LA Top 10% at T20, no offers Forum

[Anonymous User]

Current 2L at a T20 in LA. Went into OCI with Top 10% GPA, probably top 5% based on what the top 10% cutoff was. CSO said I "have one of the higher GPAs in my class." Had 12 screeners. My "big 3" firm screeners seemed to go well. Interviewers were engaging and laughed a lot. Pretty easy flowing conversation with all 3 of those. Gibson Dunn ran 6 minutes over, though it was more of us shooting the shit than them asking me specifically about my legal experience. I had been preselected by them. Ended up not getting a Gibson callback or one from my other 2 top ones.

Still got 5 callbacks. Had 3 this week, 2 last week. Have heard nothing back from any of them. I know at least one of them has since extended offers to at least two people in my class.

Just trying to figure out what might have gone wrong, and what my plans should be going forward. I've done mock interviews before, including from CSO, never had anyone say I come across badly in interviews, and I incorporated whatever constructive criticism they offered. There were definitely some screeners where I could tell the interviewer and I just didn't really click, and I wasn't surprised to not get callbacks from them. But with the exception of my Top 3, the ones I felt especially good about where the ones who gave me callbacks. Which suggests that my gut wasn't totally off on how I came across in interviews. I didn't feel like any of the callbacks went badly. But obviously they didn't go as well as they could have since I've had radio silence since.

Only thing that immediately stands out (and it was raised during two interviews) was that I have an extensive background in entertainment. And no matter how hard I try to emphasize that I'm not trying to go into entertainment law, that seems to be something people notice.

But yeah, I'm just trying to do a post-mortem on this whole thing and figure out what my steps are going forward. I've heard it's been an especially competitive OCI season, and most of my friends have yet to get offers, but I really thought that with a GPA that high, unless I just straight up torpedoed every single interview that I would've ended up with something. Assuming I don't get offers from any of the 5 I'm waiting on, how do I take advantage of that GPA? And how should I re-adjust plans?

[Anonymous User]

Cant really comment on if you get rejected, but in my non-NY market it took a week and a half to get an offer after my CB. I wouldn't count yourself out yet.

[Anonymous User]

The LA market is tough to break into. Small class sizes + many applicants from essentially all schools (who doesn’t want to live in LA?) = high likelihood of striking out, even if your grades are in the top 10%. Not to mention that this cycle is likely particularly brutal given attorney lay offs. Why would a firm hire a fresh-faced law student when they can go bargain hunting for an actual attorney?

All this to say: you may have done nothing wrong; there may just be applicants who are objectively better qualified than you are given firma’ current needs.

If you want to stay in CA and don’t receive an offer through OCI, I’d recommend expanding your search into other counties/cities with decently sized legal markets. Mass mail firms in those markets. They’d like a T20 grad. Look up the ABA’s profile of the profession for statistics regarding those markets.

Some firms in those markets pay 100k+ starting salaries and have ~1800 billable hour requirements. Bonuses could push the salary up to 150k for a first year, in a low COL area, like Fresno.

Basically, instead of trying to examine why you didn’t get the results you expected, I’d focus on just finding a firm job. Just my two cents. No one can give you accurate advice without seeing how you interview.

[Anonymous User]

Does your school provide resume collects and other post-OCI biglaw application opportunities? I am also at a T20 in LA so maybe we're at the same school. One my of friend has a 3.5+ GPA, bid 30+ firms and got zero callbacks. He did the resume collect and resume book opt-ins and within a week he got callbacks from two biglaw firms he never even did screener or OCIed with.

As a side note, I have classmates who got offers from Irell, Sidley, and Kirkland (all LA). Hope this info is helpful for you as you move along.

[Anonymous User]

I had a similar (actually far worse) experience, which I detailed here:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=308687

I was also told by various people that I would doubtlessly be swimming in offers after OCI, so I understand the feeling. Honestly, the most likely explanation is that you're just unlucky. There will always be some percentage of people who, despite being totally qualified, will just barely come up short in all of their interviews and end up with nothing.

Best advice I can give is to focus on clerkships. You have a decent shot with your stats. I personally never attempted mass-mailing, but you should consider that as well. Suffice it to say, there are absolutely ways forward for you.

Edit: also, you haven't been dinged yet. So your concern is premature.

[Anonymous User]

OP, given your background I'm pretty sure I interviewed you, or at least someone who sounds remarkably similar to you, with an identical extensive background in entertainment.

If you are the person I am thinking of, I thought you did an excellent job and I submitted a highly favorable evaluation. I'm not a decisionmaker, though, so I can't say why you weren't offered, but I really think that there are a ton of things at play that are out of your control that has nothing to do with your merit as a candidate, so I wouldn't stress.

I'd definitely start mass mailing immediately. As an alternative, I'd start seeing what clerkships are available as well. If you aren't interested in clerking, then I definitely have the wrong person and disregard everything I wrote.

Even if you aren't the person I'm thinking about, you've got essentially perfect grades from a great school, I wouldn't stress too much. Definitely mass mail. Unless you have to be in LA, look broadly in other markets. I feel like once you have your foot in the door at any reputable firm, lateraling after a year or two is totally doable, especially given your pedigree.