Should I take a PT job in the mailroom of a big law firm? Forum

[farman]

So im obviously interested in becoming a lawyer and going to law school but I have little sense of what working at a biglaw firm is like and no real networking connections to any firm. I graduated about 3 years ago from undergrad with a liberal arts double major and not surprisingly haven't liked my job prospects and want to go to law school in 2016. I graduated with a 3.3 GPA and am currently studying for the LSAT where my preptests range anywhere from 160-170 (162 or so average) with a goal score of 168+ so I can get to a T14 school.

Anyways, I want to quit my FT job to have more time to study this summer for the Sept LSAT but I still need some income, so I saw a posting for a PT job working mostly evenings and weekends as a Mailroom guy at a biglaw firm. Not the most prestigious job I know, but I'm wondering would it be worth my time to take this job? My reasoning is Id hope to make a couple of connections at the firm for later on; or at the very least get a better idea of what biglaw is like; or do you think that overall it wouldn't make much of a difference and I'd be just as well of working a job elsewhere?

Thanks!

[rpupkin]

It depends a bit on the culture of the firm. If it's like most firms, though, I'd say that it's unlikely that you'll have any meaningful interactions with attorneys. I doubt you'll get much of a sense for what big law is like--at least not from a lawyer's perspective. But depending on your role in the mailroom, you might interact some with secretaries and paralegals.

I don't think it's worthwhile. But if you're really just looking for part-time work and you can't find anything higher paying or more interesting, it wouldn't hurt to have the job.

[horriblegb]

Jimmy McGill?

[hearsay77]

I worked in a mostly administrative position in biglaw and I genuinely think it helped me get into a lot of schools and helped me outperform my numbers. My job had tons of daily interaction with attorneys via email & phone, but not in person. I don't think I built any connections with attorneys at the firm because I was working with attorneys at all 35+ of the firm's offices and not just a few of them in particular, but having that firm's name on my resume has definitely benefited me. PM if you want more details.

[JGMotorsport]

Consider doing administrative work in a Small to Midsize Firm, with their general lack of resources it makes you a candidate to take on projects you probably shouldn't, but will open you to what being a Lawyer is.

[rpupkin]

Consider doing administrative work in a Small to Midsize Firm, with their general lack of resources it makes you a candidate to take on projects you probably shouldn't, but will open you to what being a Lawyer is.

I agree that this is a better idea.

[FullRamboLSGrad]

Consider doing administrative work in a Small to Midsize Firm, with their general lack of resources it makes you a candidate to take on projects you probably shouldn't, but will open you to what being a Lawyer is.

I agree that this is a better idea.

Count me in on this.

When I was a 0L I worked for a Mid-sized firm on small firms of Professional Corporations. There was an umbrella firm encompassing four smaller law firms with their own niche practice groups, each of which was comprised of attorneys as PC's.

I was hired as the whipping boy (Runner, Errands etc.) but quickly created a position where I billed time to each Firm or PC in time sheets by what I was employed to do, they then paid shares of my time at flexible rates.

This was advantageous to me as I learned more in this gig than I did in Law School about what an Attorney does. Pretty cool group too it was a blanket firm of 15 Attorneys, one practice group (with their own firm name) did Trusts, Estates and Tax Controversy exclusively, One did Commercial Litigation exclusively, One did large corporate transactions and securities and the other dabbled all over from Court Appointed work to small claims to really anything.

Tangent but I wanted to share.

[DKM]

I was hired as the whipping boy (Runner, Errands etc.) but quickly created a position where I billed time to each Firm or PC in time sheets by what I was employed to do, they then paid shares of my time at flexible rates.

Now when you say "whipping boy", what would you call your actual job title in this role?

[fisheatbananas]

As someone already said, it's fine if you're just looking to make some money.
If you could use the mailroom job to get some legal related projects or reflect it well on your resume somehow, that would be even better. Maybe it would be easier to do this at a smaller size firm (as someone also already said) but the brand name of the big law firm may help a little in terms of relecting it on your resume or networking, if there are any networking oppourtunities and depending on how aggressive you are at making thsoe connections.

[FullRamboLSGrad]

I was hired as the whipping boy (Runner, Errands etc.) but quickly created a position where I billed time to each Firm or PC in time sheets by what I was employed to do, they then paid shares of my time at flexible rates.

Now when you say "whipping boy", what would you call your actual job title in this role?

Due to the structure of the position my proper title varied from Law Clerk to Runner depending on who was billed, the bright side was having three jobs added to my resume. 2 as Law Clerk, 1 as paralegal 1 as Runner with each individual practice group. That job was all over the place but again an experience like that is extremely beneficial.

If you're looking to what type of job to apply to id look into File Clerk or Runner if you're at the entry level.

In small markets, if you're smart, small lawyer groups find positions like this invaluable.

[SmokeyBar]

Slippin' Jimmy?