Top Law Schools

OK I am sure Law Review will come out on top (?) but besides that, how do we deal with:
other law journals, moot court, research assistant to professors, leadership of law clubs, pro bono community service type stuff.

I am trying to pick one or two for my near-enough future and don't want to pass up a good opportunity for a lesser one.

Also - on this topic - how important is 1L summer? Is a job all-important or could you do a certificate program in economics etc. that some b-schools offer or other enrichment opportunities

GPA >>> Legal work experience >>>>>> Law Review >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Moot Court > Mock Trial > other reviews/journals >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pro bono


At least that's the case at my school when it comes to getting a job through OCI

Brawndo86 wrote:GPA >>> Legal work experience >>>>>> Law Review >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Moot Court > Mock Trial > other reviews/journals >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pro bono

+1.

As to OP's question about 1L summer, a job can be all important if you come straight from college. I'm not really sure why you would take a certificate program. It doesn't sound like it would contribute much to your career unless you are going for academia, and even then it really doesn't sound like it's worth it. Frankly if I were looking at a resume with an economics certificate line during OCI, I wouldn't even know what I would ask that person about during the interview. It just sounds unappealing, sorry.

Brawndo86 wrote:GPA >>> Legal work experience >>>>>> Law Review >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Moot Court > Mock Trial > other reviews/journals >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pro bono


At least that's the case at my school when it comes to getting a job through OCI

so now I'm wondering the difference between moot court and mock trial??

Just to add to my point - I get legal experience is important, but my schools business school is fairly good and they're offering this summer brush-up type deal (its, I believe, a T10 school for b-schools, but if you think any type of legal experience would be better, I can certainly appreciate that)

EDIT: I really wanted to know where assisting a professor falls in this spectrum. thanks!

Some of this depends on what you want to do. For me, pro bono stuff is pretty important, and I imagine for people who want to be ADA or PDs that mock trial is very important.

Really, just do what you think is interesting and that you can learn from. If you want to do it and it's not prestigious, go for it anyway.

moot court = appellate arguments and writing briefs. you get up in front of a panel of judges and respond to questions.
mock trial = doing a trial

i'm not sure where working for a prof falls in this spectrum... a lot of this stuff is not really comparable to each other, especially since i'm not sure if you're talking about extracurriculars during your 1L year, 2L year, or 1L summer. just go for everything that you're interested in and see where you end up. journals, moot court, and mock trial usually are competition-based so they choose you, not vice versa.

as a 1L, just focus on your grades. if you don't do well academically, it doesn't matter what extracurriculars you have. but if you end up top of your class, lots of doors will open for you even if you aren't involved in any extracurriculars.

what are the more prestigious and best 1L summer jobs?

Headybrah wrote:what are the more prestigious and best 1L summer jobs?

Honestly, 1L jobs don't matter, just so long as you gain legal experience.

woah woah woah... legal work experience > law review? i mean... what kind of legal work are we talking here?

Brawndo86 wrote:GPA >>> Legal work experience >>>>>> Law Review >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Moot Court > Mock Trial > other reviews/journals >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pro bono


At least that's the case at my school when it comes to getting a job through OCI

Outed for not making law review. Law review is every bit as important as legal experience, and more so in some cases. If you're looking at federal clerkships, you better have LR+ top 10% or your resume won't even make it out of the pile.

Brawndo86 wrote:GPA >>> Legal work experience >>>>>> Law Review >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Moot Court > Mock Trial > other reviews/journals >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pro bono


At least that's the case at my school when it comes to getting a job through OCI

Also agree that LR is much more important than legal work experience. I also think Moot court=mock trial=secondary journals.

And if you want to clerk, LR is essentially required unless you're at a top school (in which case no LR still severely hurts your chances).

Edit: This is at least in part a function of the fact that only 10-15% class gets LR. At lower ranked schools (low T-14 or non T-14), you need top 10% for any federal clerkship, and LR review essentially comes with those grades. At more highly ranked schools-say, HLS-you still have a chance at a D.Ct. clerkship if you're top 20%, and so these students very well may not have law review.

vamedic03 wrote:

Headybrah wrote:what are the more prestigious and best 1L summer jobs?

Honestly, 1L jobs don't matter, just so long as you gain legal experience.

I disagree completely. I worked for a judge this summer, and every callback I've been on, at least one partner has made a big deal about how I never worked at a law firm. It may be dependent on your work experience post-college, but it certainly hurt me. Definitely would have done better had a worked at a firm over 1L summer.

caoyun wrote:

vamedic03 wrote:

Headybrah wrote:what are the more prestigious and best 1L summer jobs?

Honestly, 1L jobs don't matter, just so long as you gain legal experience.

I disagree completely. I worked for a judge this summer, and every callback I've been on, at least one partner has made a big deal about how I never worked at a law firm. It may be dependent on your work experience post-college, but it certainly hurt me. Definitely would have done better had a worked at a firm over 1L summer.

I worked for a local DA's office and worked part time for a professor this past summer. Not a single person ever cared that I had not worked for a law firm. Yes, I did have significant pre LS work experience, but no one cared about where I worked over 1L summer beyond wanting to know if it was a substantive experience. I know plenty of people who chose to work as an RA over 1L summer and have done fine during OCI.

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dood wrote:

vamedic03 wrote:

caoyun wrote:

vamedic03 wrote:
Honestly, 1L jobs don't matter, just so long as you gain legal experience.

I disagree completely. I worked for a judge this summer, and every callback I've been on, at least one partner has made a big deal about how I never worked at a law firm. It may be dependent on your work experience post-college, but it certainly hurt me. Definitely would have done better had a worked at a firm over 1L summer.

I worked for a local DA's office and worked part time for a professor this past summer. Not a single person ever cared that I had not worked for a law firm. Yes, I did have significant pre LS work experience, but no one cared about where I worked over 1L summer beyond wanting to know if it was a substantive experience. I know plenty of people who chose to work as an RA over 1L summer and have done fine during OCI.

take wut u want from this, but i interned at a CoA (2/7/9/dc) 1L summer and almost every interviewer circled, starred, or marked this on my resume...some got noticeably excited.

Look, in the grand scheme of things - 1L jobs are not important so long as they are substantive. Grades, LR, pre LS work experience, all come way before 1L jobs.

As many people can tell you, most 1L summer jobs are obtained through luck before grades come out. So long as you have substantive experience during the summer, employers don't care.

The one caveat I'll offer is this – if you're torn between government/public interest and firm work, you should work in government/public interest during 1L summer to help provide you with a public service background. This way, you can go work for a firm 2L summer but still have a public interest/government background if you decide that you don't want to go to a firm after graduation.

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