D.Ct. Clerkship -> Biglaw without summer associate experience? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hey all — looking for thoughts or anecdotal info about chances at landing as an associate at a big firm in NY after a district clerkship (not NY, D.D.C.) if I didn't do a summer at a firm (only public interest background, though some time at a small pls' firm). Assuming it won't be easy, but hoping someone's had/heard of positive experiences. Thanks!

[emciosn]

I went BK Clerkship -> Biglaw without an SA and I know of several others who did the same. I also know at least one D. Ct. clerk that did it as well. So, it's definitely possible.

[jimmythecatdied6]

If you weren't competitive for big law during law school, you likely won't be competitive for big law now, even with the clerkship.

[Anonymous User]

If you weren't competitive for big law during law school, you likely won't be competitive for big law now, even with the clerkship.

I don't think this is true. A clerkship on the resume helps tremendously, even when your grades aren't the best. (And remember, biglaw SA positions are given out on the basis of first-year grades only. After you've clerked, you'll have had four more semesters to boost your GPA, assuming that grades knocked you out of the SA running a few years back.)

But in any case, I think this post might misunderstand OP's situation. I read it as saying that OP had done PI/ Plaintiffs' work by choice, not because biglaw rejected OP.

OP, if my reading is right, then there's not really anything stopping you from getting into the door of biglaw firms for an interview. Just come up with a reasonable explanation for any question about why you didn't choose the big firm route from day one.

[Traynor Brah]

If you weren't competitive for big law during law school, you likely won't be competitive for big law now, even with the clerkship.

I am also skeptical of this statement.

[BVest]

If you weren't competitive for big law during law school, you likely won't be competitive for big law now, even with the clerkship.

I am also skeptical of this statement.

I am skeptical as well. Plus it assumes OP was not competitive for biglaw. Granted, it would seem that anon did not get a biglaw SA offer, but that doesn't mean s/he wasn't competitive for it. OP could have bid poorly, had bad luck with CBs, etc. Anon picked up a D Ct. clerkship. It's not like those fall in the laps of the underqualified.

[emkay625]

I think this is large dependent on market and lit/transactional. I know several folks who have gone from clerkship to big law litigation. don't know any who have done transactional.

[wwwcol]

If you weren't competitive for big law during law school, you likely won't be competitive for big law now, even with the clerkship.

I don't think this is true. A clerkship on the resume helps tremendously, even when your grades aren't the best. (And remember, biglaw SA positions are given out on the basis of first-year grades only. After you've clerked, you'll have had four more semesters to boost your GPA, assuming that grades knocked you out of the SA running a few years back.)

But in any case, I think this post might misunderstand OP's situation. I read it as saying that OP had done PI/ Plaintiffs' work by choice, not because biglaw rejected OP.

OP, if my reading is right, then there's not really anything stopping you from getting into the door of biglaw firms for an interview. Just come up with a reasonable explanation for any question about why you didn't choose the big firm route from day one.

The convention wisdom around here is that if you miss BigLaw getting a clerkship is a viable way to get your foot back in the door. Not sure this would go uncorrected if it was wrong. Also it makes sense given that AIII hiring is much more selective than BigLaw hiring.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks all. I opted out of OCI to pursue public interest, but was competitive for biglaw (top 25% CCN). Sounds like there's potential there for litigation if I do pursue biglaw after clerking. Thanks again.

[los blancos]

The convention wisdom around here is that if you miss BigLaw getting a clerkship is a viable way to get your foot back in the door. Not sure this would go uncorrected if it was wrong. Also it makes sense given that AIII hiring is much more selective than BigLaw hiring.

Well, yes, but the conventional wisdom around here was also that clerkships are far from a silver bullet - i.e., if you somehow snag an AIII clerkship despite being, say, bottom 1/3 at a T20 (i.e., not very competitive for biglaw), it's not going to magically open doors that you wouldn't have had a shot at during OCI and/or massively improve your chances. Most on here seem to feel that clerks have nice exit options typically because they had the qualifications to get those types of positions in the first pace.

I won't go into whether that conventional wisdom is valid or not (honestly have no clue). For what it's worth, I think it was largely cemented when the recession was at its absolute worst. Litigation is still pretty slow, but not like it was 3-4 years ago.

OP here. Thanks all. I opted out of OCI to pursue public interest, but was competitive for biglaw (top 25% CCN). Sounds like there's potential there for litigation if I do pursue biglaw after clerking. Thanks again.

Would think top 25% CCN and D.D.C. clerkship is going to open plenty of doors as long as you can come up with a good explanation for why you didn't go down that path to begin with, but others probably can chime in better than I can.

[anon919]

If you weren't competitive for big law during law school, you likely won't be competitive for big law now, even with the clerkship.

I've seen quite a few beat the odds then. Most recently, a former classmate (non T14), who didn't summer anywhere, nailed a V15 gig this past cycle after completing a BK Clerkship.