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Hi all,

Some background: just finished up 1L at a strong regional midwest T30. I did pretty good fall semester but spring semester I got a 4.0, which will put me easily in the top 15% though probably not 5%. 3.81 law school GPA so far, K-JD, no relevant work experience except for current summer gig at small firm doing the type of law I'd like to do. No ties outside of my state. My goal is regional (non-market) big/mid law as I wouldn't mind staying in my state and have very low debt due to scholarships, but I'm planning on applying to as many firms as possible just to be safe.

My question is two fold:

1) While my grades are good, are there certain geographic areas/firms (ie. vault ranks, etc) that it would be a waste of time for me to mail, or should I simply apply everywhere I'd like to work?

2) We haven't got journal yet and won't until mid-jury which will probably be after I've sent out applications, should I include a line on my resume like "journal placement pending" and then update firms when I get results?

Also, if journal makes a difference to question 1, I have already graded onto my school's most prestigious secondary, and feel like I have a very strong chance of either grading on or writing on to main journal.

Thanks for the advice!

1. You can basically apply everywhere you're interested, but you should probably not prioritize: top NYC firms (i.e. Cravath, etc.), non-NYC firms where you don't have ties, DC firms, any other firms that your CSO identifies as being ultra-picky about grades. If your school is in a state that doesn't have a lot of firms of the kind you're interested in working for, maybe focus more on NYC or a nearby major market like Chicago. But don't spend a bunch of time on apps to Miami firms.

2. Ask someone in your CSO about this. I'm sure they have a standardized way of communicating this.

I agree that mass mailing the very top of NYC firms may not be the best use of time. I would recommend leaning heavily on your law school's alum network to increase your chances of snagging interviews in a couple of months/at OCI. When I was in my post-1L summer, I spent a good chunk of my free time reaching out to alums at big firms across the country via email to set up calls or coffees/lunches. Everyone's experience will be different but I would recommend you at least try this approach and see how it works - mass mailing didn't have a good ROI for me (was coming from a T50 and was median GPA too) so I'm biased towards this approach. In case it helps, I wrote down a few more specifics here on what to say when you reach out here: https://biglawadvice.com/2018/10/09/sam ... for-alums/ and tips on what to say when you do connect with an alum here: https://biglawadvice.com/2019/04/29/how ... ate-offer/