Too Liberal a Resume for BigLaw? Forum

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:55 pm

At a t14. Want to land 2L BigLaw SA but my pre-law work experience and probably 1L summer will be aggressively liberal positions. Any chance this will be a problem for firm hiring? Think "ACLU" type liberal, not helping the homeless, etc.

Shelled · Post by **Shelled** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:58 pm

It could be a problem for hiring. It is hard to really say. It could go either way. One thing is for sure, it will be interesting.

Traynor Brah · Post by **Traynor Brah** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:59 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Any chance this will be a problem for firm hiring?

Zero. Unless you make it a problem in individual interviews.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:59 pm

they won't care as long as you can make your previous work = "I want to work at a firm"

I worked at a liberal place this summer doing similar stuff (thing Lambda Legal). the liberalness didn't come up but since i didn't ahve any WE before that, the public interesty ness came up in a few interviews. it wasn't seen as that big a problem tho and was very easy to explain, especially since p-side stuff or appellate stuff is easier to explain as firm-like as opposed to things like direct services.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:59 pm

Anonymous User wrote:At a t14. Want to land 2L BigLaw SA but my pre-law work experience and probably 1L summer will be aggressively liberal positions. Any chance this will be a problem for firm hiring? Think "ACLU" type liberal, not helping the homeless, etc.

I'm in big law. Nobody cares what your political beliefs are. Are you pleasant to be around, and can you do the work? These are the only 2 things that matter.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:05 pm

Biglaw mid-level associate here who helps out in hiring. In my opinion, it wouldn't hurt you in the slightest. What hurts is when people only know how to talk about political issues and don't know how to converse as everyday people. If anything, your experience could help you because it will give you substantive experience to which you can speak, and probably some good stories to share.

Johann · Post by **Johann** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:05 pm

lots of biglaw partners are liberals. regulations create business in many industries.

eta - just dont be a shitlib

kaiser · Post by **kaiser** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:10 pm

JohannDeMann wrote:lots of biglaw partners are liberals. regulations create business in many industries.

eta - just dont be a shitlib

Agree with this general rule. Whatever your political leanings may be, no need to parade them around at work. Ideally, your co-workers should have no clue what your political leanings are. They should see you as professional, nice to work with, intelligent, etc. Almost no situation where its necessary to talk politics in the work setting.

Johann · Post by **Johann** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:13 pm

lately ive been vocally laughing at the trump phenomena just because its a phenomena whether democrat or republican. and i always bash hillary because everyone hates her so thats also a safe ground. but yeah you just gotta stick to non controversial shit. i would never talk about my actual beliefs.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 5:23 pm

JohannDeMann wrote:lately ive been vocally laughing at the trump phenomena just because its a phenomena whether democrat or republican. and i always bash hillary because everyone hates her so thats also a safe ground. but yeah you just gotta stick to non controversial shit. i would never talk about my actual beliefs.

Yeah, I could see joking around about Trump since its so unlikely to be controversial, and isn't even political in a sense. But you are def right to never ever ever talk about things that are controversial (regardless of what the consensus may be in your particular geographic area, since you never know when the partner above you will buck the trend on the issue).

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:27 pm

yeah i'm not a vocal/rabid person so am not going to lecture my interviewer. If thats the standard + some smoothing over, I'm relieved.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 6:38 pm

JohannDeMann wrote:lots of biglaw partners are liberals. regulations create business in many industries.

eta - just dont be a shitlib

I don't know how accurate this is. I think it's more that liberals are likelier to be outspoken, at least in big law. Most conservative partners are primarily concerned with taxes.

unlicensedpotato · Post by **unlicensedpotato** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 7:59 pm

Anonymous User wrote: I don't know how accurate this is. I think it's more that liberals are likelier to be outspoken, at least in big law. Most conservative partners are primarily concerned with taxes.

TaxProf blog published an annual survey someone does and more than 50% of lawyers are "liberal."

dixiecupdrinking · Post by **dixiecupdrinking** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:19 pm

NYC biglaw is overwhelmingly liberal.

retaking23 · Post by **retaking23** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 11:30 pm

Not a problem. At all. Just don't go overboard describing your aspirations to be the pro bono partner.

SemiReverseSplinter · Post by **SemiReverseSplinter** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 1:48 am

Anonymous User wrote:Think "ACLU" type liberal, not helping the homeless, etc.

The phrasing could have been better.

sublime · Post by **sublime** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 3:44 am

rpupkin · Post by **rpupkin** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 4:13 am

JohannDeMann wrote:lately ive been vocally laughing at the trump phenomena just because its a phenomena whether democrat or republican. and i always bash hillary because everyone hates her so thats also a safe ground. but yeah you just gotta stick to non controversial shit. i would never talk about my actual beliefs.

Just in case anyone takes this seriously, bashing Hillary Clinton (or any other major political figure) is not "safe ground" during a job interview.

By the way, I agree with everyone else ITT that OP's liberal resume is a non-issue for big law.

Redamon1 · Post by **Redamon1** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 5:22 am

I had significant liberal and PI WE. It wasn't a problem. Just have a good answer to the "why big law" question and be ready to share stories about how your WE makes you a good professional (diligence, team work, leadership etc.)

84651846190 · Post by **84651846190** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 10:08 am

Most lawyers are libs anyway. It depends on the firm

jd20132013 · Post by **jd20132013** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:54 am

SemiReverseSplinter wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Think "ACLU" type liberal, not helping the homeless, etc.
The phrasing could have been better.

this phrasing is actually a perfect way to describe most "liberals" you meet at these "levels" of society

lawbeahs · Post by **lawbeahs** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:58 am

JohannDeMann wrote:lately ive been vocally laughing at the trump phenomena just because its a phenomena whether democrat or republican. and i always bash hillary because everyone hates her so thats also a safe ground. but yeah you just gotta stick to non controversial shit. i would never talk about my actual beliefs.

Yeah probably not a good idea to publicly bash the next President.

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 12:41 pm

Doubtful they care about your politics in the least. Only concern is if you bring bad press on the firm--that's a concern. Can't publish HuffPost pieces opining (my good friend was banned from publishing at a V15 in NYC -- he didn't take kindly to it but ultimately acquiesced). Shouldn't be a problem--just spin it in 30 seconds during your interview and move on OR if it's so problematic just remove it from your resume altogether. Otherwise, you'll be just fine.

3|ink · Post by **3|ink** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 1:34 pm

I imagine a lot of it depends on the city (ATL vs DC).

SemiReverseSplinter · Post by **SemiReverseSplinter** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 2:02 pm

jd20132013 wrote:
SemiReverseSplinter wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Think "ACLU" type liberal, not helping the homeless, etc.
The phrasing could have been better.

this phrasing is actually a perfect way to describe most "liberals" you meet at these "levels" of society

Accurate.

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