A 3L Trade-up post Forum

[Anonymous User]

So I have seen some 3L trade up posts, but the vast majority are all either "Hey I'm median at a t-14 with a V50, can I trade up?" or "I have a 3.2 at a T50, summering at a small firm, can I break into big law?"

I know that most of the 3L OCI hires are at V10s or V20s, so I was wondering how V10/V20 firms would look on the following factors for a 3L (which might also help some people decide whether or not they want to take on certain extracurriculars):

at a T25:
- Secondary Journal, non-EIC E-board position
- Top 15% 1L, still top 15% as a 2L
- Tutoring 1Ls
- V50 SA in DC (analyze assuming I get an offer after this summer)

Would also love to hear from those who have a similar situation and what they did to trade up.

[notinbiglaw]

At GULC, similar profiles got offers.

[Iowahawk]

Vault rankings are useless for D.C. litigation if you want to stay there. Even just considering full-service firms (lit boutiques mess things up even more) nobody would take Skadden over Jenner, for example.

[Anonymous User]

I traded up from a V50 at median at a T13 to a V5 and a V10. You should be competitive if your interests align with the job postings.

[BrainsyK]

I don't think any factor listed materially changes your position. V10/20s are willing to take you if your expressed summer experiences align with their needs but not otherwise, which is the position that any person with a V100 returning offer is in.

[bluedolphin]

If trading up is your entire goal, no care about practice group, target financing/banking groups. Good deal of firms just need warm bodies to run trees and the lifestyle is horrible (arguably worse than M&A) but you do get to go to a V10. Quite a few NY v10s have these as 3L openings.

[jm2819]

I think you are competitive if you apply to anything/everything in the V20 and are flexible with practice areas.
Personally, I sent out a few causal applications but wasn't really pressing the issue. I'm at a T-50 and top 5% and was at a V100 firm. Unfortunately, I didn't get any hits but really only applied to three firms which were all V5.

[TheChain]

Vault rankings are useless for D.C. litigation if you want to stay there. Even just considering full-service firms (lit boutiques mess things up even more) nobody would take Skadden over Jenner, for example.

Any rankings that you are think are useful for evaluating DC firms for litigation?

[Iowahawk]

Vault rankings are useless for D.C. litigation if you want to stay there. Even just considering full-service firms (lit boutiques mess things up even more) nobody would take Skadden over Jenner, for example.

Any rankings that you are think are useful for evaluating DC firms for litigation?

Not really. Chambers & Partners is better but still not great (e.g. its appellate rankings are only nationwide). The issues are that (a) there are a lot of low-ranked firms that do very cool litigation work and are highly selective (Jenner, Kirkland, O'Melveny, Cleary come to mind), (b) a lot of D.C. work is regulatory or investigations stuff that's not traditional litigation and pretty boring to a lot of people, and (c) it's a market dense with lit boutiques, which always mess up rankings.