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

[Micdiddy]

What are people's thoughts on being a RA for 1L summer? Would be full time hours and I think I'd take a class as well. Would this raise any eyebrows at OCI?

Basically my plan at this point. RA, two classes and maybe volunteering and some non-profit one day a week. I've also heard OCI doesn't care too much.

if its good for Micdiddy its good for me

Better get ready for Shitlaw.

[Cobretti]

BTW what are people's thoughts on the new ABA data?

C/O 2013
C/O 2012

Looks like positive movement, but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the increase in NY employment and dip in IL. Is NYC just rebounding more? Do people think that's more of a leading indicator that IL might be rebounding more coming up?

[Dr. Filth]

BTW what are people's thoughts on the new ABA data?

C/O 2013
C/O 2012

Looks like positive movement, but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the increase in NY employment and dip in IL. Is NYC just rebounding more? Do people think that's more of a leading indicator that IL might be rebounding more coming up?

i wonder if some of it was just those classes being told to BID NEW YORK OR DIE

2/3L's, was chicago any easier for your OCI's?

[lgleye]

l

[anneshirley]

Can anyone ITT who chose Northwestern over UChicago (or who knows someone who did) explain what your deciding factors were? If it was money, what was the scholarship difference that lead you to choose NU?

[Samsing]

Can anyone ITT who chose Northwestern over UChicago (or who knows someone who did) explain what your deciding factors were? If it was money, what was the scholarship difference that lead you to choose NU?

Interested in this as well!

[Cobretti]

Does anyone have an outline for Employment Law with Provenzano or Torts II with Shapo?

TYIA

[Georgia Avenue]

Does anyone have an outline for Employment Law with Provenzano or Torts II with Shapo?

TYIA

PM me for shapo

[lawschool22]

What is your sense of the success of those who targetted DC biglaw? I know the raw numbers for NU students ending up there are low, but I imagine a large portion of this relates to self-selection. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[Georgia Avenue]

What is your sense of the success of those who targetted DC biglaw? I know the raw numbers for NU students ending up there are low, but I imagine a large portion of this relates to self-selection. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

depends. what practice area are you interested in? DC is kind of a weird market so it's hard to say what the success rate is. but you're right, a lot of it relates to self-selection; not many people target DC at all. i think my class only had about 10 of us working at DC firms over the summer.

[NYC-WVU]

So it looks like 41 graduates of 2013 got jobs in Business & Industry. I believe I want to end up going in-house . . . eventually. What kind of drawbacks are there in going directly out of school? What kinds of jobs do these 41 people have? (I hope the answer isn't "those people are all at accounting firmst.") I have several years of patent prosecution experience, but I don't want to limit myself to being a lifelong in-house prosecutor (although that doesnt actually sound that bad to me). I would be interested in any info people have, including belittling me for asking such a stupid question, as long as you add some value along with the insult.

[Cobretti]

So it looks like 41 graduates of 2013 got jobs in Business & Industry. I believe I want to end up going in-house . . . eventually. What kind of drawbacks are there in going directly out of school? What kinds of jobs do these 41 people have? (I hope the answer isn't "those people are all at accounting firmst.") I have several years of patent prosecution experience, but I don't want to limit myself to being a lifelong in-house prosecutor (although that doesnt actually sound that bad to me). I would be interested in any info people have, including belittling me for asking such a stupid question, as long as you add some value along with the insult.

From what I understand, if you go directly into an in-house gig without ever doing BigLaw you're going to to be starting at the very bottom and you will never be considered for the top job because you'll never get the experience working the kind of big deals that make or break a GC. If you want to end up in-house you want to do Biglaw for 3-5 years.

The Business & Industry jobs wouldn't be in-house jobs because those would still require a JD. A lot of these jobs are JD/MBAs going into banking/consulting, with some vanilla JDs going into consulting too. We had Goldmann recruiting for 1Ls for private wealth management jobs recently too, so that's another option. Anyone that goes into business for themself is also going to be considered business/industry.

If you have patent prosecution experience you can get into big law patent lit fairly easily, and after a few years there you can start looking at solid in-house opportunities.

[rachellen]

Sorry if this has been discussed already; there are so many pages on this forum! I'm currently deciding between Michigan, UVA, and Northwestern, and while I was leaning toward NU for a while, I have heard a few things about how its heavy business orientation results in somewhat of a lack of support for public interest law. I'm definitely planning on a career in public interest, focused on environmental law, so I find such sentiments concerning. I am also a pretty liberal leaning individual myself (not that I need everyone to agree with me; I just want to know that the type of work that I want to do will be not only supported institutionally, but that I will be able to find a supportive community of others with similar interests).

If any current public interest-oriented students (particularly environmental!) come across my post here, I would love to hear your thoughts on this! Thanks!

[parkslope]

What is your sense of the success of those who targetted DC biglaw? I know the raw numbers for NU students ending up there are low, but I imagine a large portion of this relates to self-selection. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

depends. what practice area are you interested in? DC is kind of a weird market so it's hard to say what the success rate is. but you're right, a lot of it relates to self-selection; not many people target DC at all. i think my class only had about 10 of us working at DC firms over the summer.

From what I've heard, Duke and GULC do better.

[Blumpbeef]

What is your sense of the success of those who targetted DC biglaw? I know the raw numbers for NU students ending up there are low, but I imagine a large portion of this relates to self-selection. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

The number of DC firms that come to OCI is relatively small compared to other markets, and the firms that do come tend to be among the more competitive ones. If you have excellent grades then all the "top" firms will be there. If your grades are in the top third or so (anecdotally) then you will have to do your own leg work to get interviews outside of OCI at firms that are less grade-focused.

I think it is fair to say that other schools are stronger in DC, but that it is an entirely plausible market from northwestern, especially if you have top grades.

It's definitely not just self selection though. that is a big part of it, but DC is a really competitive market from any school.

[Micdiddy]

Sorry if this has been discussed already; there are so many pages on this forum! I'm currently deciding between Michigan, UVA, and Northwestern, and while I was leaning toward NU for a while, I have heard a few things about how its heavy business orientation results in somewhat of a lack of support for public interest law. I'm definitely planning on a career in public interest, focused on environmental law, so I find such sentiments concerning. I am also a pretty liberal leaning individual myself (not that I need everyone to agree with me; I just want to know that the type of work that I want to do will be not only supported institutionally, but that I will be able to find a supportive community of others with similar interests).

If any current public interest-oriented students (particularly environmental!) come across my post here, I would love to hear your thoughts on this! Thanks!

Like every other school I've been to, most people are liberal. There is a lot of Public Interest support, but yeah I do think most people lean away from it, which just makes the support there is concentrated on the few individuals devoted to PI.
I'm still a 1L and not PI leaning, so I cannot go into great detail on it. From what I know of my 1L friends who are 100% PI they have found 1L jobs and seem reasonably optimistic for the future (as much as a PI person can be). HTH?

[esrom55]

Hi everyone-

I tried searching through this and couldn't find any great information, but I was hoping someone could answer some questions about students with families and young kids. My wife and I are trying to decide if it's feasible with a couple daycare-age kids. From the thread it sounds like Lincoln Park is a reasonable area for families, and it looks like there are a bunch of daycare options around there as well. Can anyone speak to daycare costs or just generally having young kids around the area?

We currently live in New Hampshire, so it'd definitely be a change - but an exciting one!

Thanks for the help!

[Toby Ziegler]

Hi everyone-

I tried searching through this and couldn't find any great information, but I was hoping someone could answer some questions about students with families and young kids. My wife and I are trying to decide if it's feasible with a couple daycare-age kids. From the thread it sounds like Lincoln Park is a reasonable area for families, and it looks like there are a bunch of daycare options around there as well. Can anyone speak to daycare costs or just generally having young kids around the area?

We currently live in New Hampshire, so it'd definitely be a change - but an exciting one!

Thanks for the help!

I am also interested in information on this topic. And students with families in general.

[yackob]

Anyone have an old Law and Social change outline they can share? I'd like something to check what I'm working on against.

Thanks!

[yackob]

Sorry if this has been discussed already; there are so many pages on this forum! I'm currently deciding between Michigan, UVA, and Northwestern, and while I was leaning toward NU for a while, I have heard a few things about how its heavy business orientation results in somewhat of a lack of support for public interest law. I'm definitely planning on a career in public interest, focused on environmental law, so I find such sentiments concerning. I am also a pretty liberal leaning individual myself (not that I need everyone to agree with me; I just want to know that the type of work that I want to do will be not only supported institutionally, but that I will be able to find a supportive community of others with similar interests).

I would also recommend looking at it more as how good a public interest career can you start from the school than how much support the school offers.

I very much agree with this point:

There is a lot of Public Interest support, but yeah I do think most people lean away from it, which just makes the support there is concentrated on the few individuals devoted to PI.

I also want to emphasize that any amount of school support is worth a lot more when the people and organizations they can connect you with are a few subway stops away (we have an alum who works at the EPA who've I've seen at at least 3 events). More importantly, the hands down easiest* way to get a PI job is to intern with the organization while in school.

That means being in a major city with a TON of organizations that do good work and hire is a huge advantage. You can actually work with them during the school year and you summer job will help you expand your network not start it. You'll have that in Chicago, but not in Ann Arbor or Charlottesville. And to the extent that a smaller % of NU students are PI focused that will help them notice you during the school year

* I say easiest not best because not all of those organizations hire every year. That's not a huge deal though because (1) PI people in the same city work with each other a lot and will help you get jobs (2) many people will end up on the fellowship --> job track anyways.

[windycityblues]

Hi everyone-

I tried searching through this and couldn't find any great information, but I was hoping someone could answer some questions about students with families and young kids. My wife and I are trying to decide if it's feasible with a couple daycare-age kids. From the thread it sounds like Lincoln Park is a reasonable area for families, and it looks like there are a bunch of daycare options around there as well. Can anyone speak to daycare costs or just generally having young kids around the area?

We currently live in New Hampshire, so it'd definitely be a change - but an exciting one!

Thanks for the help!

I am also interested in information on this topic. And students with families in general.

Feasible? Absolutely, Chicago can be a great place for families with young kiddos. Cheap? No. There are plenty of options, however advice is going to be completely dependent on your budget (both re: family-friendly neighborhoods and daycare). FWIW, Northwestern is affiliated with at least one quality daycare located in Streeterville; parents get a slightly discounted rate, the ability to apply for a stipend, and preferred admission (those new to the city might be surprised that almost all good daycares will have a standing waitlist, especially for babies...it's not uncommon to get on the waitlist early in a pregnancy. Older kids (1-3) have better odds).

If either of you (or others) have specific questions, feel free to PM me. The logistics of family+law school require a bit more structure and planning, but it is very doable at NU and the flexibility can ultimately lead to a memorable 3 years.

[dagny05]

Is it worthwhile to do any studying/prep before the first semester? I've heard good things about Getting to Maybe - any other suggestions?

[jn7]

Is it worthwhile to do any studying/prep before the first semester? I've heard good things about Getting to Maybe - any other suggestions?

Getting to Maybe would probably be the only thing that is marginally worthwhile since it will at least get you thinking about the exams etc. IMO don't waste your time with any kind of course material prep and just enjoy yourself before the long haul begins!

[lgleye]

.

[Flips88]

^In full disclosure, you should know the poster above is super neurotic and obsessive.