2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work? Forum

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clshopeful

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2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by clshopeful » Wed Dec 16, 2015 1:42 pm

From what I've been reading... If I don't get a bid in 2L OCI from a firm (want biglaw but will settle for a firm w/ 50 attys), I'm basically screwed? Seems like there is so much posting about 3Ls who never got an SA and how they are just totally disregarded and doomed. Help?

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General_Tso

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Re: 2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by General_Tso » Wed Dec 16, 2015 1:45 pm

I didn't get any offers from OCI, went to work at a 40 attorney insurance defense mill, and then lateraled up to a boutique litigation firm making close to biglaw pay. Your odds are lower and you will have to hustle but there's no reason for doom and gloom talk.

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EzraFitz

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Re: 2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by EzraFitz » Wed Dec 16, 2015 1:47 pm

Yeah, this has been asked a few times in the past (http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=185489 for example), but the general consensus is that it can happen, but it's gonna take some hustle.

robotrick

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Re: 2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by robotrick » Wed Dec 16, 2015 1:58 pm

Definitely not the only hope, but as always the school you go to will matter a bunch. After that comes networking and hustling to find opportunities

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Re: 2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Dec 16, 2015 2:12 pm

clshopeful wrote:From what I've been reading... If I don't get a bid in 2L OCI from a firm (want biglaw but will settle for a firm w/ 50 attys), I'm basically screwed? Seems like there is so much posting about 3Ls who never got an SA and how they are just totally disregarded and doomed. Help?
Leveraging 1L contacts from in-house/ their outside counsel into big law is possible depending on where you work

To answer the question in your subject, mostly yes

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SFSpartan

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Re: 2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by SFSpartan » Wed Dec 16, 2015 2:41 pm

OCI is not the only place to find firm work. For example, I got my job at the start of 1L summer, and continued working with my firm throughout LS.

That being said, almost everyone I know that found a firm job outside of OCI had to really hustle their ass off, work connections, spend a lot of time networking, etc. OCI is by far the easiest way to find a firm job. But it is not the only way.

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Re: 2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Dec 18, 2015 12:13 am

SFSpartan wrote:OCI is not the only place to find firm work. For example, I got my job at the start of 1L summer, and continued working with my firm throughout LS.

That being said, almost everyone I know that found a firm job outside of OCI had to really hustle their ass off, work connections, spend a lot of time networking, etc. OCI is by far the easiest way to find a firm job. But it is not the only way.
I have a friend (HYS) who got an elite SF biglaw in October from mass-mailing after striking out. Know quite a few people with barely any offers pull something after OCI, but I think those opportunities (esp. in big cities) are probably harder from lower ranked schools (HR at some firms can toss out any app from schools outside of the t-6 while they must submit a resume from HYS to a partner for review).

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Re: 2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:14 am

Did 2L OCI, got only 1 offer coming out of it. Decided to comb through the firm list and resend in my application to many of the firms that I thought I was within reasonable range of with grades, even though I didn't get an interview with them at OCI. Got a call 2 days later from a recruiter, callback 2 days later, offer at end of callback.

My thought process was that they they didn't have as many people accept offers as they thought would, and most of the other kids they interviewed with at OCI who they could do new callbacks with probably had accepted elsewhere already as well, so they had 1-2 open spots left. Timely application + interest + reasonable grade range got me in, and honestly, the interview process felt more like a formality at that point.

Some people might say they consider that to just be part of 2L OCI. It just goes to show you that mass mailing does have a big effect, and you shouldn't give up on a firm necessarily just because you didn't get an interview spot with them.

SemiReverseSplinter

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Re: 2L OCI Only Hope for Firm Work?

Post by SemiReverseSplinter » Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:53 pm

If you strike out at biglaw OCI, I would really recommend looking at a smaller market where you have ties. If you are in a top 20 school, chances are there are very few other t-20 (and even fewer t14) candidates applying to that specific market. These markets can still have firms w/ 40--100 attorneys that pay 75k-100k starting (which will also by your SA salary), which is great for the COL. They will often look very highly on even median candidates from top schools as opposed to the local 3rd/4th tier school's top 10%.

In my opinion, this is the best way to land a decent SA upon striking out at OCI. Obviously this logic doesn't apply w/ the same force to those who aren't in top schools, or for those who only have ties to larger (and saturated) markets.

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