Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L? Forum

(On Campus Interviews, Summer Associate positions, Firm Reviews, Tips, ...)
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting

Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.

Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
2020Graduate

New
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 7:31 pm

Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by 2020Graduate » Fri Apr 24, 2020 8:53 pm

Failed the bar and lost my job.

Besides Simplicity, Indeed, and LinkedIn, where else should I be looking for jobs?

I'm sure this is asked a lot and I don't mind if this thread gets pruned, but can I be pointed in the right direction? I wasn't expecting this, and now I have no idea what I'm doing anymore.

QContinuum

Moderator
Posts: 3594
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:52 am

Re: Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by QContinuum » Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:00 pm

You're currently a 3L who somehow got to take the bar early, before graduation? You aren't in a bad position at all. Employers won't even know (and you should definitely not volunteer) that you've already taken and failed the bar; they'll simply assume you're planning to take the July (or is it now September) 2020 bar along with the rest of the class of 2020.

(Of course, if an employer asks you point-blank whether you've taken the bar, you should be 100% honest. But taking the bar pre-graduation is so unusual and rare that I can't imagine any employer would even think to ask the question; they'd simply assume you haven't taken the bar yet.)

Simply make no mention on your resume of having taken the bar, and hustle for jobs just like any other 3L. What kinds of work are you looking for?

2020Graduate

New
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 7:31 pm

Re: Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by 2020Graduate » Fri Apr 24, 2020 10:01 pm

QContinuum wrote:You're currently a 3L who somehow got to take the bar early, before graduation? You aren't in a bad position at all. Employers won't even know (and you should definitely not volunteer) that you've already taken and failed the bar; they'll simply assume you're planning to take the July (or is it now September) 2020 bar along with the rest of the class of 2020.

(Of course, if an employer asks you point-blank whether you've taken the bar, you should be 100% honest. But taking the bar pre-graduation is so unusual and rare that I can't imagine any employer would even think to ask the question; they'd simply assume you haven't taken the bar yet.)

Simply make no mention on your resume of having taken the bar, and hustle for jobs just like any other 3L. What kinds of work are you looking for?
Anything will do, but preferably a law firm. I'm in a state that let's you take the bar early and my employer paid for it, so I knew they would find out and didn't hide it.

2013

Silver
Posts: 931
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 2:29 am

Re: Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by 2013 » Sat Apr 25, 2020 12:16 am

Sorry to hear that you lost your job because of this.

By law firm, do you mean biglaw or mid law? If biglaw, the only realistic channels this late into 3L are probably symplicity postings for specific positions.

notinbiglaw

Bronze
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:05 am

Re: Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by notinbiglaw » Sat Apr 25, 2020 9:46 pm

Can't you just take it again? Unless the firm was looking for an excuse to cut people anyway, I can't imagine this becoming an issue.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


Flarmanarnar

New
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 5:55 pm

Re: Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by Flarmanarnar » Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:12 pm

notinbiglaw wrote:Can't you just take it again? Unless the firm was looking for an excuse to cut people anyway, I can't imagine this becoming an issue.
Sounds like OP's firm paid for/knew they were taking the bar in Feb. and may have made their employment contingent on them passing the bar (which sucks).

User avatar
tlsadmin3

Moderator
Posts: 230
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 1:26 pm

Re: Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by tlsadmin3 » Mon Apr 27, 2020 1:56 pm

Have you checked out the "legal job board" tab on TLS? That might be a good place to start. Your state bar website might have some great positions available too. HiringPartner is a free legal job board you can check out. Another legal job board is LawCrossing.com.

Those would be the places I would start :)
-Megan

User avatar
legalese_retard

Bronze
Posts: 339
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:14 pm

Re: Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by legalese_retard » Fri May 01, 2020 12:16 pm

I thought this site did a great job of compiling job openings at the big law firms (https://www.gobiglaw.com/)

Check the BYU reciprocity job board or see if your school has access to job postings from other law schools.

Check your state bar's website because they should have job postings.

2020Graduate

New
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 7:31 pm

Re: Failed the Bar. Where to look for jobs as a 3L?

Post by 2020Graduate » Sat May 02, 2020 8:09 am

Flarmanarnar wrote:
notinbiglaw wrote:Can't you just take it again? Unless the firm was looking for an excuse to cut people anyway, I can't imagine this becoming an issue.
Sounds like OP's firm paid for/knew they were taking the bar in Feb. and may have made their employment contingent on them passing the bar (which sucks).
Don't want to specify anything about the firm, but this is right. I'll just take the advice of not even telling anyone I took it already.
AdminMegan wrote:Have you checked out the "legal job board" tab on TLS? That might be a good place to start. Your state bar website might have some great positions available too. HiringPartner is a free legal job board you can check out. Another legal job board is LawCrossing.com.

Those would be the places I would start :)
-Megan
The job board was the first place I checked before I came here but I realize until now that it's active/has recent entry level positions I'll be using that and thinking of some of the others. Not sure what luck I'll have since I have to retake the bar, but thank you.
legalese_retard wrote:I thought this site did a great job of compiling job openings at the big law firms (https://www.gobiglaw.com/)

Check the BYU reciprocity job board or see if your school has access to job postings from other law schools.

Check your state bar's website because they should have job postings.
I don't know how I got to the end of law school without knowing about some of these sites.

Thank you everyone.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Legal Employment”