've ever even been to Wilmington - say you really like the city. Talk about how you can buy a house in the foreseeable future, unlike larger cities. You can commute 20 minutes from downtown wilmington and be on a farm.

I got a couple offers from DE firms this cycle and came from a non-T14. I had very minimal ties (one member of family lives 20 minutes from wilmington), but talked about how DE is where I wanted to end up because of where I was at in my life and how the area complemented that. The firms really seemed to like that. Granted, I was telling the truth when I said all of these things, so it might have seemed a bit more genuine.

You will get asked 'Why DE?' and you HAVE to have a good answer to it.

*Edited to include this link, which is full of really great advice on the DE market*
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=249542

[Anonymous User]

I was dinged from DE, and I agree with above. I was SLAYED on my why DE answer. I admit I should have sung the praises of (1) chancery (2) size of the bar (less lawyers than NYC will admit this year) (3) you wet dreams of business law.

[Anonymous User]

Any tips on selling DE corporate work when I have no background in business or finance or anything that screams corporate? What specific does DE work offer than NYC doesn't? I'm genuinely interested but not sure how to distinguish my choice of DE other than not having a NYC offer.

[Anonymous User]

Agree with other other poster who had a couple DE offers. Re: ties, I did the exact same thing. I have absolutely zero ties to DE, or to the Northeast generally.

I'm married, so I talked about how my wife and I wanted to start a family soon, wanted a place with nice suburbs/places to live with a good COL, but I didn't want to sacrifice complex and good work for suburbs and good COL. Said DE was a great mix of those factors. I didn't pretend to have any DE ties and was completely honest about it. My rational seemed to resonate with them.

Re corporate work, I just said it seemed interesting and that I've really enjoyed the business oriented classes I've taken so far/am taking now (which is basically like 3 total - maybe helps that I CALI'd Ks). Idk if that was an ideal answer, but it was good enough.

Also, check out the other DE thread for lots of good advice.

[Anonymous User]

Any tips on selling DE corporate work when I have no background in business or finance or anything that screams corporate? What specific does DE work offer than NYC doesn't? I'm genuinely interested but not sure how to distinguish my choice of DE other than not having a NYC offer.

I'm the first anon after the OP. I'm a history major, know nothing about corporate law but find it somewhat interesting based on what i've talked about with attorneys who practice in the field. I was pretty straightforward and said just that. Everyone who asked 'why corporate law' understands that very few people actually know what they want to do after their 1L summer and were cool with whatever I said. I really used that as an opportunity to talk up their summer program and how there will be opportunities to try some different things that I haven't been exposed to.

I asked attorneys if the biz/finance background was necessary and got resounding no's. It doesn't hurt, but it isn't required and you'll learn it in upper level classes or on the job.

As to the specific work, I honestly have no idea. It's a lot of working with NY counsel on DE matters, so much of the same work I'd imagine.

Agree with other other poster who had a couple DE offers. Re: ties, I did the exact same thing. I have absolutely zero ties to DE, or to the Northeast generally.

I'm married, so I talked about how my wife and I wanted to start a family soon, wanted a place with nice suburbs/places to live with a good COL, but I didn't want to sacrifice complex and good work for suburbs and good COL. Said DE was a great mix of those factors. I didn't pretend to have any DE ties and was completely honest about it. My rational seemed to resonate with them.

Re corporate work, I just said it seemed interesting and that I've really enjoyed the business oriented classes I've taken so far/am taking now (which is basically like 3 total - maybe helps that I CALI'd Ks). Idk if that was an ideal answer, but it was good enough.

Also, check out the other DE thread for lots of good advice.

I hit the bolded above pretty hard and it works, for sure.