Dropping law review after interviews? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I made LR at my school, and at the time I felt like I wanted to do it. Now that I'm actually doing it, that feeling faded. My problem is that I put it on my resume, obviously. Would my SA firm even find out if I dropped it? Also, how pissed would the LR staff be at me? I have zero desire to clerk and zero desire to strive for anything other than $190k. I don't even want to do litigation. Should I just suck it up for two years?

EDIT: I'm not dropping it. Anybody else who wants to write up criticism or support, save yourself a few minutes and don't do it!

[Anonymous User]

Considering some people would kill to be in your shoes, I would suck it up if I were you

[Anonymous User]

I know at my school they require you to write a letter to every single employer you have ever applied to and notify them that you have dropped law review, so it seems to be a substantial event. Also, I would recommend just sticking with it. If you want to change jobs in the future it may come in handy. Notice that even ancient partners still have it on their bio?

Disclaimer: Law review is indeed horrible.

[Ohiobumpkin]

Can't you just do it for one year and not sign up for it 3L?

[Anonymous User]

Can't you just do it for one year and not sign up for it 3L?

Two-year commitment.

I know at my school they require you to write a letter to every single employer you have ever applied to and notify them that you have dropped law review, so it seems to be a substantial event. Also, I would recommend just sticking with it. If you want to change jobs in the future it may come in handy. Notice that even ancient partners still have it on their bio?

Disclaimer: Law review is indeed horrible.

Ok, yeah, I don't want to write any letters.

[A. Nony Mouse]

My school didn't let you drop. I'm not saying it never happened, but you were supposed to make a 2-year commitment. And I think you did have to inform any employer that you were bailing on it (to be fair, I have seen people here say that their firms don't care - I don't know anything about that from personal experience though).

I realize everyone hates law review, but personally I think it's crappy if you do it just to get the credential on your resume for OCI and then bail - if you're going to get the benefit of having had it on your resume, suck it up and do the work. If you don't want to do the work, have the balls not to do it from the start and take your chances at OCI. Especially if you're heading into biglaw, it's hardly the last time you're going to be stuck doing something you don't like to do.

I also realize this is probably an unpopular opinion.

(If your school lets you do a one-year commitment then that's totally different. We all knew going in that it was 2 years.)

[Anonymous User]

Just write a shitty note, and do the least amount possible.

[rpupkin]

I made LR at my school, and at the time I felt like I wanted to do it. Now that I'm actually doing it, that feeling faded. My problem is that I put it on my resume, obviously. Would my SA firm even find out if I dropped it? Also, how pissed would the LR staff be at me? I have zero desire to clerk and zero desire to strive for anything other than $190k. I don't even want to do litigation. Should I just suck it up for two years?

It's very unlikely that your firm will find out; it would basically take someone from your school telling the firm. And even if the firm did find out, they almost surely wouldn't care.

But just FYI, flaking out on LR is like inverse networking. I go out of my way to help my LR friends who worked hard and who were cool to work with. But people who flaked like you're about to? I will go out of my way to ding them. When I was a 3L, a 2L quit law review in the middle of the semester, leaving an editor with a bunch of unplanned work. The following year, that 2L applied for a clerkship with a judge I was clerking for. Although he had great grades and might've been invited in for an interview, I told my judge the LR story and the app went straight into the reject pile.

[Anonymous User]

Universal opinion seems to be to just do it. You guys are probably right, and I don't want to be a huge jerk. I'll tough it out.

[chalky]

Post removed...

[Anonymous User]

I see it as it helped me get my offers, now I need to pay my dues.

[banjo]

Some firms verify journal membership as part of their background check, so I would probably tell your employer.

[Anonymous User]

I despise my law review. At first it was great, but the work has quickly gotten awful and the 3Ls are absolutely useless. I'm considering the same, above post.

[patfeeney]

OP, you had reasonable expectation as to the work, you applied knowing what the work was going to be like, and you entered on that premise.

First of all, I know I would stuff your locker (assuming your school has lockers) with chocolate pudding if I found out you got onto law review and then squandered it, when I would have killed to have that on my resume.

Second, It shows that you're willing to drop the ball when you're supposed to make a total commitment. What's to say you wouldn't drop a major client or case because suddenly you're "disinterested," or the "work is too hard?" Sure, you could always say it's different when you're being paid. But when you're this early on in your legal career, everything counts. And if you decide to drop a big commitment just because you don't like it, well, too bad. That makes you look awful. That makes you look like a real jerk to people who would have liked that position. That puts your co-workers in a terrible position. And that should be expected to reflect negatively on every single one of your applications.

It's an awful idea. Hold it up. You made the commitment, now stick to it. And your employer hired you on the expectation that you would fulfill the commitment. Do it.

[lawlorbust]

OP: don't equate the moral opprobrium on the forum with what you actually need to do. LR is a fantastic opportunity (how much so perhaps depends on the school you go to) and opens up tremendous doors, and you might even enjoy the work. That said, if you're willing to forgo the benefits and take the hit, and there is a policy allowing you to resign/withdraw, then by all means consider the option and then go ahead if it's in your best interests to do so.

[jbagelboy]

Considering some people would kill to be in your shoes, I would suck it up if I were you

Who would kill to be on a law review post-recruiting with no interest in clerking

Sounds really shitty

[TheoO]

You're basically killing connections with a group of people, most/many of whom will very likely go far in the legal world.

Some firms verify journal membership as part of their background check, so I would probably tell your employer.

I think the journal will contact the firm you took an offer from to confirm also. At least, I know one secondary journal that did that. Although the firm didn't seem to care.

[zot1]

I made LR at my school, and at the time I felt like I wanted to do it. Now that I'm actually doing it, that feeling faded. My problem is that I put it on my resume, obviously. Would my SA firm even find out if I dropped it? Also, how pissed would the LR staff be at me? I have zero desire to clerk and zero desire to strive for anything other than $190k. I don't even want to do litigation. Should I just suck it up for two years?

Law review can actually be quite helpful even if you want to do transactional work. When I review contracts/documents, I can spot errors a lot quicker and with more accuracy as a result, partially, of my time with law review.

[Anonymous User]

You're basically killing connections with a group of people, most/many of whom will very likely go far in the legal world.

This. As a current biglaw associate who didn't do law review (transfer student) I would kill for these connections from law school. Depending on your school ranking, law review members could be the only students with overwhelmingly favorable employment outcomes. As a 2l and 3l, you may find life a little lonely if you are the only one in your group of close associates with a biglaw job lined up. I mean, who are you going to talk careers with in that circle of friends-you will always look like you're either bragging or pretending to be humble. As your career progresses these people could be your connection to business development or lateral opportunities. I have heard law review is miserable, but I think the rewards would have been worth it.

[Anonymous User]

Considering some people would kill to be in your shoes, I would suck it up if I were you

Who would kill to be on a law review post-recruiting with no interest in clerking

Sounds really shitty

Post-recruiting, sure. But as someone who completely struck out at OCI and has gone through absolute hell to get a job from a T10, I wouldn't mind the hell of law review if it meant I might have done better at OCI and getting a job.

[rpupkin]

You're basically killing connections with a group of people, most/many of whom will very likely go far in the legal world.

Right. I had forgotten this when I posted earlier in this thread, but I got my current job due, in part, to a law review friend who also works here. These kinds of connections can be especially helpful when you're three or four years into your career.

[ballouttacontrol]

You can probably find a way out. Many to most of the people on the journal will dislike you and talk shit about you behind your back.

I did journal+board and imo it's less work than equal amount of credits in traditional classes. Personally, I wouldn't report you to anyone for quitting, but other board members might.

That's probably the only factors that matter

[Anonymous User]

What about secondary journal? got a part time (legal) job that is more of a time commitment that I had anticipated - also a lot more substantive/value-added work than I would be doing cite checking. FWIW, I am on the primary law review also and won't be dropping that, just the secondary journal.

[masque du pantsu]

I would not drop it. I personally would not think highly of someone who did so absent extenuating circumstances (and I know my school would have imposed consequences), but that's not even really the point. It will benefit you even if you don't want to clerk or litigate because laterally-hiring firms (and even in-house hiring hedge funds, etc.) take it into account and value it, especially when you are relatively junior. They like all the data points they can get.

I would stick with it and just try to coast as much as possible; figure out the minimum amount you need to do, pick an easy note topic, etc., and it probably won't be as difficult as you think.

[ookoshi]

Second, It shows that you're willing to drop the ball when you're supposed to make a total commitment. What's to say you wouldn't drop a major client or case because suddenly you're "disinterested," or the "work is too hard?" Sure, you could always say it's different when you're being paid. But when you're this early on in your legal career, everything counts. And if you decide to drop a big commitment just because you don't like it, well, too bad. That makes you look awful. That makes you look like a real jerk to people who would have liked that position. That puts your co-workers in a terrible position. And that should be expected to reflect negatively on every single one of your applications.

Right, and also on top of that, you are being paid. You're being paid with the value of being able to put it on your resume. Since it might be the difference between biglaw or ding, clerkship or ding, etc., it's potentially worth as much as the job itself.