How long will a bombed 2L stick with your career? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a T6 transfer student whose 2L grades are pretty terrible. Even if I miraculously pull off a great 3L, I'm looking at median AT BEST, but more likely need to accept I'm bottom third no matter what.

I have a SA with 100% offer rate; however, I know that laterally will be impacted quite negatively. My grades were bad and a confluence of many factors, but that will not be on the transcript any other people will see.

I don't expect big law forever, or even for very long. I understand that my later chances are probably completely shot, but is my career outside my firm basically done for? I would like to stay at my firm indefinitely but who knows what will happen.

I've asked my career services office but they are the opposite of helpful. They refuse to even tell me my percentile, tell me what my realistic chances are, and in all honesty I would have probably dropped out if a personal connection didn't get me the SA.

It is my understanding my 1L grades are irrelevant because they can from a much lower ranked school.

[nixy]

I don’t think it’s that dire. Yes, there are some employers who care about laterals’ grades, but there are also many who don’t, and will be much more interested in your actual practice experience.

[cavalier1138]

I know that laterally will be impacted quite negatively

How do you know that? Which future jobs are you thinking will take a hard look at your transcript?

[Anonymous User]

I know that laterally will be impacted quite negatively

How do you know that? Which future jobs are you thinking will take a hard look at your transcript?

I got that impression from searching this forum and reddit. My current firm is a V50; if I were to lateral it would be beneath that. I was also considering generic fed gov work, even law enforcement/FBI jobs.

[cavalier1138]

I know that laterally will be impacted quite negatively

How do you know that? Which future jobs are you thinking will take a hard look at your transcript?

I got that impression from searching this forum and reddit. My current firm is a V50; if I were to lateral it would be beneath that. I was also considering generic fed gov work, even law enforcement/FBI jobs.

I don't think that "generic fed gov work" is going to check your transcript after you have a few years of experience in biglaw. At a certain point, all people care about is the school name, and eventually they don't even care too much about that.

[Anonymous User]

I know that laterally will be impacted quite negatively

How do you know that? Which future jobs are you thinking will take a hard look at your transcript?

I got that impression from searching this forum and reddit. My current firm is a V50; if I were to lateral it would be beneath that. I was also considering generic fed gov work, even law enforcement/FBI jobs.

I don't think that "generic fed gov work" is going to check your transcript after you have a few years of experience in biglaw. At a certain point, all people care about is the school name, and eventually they don't even care too much about that.

What if I wanted to lateral to another firm?

Thank you for the responses.

[jotarokujo]

I know that laterally will be impacted quite negatively

How do you know that? Which future jobs are you thinking will take a hard look at your transcript?

I got that impression from searching this forum and reddit. My current firm is a V50; if I were to lateral it would be beneath that. I was also considering generic fed gov work, even law enforcement/FBI jobs.

I don't think that "generic fed gov work" is going to check your transcript after you have a few years of experience in biglaw. At a certain point, all people care about is the school name, and eventually they don't even care too much about that.

What if I wanted to lateral to another firm?

Thank you for the responses.

i think new york and dc lit stop caring about grades by year 3 or 4, particularly if you have a clerkship. the problem is clerkships will always care, at least art. III in any midsized (600k+ pop) city

[Anonymous User]

i think new york and dc lit stop caring about grades by year 3 or 4, particularly if you have a clerkship. the problem is clerkships will always care, at least art. III in any midsized (600k+ pop) city

Yeah, I'm definitely out for any clerkship. The only lateral I would consider would be transactional groups.

I am in a non-NY market right now. My exact grades I have no idea of my actual rank; all I know is it's well below median. Bottom 10-25%, I don't know. I'm reasonably confident I can increase it to bottom 40% at least by 3L but it will never be good. And my 2L year will always look terrible to anyone looking at it.

I can explain the grades competently in an interview but, it'll be the first thing they see on the transcript.

[LBJ's Hair]

Realistically, there's no reason to concern yourself w/it at this point, because there's nothing you can do. (Other than get good grades 3L, I guess.)

Will your transcript hurt you at some firms or with some partners even 5 years into your career? It'd be sorta weird, but maybe, who knows. What are you gonna do, though, preemptively not apply for a job you want? That'd be stupid.

[cavalier1138]

Agree with others that it likely won't matter, but why are you already assuming that you'll lateral to another firm? Your posts generally suggest that you're not just preparing for the worst, but constantly assuming the worst is already destined to happen.

[Anonymous User]

Agree with others that it likely won't matter, but why are you already assuming that you'll lateral to another firm? Your posts generally suggest that you're not just preparing for the worst, but constantly assuming the worst is already destined to happen.

I want to remain open to the idea primarily for geographic flexibility, while also still needing big law salary for my debt.