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So assuming i don't get a grade 1l big would it be bad to spend that time launching a start up. As a former fat kid I came up with a nutrition plan that got me to 6 percent body fat that I can mold to people's needs and think zi can make some extra $ doing it. I have started small successful (think 60k/yr) internet companies in the past. Would law firms look on this favorably?

uvabro wrote:So assuming i don't get a grade 1l big would it be bad to spend that time launching a start up. As a former fat kid I came up with a nutrition plan that got me to 6 percent body fat that I can mold to people's needs and think zi can make some extra $ doing it. I have started small successful (think 60k/yr) internet companies in the past. Would law firms look on this favorably?

Assuming you're not trolling, then no, you need to do something legal. A good chunk of what I discussed during my OCI interviews was my 1L summer job, and every firm asked me about it.

you actually shouldn't freak out about this too much. I didn't do anything legal my 1L summer and it didn't hurt me at all. In most interviews the ppl won't care if you did something legal in your 1L summer. 2L is a diff story.

Lyonsoccer87 wrote:you actually shouldn't freak out about this too much. I didn't do anything legal my 1L summer and it didn't hurt me at all. In most interviews the ppl won't care if you did something legal in your 1L summer. 2L is a diff story.

I think employers would view it as either you are a flight risk and not interested in law, or you weren't able to get a legal job for whatever reason. Neither one is something you want on employer's minds when you're going through OCI.

Lyonsoccer87 wrote:you actually shouldn't freak out about this too much. I didn't do anything legal my 1L summer and it didn't hurt me at all. In most interviews the ppl won't care if you did something legal in your 1L summer. 2L is a diff story.

This is terrible advice.

You've already shown an ability to do little start up internet companies. Creating a little diet company isn't really going to add too much to your resume. While the storyline about how starting a company will help your legal career is nice, you've already established that storyline.

What you need to do for you 1L summer is demonstrate that the storyline is true - that your entrepreneurial experience is a boon to your legal abilities.

I agree with the above poster. What's key in interviews is being able to explain a project that you worked on. What's important is not so much what you did, but how you are able to explain a legal issue to an employer. They want to see how you thought, how you went about researching, and whether you can explain complicated legal concepts concisely and accurately. I'm pretty sure I was dinged in a couple of interviews because I wasn't able to do this well with a bankruptcy project I did this past summer. I don't think your start up work would help you with that. Also, they might think you're not really into law and that you should be in business school or something.

Anything legal, including non-profit work, is desirable. My worry with making a start up is if this is not a flame and you are making as much as you claim, legal employers will seriously question how long you would even be with their firm before bailing to make lolcoin as an entrepreneur.

Anyways, a select few 1Ls get midlaw or biglaw experience their 1L summer. Many work for a state or federal agency, non-profit, or small/solo shops. ITE employers have the pick of the lot. There will be people with top grades, LR/Moot, and legal experience that are relegated to the "less desirable" mid and small sized firms, federal and state govt positions... You need all the stuff you can to have your resume stand out.

Putting it this way, the position I received (not biglaw or midlaw) was basically determined by calls my new employer made to the supervisors I had in the legal gigs I have had since spring 1L. HR basically told me they liked my resume and writing sample, but nobody was getting an offer if the references were too attenuated from 'real' legal work experience.


As always on TLS, everything you hear is at least slightly anecdotal. Sure some guy got 2L SA w/no previous legal experience, but wouldn't you want to do everything you possibly can to make sure you stand out?

Six percent? Damn bro, solid thick and tight. I'm 'miring them gainz.

thanks for the feedback.

yeah, it is true. the peak potential of these companies is really 60k, and i was working (albeit not hard, but answering calls and e-mails) about 60 hours per week.

i don't know how it would translate into law - i mean i guess i would have the ability to bring in clients, and manage, but also don't have any connections to the kinds of clients who have $ that'd make them care.

it wasn't really to build a success story. it was because i like $, and couldn't get a job with a POS degree so resorted to just making $ from the world which i found to be correlated to your skill set rather than a job where it's based on one guy's opinion of your skill set.

uvabro wrote:thanks for the feedback.

yeah, it is true. the peak potential of these companies is really 60k, and i was working (albeit not hard, but answering calls and e-mails) about 60 hours per week.

i don't know how it would translate into law - i mean i guess i would have the ability to bring in clients, and manage, but also don't have any connections to the kinds of clients who have $ that'd make them care.

it wasn't really to build a success story. it was because i like $, and couldn't get a job with a POS degree so resorted to just making $ from the world which i found to be correlated to your skill set rather than a job where it's based on one guy's opinion of your skill set.

You don't need to have a book of business, but you need to be able to sell this as relevant to the firm. So the skills you used:

Hard work
Creative problem solving
Client management
Managing a budget
AND
Ability to see the whole picture.

That last one took me far. Being able to talk about a job where you had to call all the shots and had to put the pieces together is a really big deal. It can show a maturity of thinking that firms like.

Lyonsoccer87 wrote:you actually shouldn't freak out about this too much. I didn't do anything legal my 1L summer and it didn't hurt me at all. In most interviews the ppl won't care if you did something legal in your 1L summer. 2L is a diff story.

Nominated for worst post ever on TLS.

Lyonsoccer87 wrote:you actually shouldn't freak out about this too much. I didn't do anything legal my 1L summer and it didn't hurt me at all. In most interviews the ppl won't care if you did something legal in your 1L summer. 2L is a diff story.