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The firms usually attend your school's OCI and you interview with them for 20 min. Firms then reject your application or invite you for a callback interview at their office. Callback --> either offer or rejection. That's all there is to it.

And approximately when does this whole process occur? My understanding is that OCI is in the beginning of your 2L year. In addition how do you go about getting a summer internship after your first year?

If you're a 1L, You can also get get started on looking for a 1L summer job even before Spring OCI.

Students and potential employers are allowed to contact each other regarding employment beginning on December 1st (or thereabouts - the exact date might change from year to year). So you can put together a bunch of cover letters tailored to the firms, practice areas and markets you're interested in, and email them along with a copy of your resume to the HR/hiring coordinator person at the firm. You can get the names and email addresses from firm websites, friends who are doing the same thing, or from your school's CSO.

My school's OCI is in early August. We began selecting firms for OCI interviews via the bidding process in early July.

1L's begin looking for summer internships around the end or after first semester. 1L internships really don't matter as long as it's legal work.

Trippel wrote:1L internships really don't matter as long as it's legal work.

Yeah I figured that would be the case. So fast forward to OCI and let's say you get a few callbacks and one eventually leads to an offer. You'll be there for the summer after your 2L year and then likely have a full time offer after you graduate? I'm assuming that's how it works.

WhyYaCryin wrote:

Trippel wrote:1L internships really don't matter as long as it's legal work.

Yeah I figured that would be the case. So fast forward to OCI and let's say you get a few callbacks and one eventually leads to an offer. You'll be there for the summer after your 2L year and then likely have a full time offer after you graduate? I'm assuming that's how it works.

Let me direct you to this thread. DO NOT POST IN IT, but enjoy the read: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=192753

WhyYaCryin wrote:

Trippel wrote:1L internships really don't matter as long as it's legal work.

Yeah I figured that would be the case. So fast forward to OCI and let's say you get a few callbacks and one eventually leads to an offer. You'll be there for the summer after your 2L year and then likely have a full time offer after you graduate? I'm assuming that's how it works.

Yep, most of the firms that attend my school's OCI give full-time offers to 100% of their 2L summer associate class.

WhyYaCryin wrote:

Trippel wrote:1L internships really don't matter as long as it's legal work.

Yeah I figured that would be the case. So fast forward to OCI and let's say you get a few callbacks and one eventually leads to an offer. You'll be there for the summer after your 2L year and then likely have a full time offer after you graduate? I'm assuming that's how it works.

Yep, that's the gist of it. Also, while your 1L summer job "doesn't really matter" in the sense that any legal employment is good enough for resume fodder and having something to talk about during 2L Fall OCI interviews, it *is* possible that at the end of your 1L internship, the firm could ask you back for your 2L summer. So if your 1L job is something you can see yourself doing permanently, it's possible to have your 2L summer plans sewn up before 2L Fall OCI even starts.

lymenheimer wrote:

WhyYaCryin wrote:

Trippel wrote:1L internships really don't matter as long as it's legal work.

Yeah I figured that would be the case. So fast forward to OCI and let's say you get a few callbacks and one eventually leads to an offer. You'll be there for the summer after your 2L year and then likely have a full time offer after you graduate? I'm assuming that's how it works.

Let me direct you to this thread. DO NOT POST IN IT, but enjoy the read: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=192753

LOL, this is good to point out. And why everyone advises 0L's to keep retaking the LSAT until they receive admission at a T14 with $$$.

lymenheimer wrote: Let me direct you to this thread. DO NOT POST IN IT, but enjoy the read: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=192753

Yeah I've been there a few times as it always appears to be on the front page (YIKES!) and had to abandon thread every few pages or so. It seems really depressing. That thread is part of the reason I won't attend law school unless I hit ~170 on the lsat. So to make an informed decision I was poking around on here about the whole OCI process.

Don't post in this thread, either, but read: A guide to the mechanics of OCI, callbacks, etc.. In fact, if you read around the Legal Employment forum generally (but don't post), a lot of your questions have been addressed.

PJam1989 wrote:I understand the first component of getting a BigLaw job: Either go to a T14, or finish towards the top of your class at a T2. But how do you actually apply for the job? I know it is not simply sending resumes to big law firms. So, outside the academic achievement aspect, how do you apply to get hired in BigLaw?

Not towards the top of your class...at the top of your class (like top 5%). Even then, it's not guaranteed. It's easier if you're at a New York or Chicago school.(assuming you want to work in either place)

But go to a t14. If you don't, go to a T1 in a major market.(ex. Fordham - New York) I go to a T1 that isn't in a major market and it's MUCH harder for me to just get an interview at a big New York or DC or Chicago firm as a person at the top of my class (ranked in the top 1%) than it is for a person that is median (and even below it) at a T14 or a person that is top 25% at a school like Fordham.

Trippel wrote:The firms usually attend your school's OCI and you interview with them for 20 min. Firms then reject your application or invite you for a callback interview at their office. Callback --> either offer or rejection. That's all there is to it.

Some people strike out at OCI though. No one ITT has mentioned mass-mailing yet. Do people land biglaw 2L SA positions through mass-mailing, or does that only lead to "lesser" alternatives"?

stego wrote:

Trippel wrote:The firms usually attend your school's OCI and you interview with them for 20 min. Firms then reject your application or invite you for a callback interview at their office. Callback --> either offer or rejection. That's all there is to it.

Some people strike out at OCI though. No one ITT has mentioned mass-mailing yet. Do people land biglaw 2L SA positions through mass-mailing, or does that only lead to "lesser" alternatives"?

It happens but you have to jump on it early. Many mass mail both before and after OCI. I personally did not have much success with mass mailing. Your chances are FAR better at OCI.

stego wrote:

Trippel wrote:The firms usually attend your school's OCI and you interview with them for 20 min. Firms then reject your application or invite you for a callback interview at their office. Callback --> either offer or rejection. That's all there is to it.

Some people strike out at OCI though. No one ITT has mentioned mass-mailing yet. Do people land biglaw 2L SA positions through mass-mailing, or does that only lead to "lesser" alternatives"?

Got my first biglaw screener and then offer through mass mailing starting in late July. That being said, out of ~200 emails, that one was the only firm that responded.

stego wrote:

Trippel wrote:The firms usually attend your school's OCI and you interview with them for 20 min. Firms then reject your application or invite you for a callback interview at their office. Callback --> either offer or rejection. That's all there is to it.

Some people strike out at OCI though. No one ITT has mentioned mass-mailing yet. Do people land biglaw 2L SA positions through mass-mailing, or does that only lead to "lesser" alternatives"?

I'm currently a 2L at a T2 school outside a major market and I just accepted an offer to summer at a V5. I didn't take part in my school's OCI, but rather went to a third-party interview program. While I got a number of callbacks from through that process, I had great success mass-mailing. The offer I ended up accepting came at the end of July through mass-mailing in fact, as did a number of screeners and subsequent callbacks.

I don't think the "if I don't get a 170+ on the LSAT I'm not going to law school" mindset is necessarily the way to go. I didn't get over 170 on my LSAT. If you work hard at most any school, commit to the process, and hustle, you'll have the opportunity to go after biglaw. If you're not interested in working hard, but are still for some reason set on biglaw, I'd suggest you reconsider that goal.

Anyway, I wanted to share my experiences with the process. Feel free to PM with any further questions.

AttyCutestory wrote:

stego wrote:

Trippel wrote:The firms usually attend your school's OCI and you interview with them for 20 min. Firms then reject your application or invite you for a callback interview at their office. Callback --> either offer or rejection. That's all there is to it.

Some people strike out at OCI though. No one ITT has mentioned mass-mailing yet. Do people land biglaw 2L SA positions through mass-mailing, or does that only lead to "lesser" alternatives"?

I'm currently a 2L at a T2 school outside a major market and I just accepted an offer to summer at a V5. I didn't take part in my school's OCI, but rather went to a third-party interview program. While I got a number of callbacks from through that process, I had great success mass-mailing. The offer I ended up accepting came at the end of July through mass-mailing in fact, as did a number of screeners and subsequent callbacks.

I don't think the "if I don't get a 170+ on the LSAT I'm not going to law school" mindset is necessarily the way to go. I didn't get over 170 on my LSAT. If you work hard at most any school, commit to the process, and hustle, you'll have the opportunity to go after biglaw. If you're not interested in working hard, but are still for some reason set on biglaw, I'd suggest you reconsider that goal.

Anyway, I wanted to share my experiences with the process. Feel free to PM with any further questions.

You're the exception, not the norm.

stego wrote:

Trippel wrote:The firms usually attend your school's OCI and you interview with them for 20 min. Firms then reject your application or invite you for a callback interview at their office. Callback --> either offer or rejection. That's all there is to it.

Some people strike out at OCI though. No one ITT has mentioned mass-mailing yet. Do people land biglaw 2L SA positions through mass-mailing, or does that only lead to "lesser" alternatives"?

Yes, mass-mailing works. You're not going to have an amazing hit rate unless you have amazing credentials (and in that case, you probably didn't need to mass-mail) but you can get offers through it. The thing about mass-mailing is that grades are still important (which shouldn't surprise anyone). So it can be very beneficial to people that aren't at t14 schools but have top grades and want to reach out to firms that don't go to their OCI.

Again while 1L jobs don't really matter, if you are diverse and at a good school you should apply to biglaw firms hiring 1Ls through diversity programs.

lawman84 wrote:

AttyCutestory wrote:

stego wrote:

Trippel wrote:The firms usually attend your school's OCI and you interview with them for 20 min. Firms then reject your application or invite you for a callback interview at their office. Callback --> either offer or rejection. That's all there is to it.

Some people strike out at OCI though. No one ITT has mentioned mass-mailing yet. Do people land biglaw 2L SA positions through mass-mailing, or does that only lead to "lesser" alternatives"?

I'm currently a 2L at a T2 school outside a major market and I just accepted an offer to summer at a V5. I didn't take part in my school's OCI, but rather went to a third-party interview program. While I got a number of callbacks from through that process, I had great success mass-mailing. The offer I ended up accepting came at the end of July through mass-mailing in fact, as did a number of screeners and subsequent callbacks.

I don't think the "if I don't get a 170+ on the LSAT I'm not going to law school" mindset is necessarily the way to go. I didn't get over 170 on my LSAT. If you work hard at most any school, commit to the process, and hustle, you'll have the opportunity to go after biglaw. If you're not interested in working hard, but are still for some reason set on biglaw, I'd suggest you reconsider that goal.

Anyway, I wanted to share my experiences with the process. Feel free to PM with any further questions.

You're the exception, not the norm.

I absolutely agree with you, and I'm not saying everyone who works hard at school gets the biglaw jobs. I mean to say if you get top grades at most any school and are ready to hustle, you will have the chance. I just wanted to address the ideas that mass-mailing only lead's to "lesser" alternatives and that its T14 or bust with regards to biglaw opportunities.

AttyCutestory wrote:I absolutely agree with you, and I'm not saying everyone who works hard at school gets the biglaw jobs. I mean to say if you get top grades at most any school and are ready to hustle, you will have the chance. I just wanted to address the ideas that mass-mailing only lead's to "lesser" alternatives and that its T14 or bust with regards to biglaw opportunities.

That's true. You can attain great opportunities mass-mailing. I just wouldn't recommend people go into a lower ranked school if they're aiming for biglaw. And this is coming from someone at a lower ranked school that got biglaw. But if you're already there and have impressive grades, definitely mass-mail if you want a job outside that market.

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PJam1989 wrote:Sorry, but what is "Mass-Mailing"?

Email the firms directly.