Top Law Schools

Title says it. Barely above median at PDV. Assuming grades stay the same in spring, am I f*^&ed for DC biglaw? Fiancé works (has fantastic job & job security) in DC and that is the only goal at this point.

UVA has decent placement in DC. Look at MD and VA burbs for some satellite / regional biggish law stuff too

Take this with a grain of salt (not from PDV) but my experience with DC seemed to show that the high grades thing is a bit blown out of proportion because of how many people want appellate lit and stuff. So yeah you might be out at Covington and Gibson but there are plenty of other firms in that area, and you have a strong reason to want to be there.

2L at P. I know people above median who struck out at DC, and I know people way below median who got DC.

I think the most important thing is to network network network. Find an alum partner at as many DC firms as humanly possible, and schedule calls with them because your "fascinated by their practice area" or some shit. Follow up with them once before summer, and then once before OCI. The second most important thing is to WORK IN DC over the summer. Not only does this establish ties, but if you mass-mail DC the week after second semester grades come out (which you should), you should get quite a few interviews.


I think if you prevent your grades from falling too much, network, and mass-mail DC the first business day after grades come out, you will be fine. But it will definitely be more work than someone who's top 25% gunning for NYC transactional law. If you see yourself hustling as much as they are, you're doing something wrong - you have to be far more aggressive to get DC from median

Purely anecdotal, but I know at least one person who got DC biglaw from around median at one of these schools. Network, have a good pitch for why X Firm and why DC, and it's possible. Regardless, have a back-up plan. It's possible, but no one here can quantify precisely how likely it is.

Medianish people at GULC have gotten DC Biglaw. It's not out of the running for you. Gibson, Hogan, Covington, WilmerHale - yes, probably not happening. But there are many other firms.

It's risky - I wouldn't put all your bids on DC. Gut feeling is probably won't unless you have another hook.

Depends on practice area. Regulatory practices tend to be less grade focused especially if you have prior work experience. But then some of the best regulatory firms are also highly competitive.

There are great jobs in DC other than big law.

Assuming you're at Duke because our grades came out today. It seems like you need a 3.5-3.6 or above for DC (obviously the higher, the better). It's too early to panic, but you should try everything to pull your GPA up next semester. Try really hard in legal writing--you can control that grade better than your grades in doctrinal classes