Top Law Schools

Rising 2L here calling on the collective wisdom of TLS. Could people share specific questions that might be useful to ask firms at callbacks, or, once an offer is in hand for a SA position? Is there a way for students to find out which firms routinely have fire drills (for no reason), screaming partners, or a culture where the average associate is in reality expected to bill well over the minimum? I sense that the associates they have take you to lunch are the few who have not been killed off by the grind.

find a young associate that went to your undergrad or law school and ask them if you can have a five minute off-the-record convo

do this AFTER you have an offer - no reason to do it earlier

100% do not bring this up in the interview.

You can also find a 3L that has/is summering at the firm for their opinion.

jhett wrote:You can also find a 3L that has/is summering at the firm for their opinion.

3Ls don't know shit - it's not like when they're here we tell them how burned out we are or anything, and summers don't do anything approaching real work in the majority of firms, so they can't really give you an opinion on that either.

Speak with an associate you know AFTER you get an offer. During CBs, screeners, meet and greets, summer events, etc., all the attorneys are throwing out so much bullshit as to be useless in making a truly informed decision.

You could probably get a straight answer from people about hours, but the other stuff people are going to bs you on a lot. Don't ask about any of this pre-offer though, be in selling mode until you have an offer in hand.