Impact of no summer employment Forum

[DCDuck]

What's with everyone thinking they are the only ones who don't want/need to do things they don't want to? If you could get the same results for less effort, everyone would put in less effort.

It seems you are inflating the state of the legal job market. The Washington Post recently published an article stating that by 2020 there will be 300,000 more law grads, but during the same period of time, the legal sector will have added only 78,000 legal jobs. Not firm jobs, all legal jobs. So if you want to end up with a "decent" law job, cutting corners in law school is not the way to do it. Law school is not college. The competition for jobs is hard to comprehend until you're in the thick of looking for one.

[OneMoreLawHopeful]

Except what I am saying is not that I do not wish to do those things, simply that if it is possible to avoid doing them and still get the same results (possibility of getting full-time employment in a decent firm), I would like to know about it. This is why the second part of my sentence reads: "while your goals could be reached doing those things for a shorter period of time".

What you are missing here is that you have to DEMONSTRATE that you wish to do those things in order to secure employment.

Law firms don't know ANYTHING about you. The only way you can prove that you are willing to work long hours on boring projects is to demonstrate to them by working long hours on boring projects.

You keep assuming that you can some how prove to a law firm that you are willing to work long hours while simultaneously saying "But I don't even want to work for 10 weeks..."

What you are missing is that staying the whole 10 weeks is one of the skills they are actually looking to test in the first place.

[timbs4339]

I did know a T6 student who did this. He traveled for 1L summer. Ended up at a Vault firm. He had extensive, relevant pre-LS WE and language skills. I would not recommend this.

You can't do this 2L summer and get employment at a decent firm since all the firms hire out of their summer programs. You can't do it for prestigious government because they want to see commitment to government work. Sorry.

Suck it up for 1L and 2L summers and if you want to travel, do so during the year. After 1L year it's very easy to peace out during the semester, either on a study abroad program or just by yourself. I know plenty of people who took long vacations during the year.

[BeenDidThat]

Thanks. Yes, I do would like to do something else than to work in a firm, but I would like to keep the option open if possible. In this perspective, I suppose you could say that "I want to do as little work [in a firm] as possible over the summer but still be able to get a job [in a firm] after I graduate". Not sure why some people view this as wrong. Yes, law is a competitive field for hard working people, but being hard working and competitive does not entail doing things you do not wish to be doing for extended periods of time in order to reach your goals while your goals could be reached doing those things for a shorter period of time. Anyway, it seems that my question has been answered so thanks.

So, it sounds like you still do not get it, so I'm going to go ahead and bold the incorrect part.

A job in biglaw invariably involves doing some things that you do not wish to be doing for extended periods of time. I don't know how far along you are, but since it sounds like you don't understand, I'll try to help you out. Basically ALL of "Discovery" is something that you do not want to do, and yet will take an extended period of time. No one wants to sort through thousands of pages of documents in order to avoid accidentally waiving privilege, but in many jurisdictions, you still have to do it. This is also just one example of the problem.

As a result, you are claiming that you shouldn't need a primary biglaw skill in order to work in biglaw, and that is why the TLS posters are having a hard time with your responses.

I like how you cherry-picked what to bold in order to make your point without caring about the logic of the entire sentence.

Try again.

[Gorki]

Thanks. Yes, I do would like to do something else than to work in a firm, but I would like to keep the option open if possible. In this perspective, I suppose you could say that "I want to do as little work [in a firm] as possible over the summer but still be able to get a job [in a firm] after I graduate". Not sure why some people view this as wrong. Yes, law is a competitive field for hard working people, but being hard working and competitive does not entail doing things you do not wish to be doing for extended periods of time in order to reach your goals while your goals could be reached doing those things for a shorter period of time. Anyway, it seems that my question has been answered so thanks.

So, it sounds like you still do not get it, so I'm going to go ahead and bold the incorrect part.

A job in biglaw invariably involves doing some things that you do not wish to be doing for extended periods of time. I don't know how far along you are, but since it sounds like you don't understand, I'll try to help you out. Basically ALL of "Discovery" is something that you do not want to do, and yet will take an extended period of time. No one wants to sort through thousands of pages of documents in order to avoid accidentally waiving privilege, but in many jurisdictions, you still have to do it. This is also just one example of the problem.

As a result, you are claiming that you shouldn't need a primary biglaw skill in order to work in biglaw, and that is why the TLS posters are having a hard time with your responses.

I like how you cherry-picked what to bold in order to make your point without caring about the logic of the entire sentence.

Try again.

I will try again for him. Finish all the goddamn work as fast as possible? Great, so does EVERY OTHER PERSON IN YOUR POSITION. Now you get more work, and the expectation is to finish that work even quicker so you can do even more work. This is how firms operate. Do you think in a firm you can bill yearly requirements in 6 months and then cash out all year??

[JCFindley]

Obvious troll is obvious now.

SO, I think it is a GREAT idea and you should just travel or do things your way. I have no doubt it will turn out well and you will exceed 160K coming right out of the gate.

[IAFG]

this thread brought the amusement.

[JO 14]

A bit off topic, but nevertheless, dealing with summer SA.

Has anyone here relocated to another state for a SA summer position? Other than the added expense of temporarily living away for ten weeks, is there anything else you can add from your experience? Did you move because relocating provided you entrance into a bigger firm (or was the market that much better, as in southern on the coast)?

(In ref to monthly living cost, most cities offer fully furnished corp apartments for what amounts to one week’s SA pay).

[worldtraveler]

The only way I could see anything like this working out is if you were an RA for a prof your 1L summer and you could work remotely and travel around, so long as you got your work done. Probably not the ideal for most people.