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i'm at a t13 with an eng. degree so app'ing to some big firms with patent spots

should i spend a day polishing my patent memo from legal writing class, or use something pre-polished but non-legal from before law school?
should i apply on Dec. 1, or Dec. 20 (after finals)?

You’ll want legal writing, so use your law school memo.

Focus most of your time leading up to finals on studying, but if you have your app materials ready, the earlier you apply, the better. What markets are you targeting for a 1L SA?

paradiselost9 wrote:i'm at a t13 with an eng. degree so app'ing to some big firms with patent spots

should i spend a day polishing my patent memo from legal writing class, or use something pre-polished but non-legal from before law school?
should i apply on Dec. 1, or Dec. 20 (after finals)?

Most of the firms I interviewed at 1L didn't care too much about my legal writing sample so I wouldn't worry about it too much but I'd use a legal writing sample because most that firms ask for a "legal" writing sample not a writing sample.

To the extent that it doesn't impede your finals studying, you should apply Dec. 1. When I interviewed for 1L positions they were all pretty much specialty positions (i.e. we're looking for a tax associate) so they actually reached out to interview before my grades came out based on my resume. It also gives you a chance to follow up on the application by submitting your grades when they come out.

it's probably a lost cause, weighing the relative values of the legal sample and applying Dec. 1, but it's the false choice i'm pushing against. i know it would take a day to polish my memo and ... finals

any workarounds worth asking HR about, like submitting the app. Dec. 1 (with or without the non-legal sample) and sending the memo Dec. 20?

i don't have a market preference, because $30K. offices i've targeted are in Philly, D.C., Manhattan, but i think all else is equal (like a firm might offer an option of offices in Chicago, Silicon Valley, and D.C., and i just choose D.C.)

1. Study for finals. Anything/everything comes after this.
2. If applying to TX, Dec. 1st applications sent. Take an afternoon/day and make this a reality.
3. Mix studying/applying for other markets. Some markets will do interviews before finals, others will wait for grades. But regardless of their hiring flow, you’re maximizing current/future benefits by mixing your time.
4. Your writing sample is probably less important than you think as a 1L applicant. That doesn’t make it irrelevant, but if your writing sample is solid grammatically and analytically, it probably doesn’t need to be “polished.” This shouldn’t single-handedly prevent you from sending in apps for sure.

Edit: didn’t see the markets until I posted. Forget #2

on that advice, i'd submit all apps. Dec. 1 and spend less time than planned revising the memo. (it was motivated by a word requirement in a pass/fail class)