Northwestern 1L/2L/3L/Grads Taking Questions and Challenges Forum

[chadwick218]

Has anyone done M&A without taking BA/Corporations? I am thinking of doing it as I'm doing M&A this summer, but I don't want to get killed by earnest corporate law types.

If you take it over the summer, you should be fine. If you are worried not taking BA, I'd just flip through a hornbook the weekend prior to classes starting.

[IAFG]

Has anyone done M&A without taking BA/Corporations? I am thinking of doing it as I'm doing M&A this summer, but I don't want to get killed by earnest corporate law types.

If you take it over the summer, you should be fine. If you are worried not taking BA, I'd just flip through a hornbook the weekend prior to classes starting.

I think he's scared that people at his firm will outgun him if he doesn't take BA/corps, which is pretty silly, because M&A practice is all but totally unrelated from corps/BA, which is really a corp lit class.

[PaulAtriedes]

[[1]] What is the advantage of doing a clerkship before big law or in general?

[[2]] NU seems to place well in big law, but how about clerkships?

[NorthwesternorBust]

DF's grade inflation picks of the Spring Semester:

Patent Law - hear me out, it's boring as shit, but I literally didn't know anything a day before the exam, took it without sleeping more than 3 hours in the past 50 hours (all 3 were had in the Xbox room); didn't finish 1/4 of the exam, and got a shockingly decent grade.

International Business Transactions - Over by Spring Break, group paper (20 page combined), and a presentation. By far the easiest course at NU law, and he gives 8/10 groups A's, 1 group A- and 1 group A+.

Anyone got any hot leads?

I wish these were classes that I could actually take I need moar GPA-boosting classes!

eta: also btw i went home and didn't do anything except watch bad TV until 2:30 am, i suck at being a good student

Are you a 1L, what section are you in?

[chadwick218]

[[1]] What is the advantage of doing a clerkship before big law or in general?

[[2]] NU seems to place well in big law, but how about clerkships?

Unfortunately, NU doesn't place students very well when in comes to clerkships. However, I would say that this is 90% due to self-selection. A number of recent graduates, including myself, would have been very competitive, but simply had no interest in pursuing a clerkship. Having worked before, I felt like I was too old and didn't want to delay big law salary any longer. I also had no interest in litigation.

This aside, NU needs to emphasize more faculty involvement in the clerkship process (as is rumored at other schools).

[rinkrat19]

[[1]] What is the advantage of doing a clerkship before big law or in general?

[[2]] NU seems to place well in big law, but how about clerkships?

Unfortunately, NU doesn't place students very well when in comes to clerkships. However, I would say that this is 90% due to self-selection. A number of recent graduates, including myself, would have been very competitive, but simply had no interest in pursuing a clerkship. Having worked before, I felt like I was too old and didn't want to delay big law salary any longer. I also had no interest in litigation.

This aside, NU needs to emphasize more faculty involvement in the clerkship process (as is rumored at other schools).

They've TOLD us that they're going to focus more resources on clerkship placement. Have to wait and see whether it works.

[IAFG]

[[1]] What is the advantage of doing a clerkship before big law or in general?

[[2]] NU seems to place well in big law, but how about clerkships?

Unfortunately, NU doesn't place students very well when in comes to clerkships. However, I would say that this is 90% due to self-selection. A number of recent graduates, including myself, would have been very competitive, but simply had no interest in pursuing a clerkship. Having worked before, I felt like I was too old and didn't want to delay big law salary any longer. I also had no interest in litigation.

This aside, NU needs to emphasize more faculty involvement in the clerkship process (as is rumored at other schools).

I think the new dean is working to improve our clerkship placements. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.

[chadwick218]

[[1]] What is the advantage of doing a clerkship before big law or in general?

[[2]] NU seems to place well in big law, but how about clerkships?

Unfortunately, NU doesn't place students very well when in comes to clerkships. However, I would say that this is 90% due to self-selection. A number of recent graduates, including myself, would have been very competitive, but simply had no interest in pursuing a clerkship. Having worked before, I felt like I was too old and didn't want to delay big law salary any longer. I also had no interest in litigation.

This aside, NU needs to emphasize more faculty involvement in the clerkship process (as is rumored at other schools).

I think the new dean is working to improve our clerkship placements. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.

I do know of a number of folks who had very strong grades who had difficulty getting letters of recommendation from certain rockstar professors. One professor refused to give LORs to all but a select group of people and the other would only send LORs to judges that he knew personally.

[crumpetsandtea]

DF's grade inflation picks of the Spring Semester:

Patent Law - hear me out, it's boring as shit, but I literally didn't know anything a day before the exam, took it without sleeping more than 3 hours in the past 50 hours (all 3 were had in the Xbox room); didn't finish 1/4 of the exam, and got a shockingly decent grade.

International Business Transactions - Over by Spring Break, group paper (20 page combined), and a presentation. By far the easiest course at NU law, and he gives 8/10 groups A's, 1 group A- and 1 group A+.

Anyone got any hot leads?

I wish these were classes that I could actually take I need moar GPA-boosting classes!

eta: also btw i went home and didn't do anything except watch bad TV until 2:30 am, i suck at being a good student

Are you a 1L, what section are you in?

No, I'm a 3L.

What section are you in?

[bk1]

[[1]] What is the advantage of doing a clerkship before big law or in general?

[[2]] NU seems to place well in big law, but how about clerkships?

Reasons to clerk: Clerkships are unique experiences where you get to see the inner workings of a court. Judges have idiosyncratic hiring patterns so some might only really hire fresh grads (while others might only hire people who have done a stint in private practice). They look good on your resume. They are required or semi-required at some top firms. It helps alleviate the fear of being no-offered since the clerkship will help you rebound (at least I think this is a plus though it's not often talked about).

But there are downsides. It costs money (since you could be earning a biglaw salary and the clerkship bonus still means you are 60k short of what you would earn pre-tax). It might require you to move around more. If you're doing transactional it's not as worth it (and firms don't necessarily hold open spots for transactional if people clerk). It requires more work from someone who could just rest on their biglaw offer.

I echo the above comments about NU and clerkship placement. It's hard to know how much is self-selection and how much isn't and it's unclear whether the new dean's measures will have a measurable effect and if they do when that will take place.

[Icculus]

DF's grade inflation picks of the Spring Semester:

Patent Law - hear me out, it's boring as shit, but I literally didn't know anything a day before the exam, took it without sleeping more than 3 hours in the past 50 hours (all 3 were had in the Xbox room); didn't finish 1/4 of the exam, and got a shockingly decent grade.

International Business Transactions - Over by Spring Break, group paper (20 page combined), and a presentation. By far the easiest course at NU law, and he gives 8/10 groups A's, 1 group A- and 1 group A+.

Anyone got any hot leads?

I wish these were classes that I could actually take I need moar GPA-boosting classes!

eta: also btw i went home and didn't do anything except watch bad TV until 2:30 am, i suck at being a good student

Are you a 1L, what section are you in?

No, I'm a 3L.

What section are you in?

I see what you did there.

[crumpetsandtea]

Are you a 1L, what section are you in?

No, I'm a 3L.

What section are you in?

J/K I figured it out.

[NorthwesternorBust]

Are you a 1L, what section are you in?

No, I'm a 3L.

What section are you in?

J/K I figured it out.

I'm confused. How did you figure it out? haha.

[crumpetsandtea]

Are you a 1L, what section are you in?

No, I'm a 3L.

What section are you in?

J/K I figured it out.

I'm confused. How did you figure it out? haha.

DEM SLEUTHING SKILLZ.

[VulcanVulcanVulcan]

Has anyone done M&A without taking BA/Corporations? I am thinking of doing it as I'm doing M&A this summer, but I don't want to get killed by earnest corporate law types.

If you take it over the summer, you should be fine. If you are worried not taking BA, I'd just flip through a hornbook the weekend prior to classes starting.

I think he's scared that people at his firm will outgun him if he doesn't take BA/corps, which is pretty silly, because M&A practice is all but totally unrelated from corps/BA, which is really a corp lit class.

Right, that's my concern. So I won't be behind in M&A (the class) if I haven't take BA/Corporations? I am sure M&A will be curved and I don't want to screw myself into a B.

[Eugenie Danglars]

Anybody have a Pfander FedJur outline he or she is willing to share?

[chill]

.

[homestyle28]

Anybody have a Pfander FedJur outline he or she is willing to share?

+1

[homestyle28]

Anybody have a Pfander FedJur outline he or she is willing to share?

Or a Pfander Civ Pro outline?

I make no promises as to quality, but PM me your email address and I can send my outline and checklist your way

[VulcanVulcanVulcan]

Anybody have a Pfander FedJur outline he or she is willing to share?

+1

+1 million.

[homestyle28]

Thought someone here might know the answer to this question: I seem to remember the clinic profs saying something about only allowing (or strongly preferring) fall and spring enrollment...if that's right and I didn't do a clinic this fall, can I sign up for one this spring?

[Eugenie Danglars]

Thought someone here might know the answer to this question: I seem to remember the clinic profs saying something about only allowing (or strongly preferring) fall and spring enrollment...if that's right and I didn't do a clinic this fall, can I sign up for one this spring?

You totally can. Some clinics aren't even offered year round . The deal is, if you do clinic in the fall, you can continue without bidding. Also, some of the more intense clinics prefer year round, but I don't think most, if any, prohibit spring only.

[homestyle28]

Thought someone here might know the answer to this question: I seem to remember the clinic profs saying something about only allowing (or strongly preferring) fall and spring enrollment...if that's right and I didn't do a clinic this fall, can I sign up for one this spring?

You totally can. Some clinics aren't even offered year round . The deal is, if you do clinic in the fall, you can continue without bidding. Also, some of the more intense clinics prefer year round, but I don't think most, if any, prohibit spring only.

Thanks

[basilseal]

Thoughts on value of Comparative Constitutional Law with Calabresi?

[bdubs]

Thoughts on value of Comparative Constitutional Law with Calabresi?

Big name professor, not a particularly charismatic lecturer. His regular con law class had massive amounts of reading so I would expect something similar from comparative constitutional law.