Crashed & Burned as a 1L, what to do next? Forum

[trb36]

Finished first year at a T20. Without going into detail, a combination of family issues really wore me down/affected my studying so I ended up with a cumulative 2.67 gpa. I'm projected to graduate with about 120k debt including undergrad. Currently working for a small firm this summer. I do have a passion for this, and the issues that affected me last year are resolved. I know for sure that I will be able to focus and perform this upcoming semester.

But what should I do in terms of damage control?

Of course I'm going to try to salvage my grades, but am I in too big of a hole? Should I shift my emphasis more towards networking?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[thsmthcrmnl]

You could seriously consider dropping out.

[rad lulz]

You could seriously consider dropping out.

[DoveBodyWash]

Sorry to hear

But I'm not sure how you'd recover from that...have you talked to your career office? Biglaw is certainly off the table. My only advice would be to get those grades up as much as you can and to adjust your career goals and expectations. You should be prepared to job hunt for the rest of law school

[trb36]

Sorry to hear

But I'm not sure how you'd recover from that...have you talked to your career office? Biglaw is certainly off the table. My only advice would be to get those grades up as much as you can and to adjust your career goals and expectations. You should be prepared to job hunt for the rest of law school

biglaw is definitely off the table. what do you think in terms of public sector/gov jobs?

[emkay625]

Is post-grad employment with this small firm you currently work for completely off the table?

[trb36]

Is post-grad employment with this small firm you currently work for completely off the table?

too early to tell at this point. i'm going to assume no rather than get my hopes up this early =/

[NYSprague]

You should give up on grades and do every practical thing possible to make yourself hirable.

You can't recover from this mess. Do clinics, etc.

You might be last in your class.

[jchiles]

Assuming the firm you work at now knows your grades, I'd talk to somebody you trust there (or any other lawyer you know, preferably one who graduate in the past 5 years) about what your prospects realistically are for working in that kind of setting. I don't think grades are ever unimportant when looking for work, but I know that in a small legal market having a network of attorneys willing to vouch for your actual work product can go a long way.

But that doesn't really address the cost/benefit issue of taking on fairly significant debt to start off in a likely low-paying position, or unemployed. I also think that networking and improving grades can probably be done at the same time.

[emkay625]

I would firmly disagree with the "give up on grades" advice.

Work hard to try to improve your grades and network at the same time. Shift your attention to PI, where work experience is often more important than grades.

[NYSprague]

Assuming the firm you work at now knows your grades, I'd talk to somebody you trust there (or any other lawyer you know, preferably one who graduate in the past 5 years) about what your prospects realistically are for working in that kind of setting. I don't think grades are ever unimportant when looking for work, but I know that in a small legal market having a network of attorneys willing to vouch for your actual work product can go a long way.

But that doesn't really address the cost/benefit issue of taking on fairly significant debt to start off in a likely low-paying position, or unemployed. I also think that networking and improving grades can probably be done at the same time.

I can't think of any grade conscious firm hiring OP. I'm not saying continue to fail, but focusing only on grades won't help. I agree that both things can be done at once. But OP needs practical skills and references.

[jchiles]

I can't think of any grade conscious firm hiring OP. I'm not saying continue to fail, but focusing only on grades won't help. I agree that both things can be done at once. But OP needs practical skills and references.

Yeah I would imagine any firm with national or even regional name recognition is out, but I definitely know people who got jobs at small (2-10 person) firms without grades being a factor. I'm not saying these are always or even usually desirable job outcomes, but they are jobs and if OP wants to practice law there aren't many options with those grades.

[trb36]

are grades as big of a factor in government jobs?

[emkay625]

are grades as big of a factor in government jobs?

I know very little about gov hiring but my guess is this varies widely by what sort of government job you're talking about.

[ymmv]

are grades as big of a factor in government jobs?

TLS consensus seems to be no. If they matter, they don't matter nearly to the extent that they do for biglaw.

[jchiles]

"Government jobs" is an extremely broad category, I can only speak for some state and local offices in PA and from what I've seen you need reasonably good grades to even get externship or internship placement in agencies, and once you're there you stand a chance of getting hired assuming you do good work and the money is there for it. I know that they regularly hire people who are coming from private sector, mid- or big law type positions, so its not like people are able to just walk in and find something. It definitely seems more competitive than I expected, but then again the money is not terrible, COL is pretty low, and the loan forgiveness is a major benefit if you can stick around long enough, so it does make sense people who are good candidates for more 'prestigious' jobs look into it. But thats just one state, and I know nothing about working for the federal government, other than from what I read here that is probably off the table.

If government jobs means being an ADA or PD in a truly rural, isolated area than I don't think your grades will keep you from it provided you can make a case for why you want to be there.

[BigRob]

Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.

[e] How can you know your issues caused you to do poorly on both semesters of exams? Is it possible that you aren't a very good writer?

[A. Nony Mouse]

are grades as big of a factor in government jobs?

Often yes for fedgov - they'd often rather see higher grades from a more ordinary school than lower grades from an elite school. Depends on the hiring component and people hiring, though.