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Hey everyone. Soon-to-be 1L here. Perhaps the part of law school that seems most daunting to me is the whole "networking" aspect, so lately I've been thinking I ought to try and get a head start on that between now and Orientation.

I've dug into several old TLS threads on the topic of "0L networking" (cold-emailing local alums, setting up informational interviews, etc.). People's reactions seemed to vary widely, from "waste of time - just enjoy your summer," to one poster who went as far as to say that 0Ls who aren't doing it will find themselves "waaay behind the curve" when it comes to the job hunt. Others asserted that it probably won't help, but that it also couldn''t hurt -- unless it comes off as a hamfisted attempt to get an 'in' at the firm.

I'm personally not worried about coming off as uncouth, or like I am sniffing around for a job -- I'm not even sure that I want to end up in my home market (big city/secondary). I mostly want to do this to pick local lawyers' brains about my school/the legal market in my home town/OCI tips/what their practice area entails, etc.

To tell the truth, I'm pretty terrified of cold-contacting these people out of nowhere, and/or "meeting for coffee" (as some posters suggested). Any thoughts on whether this is sort of thing is even worth doing at this stage? A part of me feels like I should go through with it simply as an exercise in conquering social anxiety.

An important question is "what do you want to do post-graduation?"

If Biglaw (and you're going to a T14), then yeah I wouldn't bother. If you're looking at a smaller practice situation or, God forbid, going solo, then you probably do want to network so you can actually learn the practicalities of being a lawyer (law school isn't going to teach you that).

Your school might have alumni contacts who would be willing to speak on whatever questions you have and they're happy to help provide such contacts and help with the initial introduction.

I did some networking in my local market as a 0L, but really only with family friends/friends' parents etc. No cold-calling local alums. That seems like a bit much to me.

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If you want to do anything, for now just find GULC rising 3Ls or recent graduates who went to your undergrad or have something otherwise connecting you to them and shoot them an email. Ask them about their experiences, outcomes, etc. Try to schedule phone calls with the goal of meeting up for drinks later in August when you move to DC. Use them as a resource to figure out the best path to your goals.

Regardless of what you do having mentors is always helpful. Prolonged success isn't luck. It would also be helpful to foster relationships over an extended period - people are generally receptive to talking about themselves and giving advice, because it makes them feel important and lawyers desperately want to feel important. This will make it a lot easier to segue into job stuff than starting after you're looking for jobs, which has a tendency to come off as, "Hi we went to the same school. Can I have a job?" I don't know how great a connection going to the same school is, but I think the general advice is wrong. The less something sounds like, "Hi, I'm pretending to be your friend because I need a job," the more likely it is to help you get a job.