Top Law Schools

Hi all. Wondering what you think about my situation:

4th in the class at a top-30 school; journal, no moot court. Put all my eggs in the OCI basket but struck out, so I'm feeling a little hopeless about the coming summer. Previous summer at a big-city DA's office, enjoyed it but -- again, thinking I'd be going biglaw -- didn't apply for the rule 9 (limited appearance) program. I have a good contact in that office who I think genuinely wants to see me succeed and is willing to help. Also considering/in the midst of applying for post-grad A3 clerkships, and will start applying for state court positions relatively soon.

The local AUSA's office does unpaid summer positions, which I think would be good experience. There are a good number of unpaid positions still floating around, but another summer without pay would be hard.

I don't have my heart set on any specific path right now, but that might be because the lack of success has me feeling hopeless. I think the most ideal position would be one in which I can pay off my loans, i.e., big-law. But I recognize that may not be a possibility any longer.

Thoughts?

I wouldn’t give up on a paid summer yet if you’re 4th in your class at a decent school. Even a mid sized firm would be preferable to an unpaid, 1L-type gig. Just my $.02.

Definitely gun for A3 clerkships, especially local districts where your professors might have some ties or you have an alumn network.

I wouldn't give up on paid summers yet either. Keep mass mailing. What was the problem at OCI? Did you get a bunch of screener interviews and failed to convert them into callbacks/offers?

If you didn't get many screeners, the problem is probably something on your resume.

Anonymous User wrote:Hi all. Wondering what you think about my situation:

4th in the class at a top-30 school; journal, no moot court. Put all my eggs in the OCI basket but struck out, so I'm feeling a little hopeless about the coming summer. Previous summer at a big-city DA's office, enjoyed it but -- again, thinking I'd be going biglaw -- didn't apply for the rule 9 (limited appearance) program. I have a good contact in that office who I think genuinely wants to see me succeed and is willing to help. Also considering/in the midst of applying for post-grad A3 clerkships, and will start applying for state court positions relatively soon.

The local AUSA's office does unpaid summer positions, which I think would be good experience. There are a good number of unpaid positions still floating around, but another summer without pay would be hard.

I don't have my heart set on any specific path right now, but that might be because the lack of success has me feeling hopeless. I think the most ideal position would be one in which I can pay off my loans, i.e., big-law. But I recognize that may not be a possibility any longer.

Thoughts?

Apply in-house anywhere and everywhere (many hire later). Chances are you'll get paid decent and you have at least a fighting chance to get a job there OR segway yourself for looking for a 3L OCI job or work on clerkships.

Seriously type in "legal intern" in linkedin under jobs and basically apply to every position. If your T30 is OSU - Quantum Health is looking for a legal intern in house.

Based on some of the things mentioned in your post, I suspect I know which market you're in (same one I went to law school in).

I did an unpaid externship at the USAO there and it was probably one of the more useful things I did in law school in terms of my future employment prospects (public sector, not biglaw).

Feel free to PM me if you want more detail.

gunning for clerkships, mass-mailing, and trying to find a paid gig are all nonexclusive.

[unpaid] bigfed is an ok summer gig, but you still have to hustle and getting a BL offer 3L year isn't out of the question.