Just graduated UG - taking 2 years off - want to be a BigLaw paralegal Forum

[CoGar]

Whats the best way to go about applying across the top NYC firms?

Any help would be amazing!

[Anonymous User]

I know this isn't directly answering your question, but I'd advise doing some thorough research on what a biglaw paralegal does on a day-to-day basis and thinking very hard about whether that's how you'd like to spend your two years between undergrad and law school. I'm doing it now, and it's pretty damn soul-sucking work. Entails very little substantive legal thinking, or much of any kind of thinking, for that matter...

[Anonymous User]

To echo the poster above, I enjoy my work, but it is very repetitive and requires little knowledge of any legal principles. It has it's pluses and minuses, but overall it can be a great introduction into the life of attorneys before law school (if you don't know any).

[Mullens]

Go on Vault and look at law firm rankings. Go to the firm websites of those law firms and apply how it says to on the careers tab (either directly on the website or by emailing someone).

[Anonymous User]

I know this isn't directly answering your question, but I'd advise doing some thorough research on what a biglaw paralegal does on a day-to-day basis and thinking very hard about whether that's how you'd like to spend your two years between undergrad and law school. I'm doing it now, and it's pretty damn soul-sucking work. Entails very little substantive legal thinking, or much of any kind of thinking, for that matter...

I can't imagine a shittier post-UG outcome than paralegalling.

[lawlorbust]

I know this isn't directly answering your question, but I'd advise doing some thorough research on what a biglaw paralegal does on a day-to-day basis and thinking very hard about whether that's how you'd like to spend your two years between undergrad and law school. I'm doing it now, and it's pretty damn soul-sucking work. Entails very little substantive legal thinking, or much of any kind of thinking, for that matter...

I can't imagine a shittier post-UG outcome than paralegalling.

Whoops, accidental anon.

[foregetaboutdre]

Whats the best way to go about applying across the top NYC firms?

Any help would be amazing!

I wouldn't do it tbh. Many of my classmates did, but I'd consider trying to work somewhere as a business analyst/sales executive/supply chain analyst/any other related business job over paralegal. The same goes with being a staffer to a politician, working for a govt agency, etc...

Those other careers give you a platform to advance. Paralegal doesn't really compared to these fields. The potential boost of being a paralegal might be useful for that firm, but many firms aren't going to care about you being a paralegal for a year or two tbh.

[Anonymous User]

FWIW I was a paralegal as well and it was a very worthwhile experience. Came up in every single OCI screener and callback. Outperformed my grades at OCI (I went to a T25) and I feel like the experience I gained as a paralegal was the main reason why. It will allow you to be able to specifically state why you want to work in at a law firm, and give you baseline level skills to talk about in interviews (doc review, prepping for discovery, billing, etc.)

Obviously, YMMV.

[bk1]

Moved to appropriate forum. Reminder: the Legal Employment forum is not for 0Ls.