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Am I wasting my time applying for these jobs? I've gotten 1 screener from a firm that I thought was out of my league in SF due to my ties but was rejected the next day.

I'm focusing on NYC and CA. Goal is biglaw with corporate exit options in either market.

In all honesty, you have a hard, but not impossible road. Did you have a big increase from fall to spring? For me I did not do well my first semester, but I was able to do well my second semester and finished 1L .02 below median. My big grade increase gave me something to talk about. I also had a strong performance at a top undergraduate and a pre-law school job with an "impressive" title (actual job was fairly average), which I was told helped with me securing my job. Even with my grade increase (made a 3.75 my 1L spring) + my "soft" factors, I was still unable to secure a job until November. The firm wasn't my top choice and I did not get my practice group of choice, but it was still biglaw. Also, I should add that I was only applying to jobs in the major Texas market where I grew up and my entire family lived (i.e. deep roots). You may have more luck applying to jobs in Dallas/Houston, in all honesty the only friends I have who ended up in NYC/San Fran were at the top of the class. FWIW, I found it much easier to "do better" as a 2L and 3L and know numerous people who were below or directly median after 1L and ended up graduating with honors (including me).

Appreciate the advice. I am .03 below median. Our spring grades were P/F due to corona. I'm on a couple of journals, pretty involved in school, "interesting" but not necessarily impressive past career. I guess I should apply to Houston and Dallas more, I just have no roots in either place. I am pretty stunned by how selective you're making NYC sound. CSO seems to have mischaracterized it to some extent, in my discussions with them.

If biglaw is your goal more so than a specific market, then you definitely need to be more aggressive in applying to Dallas and Houston firms, from which you'll have the benefit of extensive alumni connections. And keep in mind that many firms are receptive to associates moving between offices, so if you put in a year or two in Dallas or Houston you might then be able to move to your preferred location. My experience was slightly different - I was closer to top 20% at Texas and had a 1L biglaw job in Houston, then went to NYC for 2L summer. The 1L position solidified that I'd at least have a biglaw job, and then I was able to apply for 2L summer in my preferred market with the fallback of just returning to my 1L firm.

I will say that just about everyone that had decent grades and sought out a biglaw job in my class was able to land one (the vast majority of which were in Texas.) Times are a bit different now, but if you apply to the major Texas firms, take oil & gas (showing your interest in the market), and leverage alumni connections, you should be OK.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 06, 2020 1:50 pm

Am I wasting my time applying for these jobs? I've gotten 1 screener from a firm that I thought was out of my league in SF due to my ties but was rejected the next day.

I'm focusing on NYC and CA. Goal is biglaw with corporate exit options in either market.

You might have better luck focusing your energies on the regional biglaw/midlaw firms in Texas. I'm thinking firms like Gardere and Porter & Hedges. Texas is the "home" market and the school is a target school for firms in that band. Even if your eventual goal is CA or NYC, you may have an easier time lateraling to those markets once you have some experience under your belt.