How long do grades matter? Forum

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dweiss1112

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How long do grades matter?

Post by dweiss1112 » Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:42 pm

Finals period has me wondering...how long do your grades matter for? Will any future employers ever look at them beyond, say, a clerkship and the first law firm you go to?

desola

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Re: How long do grades matter?

Post by desola » Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:58 pm

dweiss1112 wrote:Finals period has me wondering...how long do your grades matter for? Will any future employers ever look at them beyond, say, a clerkship and the first law firm you go to?
Friend of mine is a 5th year associate at a V25. Recently tried to lateral to a lower ranked firm based on his practice area specialty and at least half that he was head hunted for dinged him because of his law school GPA. Ended up staying and will probably go in house cause partnership is off the table.

The legal industry is the worst.

NotMyRealName09

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Re: How long do grades matter?

Post by NotMyRealName09 » Thu Dec 17, 2015 10:14 pm

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ditch digger

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Re: How long do grades matter?

Post by ditch digger » Thu Dec 17, 2015 10:19 pm

desola wrote:
dweiss1112 wrote: The legal industry is the worst.
It is absolutely Sisyphean. We work our asses of to get a decent GPA and LSAT score in order to go to a decent law school. Then we bust our asses through three years of law school in an effort to get a job that will justify our educational investment. After that, we end up grinding away trying to accumulate as many billables as possible in an effort to rise up in our respective firms.

NotMyRealName09

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Re: How long do grades matter?

Post by NotMyRealName09 » Fri Dec 18, 2015 12:07 am

ditch digger wrote:
desola wrote:
dweiss1112 wrote: The legal industry is the worst.
It is absolutely Sisyphean. We work our asses of to get a decent GPA and LSAT score in order to go to a decent law school. Then we bust our asses through three years of law school in an effort to get a job that will justify our educational investment. After that, we end up grinding away trying to accumulate as many billables as possible in an effort to rise up in our respective firms.
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jbagelboy

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Re: How long do grades matter?

Post by jbagelboy » Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:07 am

ditch digger wrote:
desola wrote:
dweiss1112 wrote: The legal industry is the worst.
It is absolutely Sisyphean. We work our asses of to get a decent GPA and LSAT score in order to go to a decent law school. Then we bust our asses through three years of law school in an effort to get a job that will justify our educational investment. After that, we end up grinding away trying to accumulate as many billables as possible in an effort to rise up in our respective firms.
Actually most of us work way less hard in class than we should or could in college because we're having too much fun, working part time to pay bills, and pursuing other interests, recreational and intellectual; then they study kinda hard for the LSAT and grind 1L, and then cruise through 2L and 3L by effectively mailing it in. I'd say the average starting lawyer "worked his/her ass off" for about 10-12 months--a few for the LSAT, 3 for each semester. Let's not be so self-pitying about this whole thing.

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lacrossebrother

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Re: How long do grades matter?

Post by lacrossebrother » Fri Dec 18, 2015 4:39 am

"Working your ass off" is just a metric of your basal/persistent stress. You can't compare hours in an office to class hours. 8 hours of work goes by way easier than 4 hours of class

hiima3L

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Re: How long do grades matter?

Post by hiima3L » Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:23 pm

I've only heard of grades really, truly mattering despite your ability and experience in two contexts: big law firms and countless judges. I'm sure there are also some preftigious honors programs or something where grades really matter.

But in the overwhelming majority of cases, it seems your grades quickly become meaningless.

Michael314

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Re: How long do grades matter?

Post by Michael314 » Mon Dec 21, 2015 9:41 am

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