informal meeting with a NYC biglaw attorney Forum

[Korey]

Hello all,

I have been fortunate enough to schedule a meeting with a NYC biglaw partner.

As I have read numerous times on this forum, as a 0L I am pretty confident that I know little to nothing about what an attorney actually does. I planned on asking him a few questions about his daily tasks and his general thoughts about working in biglaw. Furthermore, I wanted to see if he had any advice for me in general about admissions etc etc. However, beyond these simple things, I don't really know what else to discuss with him.

I understand he is probably incredibly busy and the last thing I want to do is waste the man's time, so if anyone had any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. Oh and last but not least, (please correct me if I am wrong) I am assuming that since we are meeting at his firm it would be appropriate to wear a suit?

Thanks.
Korey

[joebloe]

What's your connection? Family friend, know a former client, or did you just cold call his secretary and ask for an appointment? I think responses would depend somewhat on your answer to this.

[ran12]

Ask him what are realistic hours, work function, and promotion steps are. Wear a suit.

[Capitol A]

Ask how much money he makes. Ask what kind of car he drives, or does he have a driver? Ask to see a picture of his wife.

[Korey]

What's your connection? Family friend, know a former client, or did you just cold call his secretary and ask for an appointment? I think responses would depend somewhat on your answer to this.

My mothers attorney is a close friend of this attorney. He referred me to him.

[viking138]

Are you meeting the attorney in his office? Then dress for the office. If meeting him in a casual environment (coffee, lunch, etc) then wear nice casual clothing (nicely fitted jeans, sweater over button down).

The attorney won't know anything about admissions unless they worked in admissions or something, so I'm not sure that's a useful question. More useful is how they think you can gain practical skills as a law student, what they wish they had known before going into practice, and tips on navigating the corporate law environment (it is so much more complex than I ever imagined before I started talking to attorneys!).

Above all, be interested in what they say and thank them for their time in a follow up note/email. A lot of biglaw attorneys are pretty nice, interesting people, so it should be a great opportunity to learn more about the field you're interested in

[SupraVln180]

Ask what school he went to, it's always interesting to see that every biglaw attorney I met, besides one, didn't go to a T-14.

[viking138]

Ask what school he went to, it's always interesting to see that every biglaw attorney I met, besides one, didn't go to a T-14.

Please don't ask what school he went to. It's on his profile which is on the firm website...which you should have read before you met him so you know his practice area, any major projects he's worked on, and anything he's published.

And I've only met one biglaw attorney who didn't go to a T-14 and they went to Boston U so...anecdotal evidence ftw?

[ran12]

Ask what school he went to, it's always interesting to see that every biglaw attorney I met, besides one, didn't go to a T-14.

Please don't ask what school he went to. It's on his profile which is on the firm website...which you should have read before you met him so you know his practice area, any major projects he's worked on, and anything he's published.

And I've only met one biglaw attorney who didn't go to a T-14 and they went to Boston U so...anecdotal evidence ftw?

I agree. Never ask a question that you could find the answer to yourself. All you're doing is wasting the person's time and making yourself look completely incompetent.

[Korey]

Great, thanks everyone I will keep all of this in mind.

Ask what school he went to, it's always interesting to see that every biglaw attorney I met, besides one, didn't go to a T-14.

Please don't ask what school he went to. It's on his profile which is on the firm website...which you should have read before you met him so you know his practice area, any major projects he's worked on, and anything he's published.

And I've only met one biglaw attorney who didn't go to a T-14 and they went to Boston U so...anecdotal evidence ftw?

I agree. Never ask a question that you could find the answer to yourself. All you're doing is wasting the person's time and making yourself look completely incompetent.

He didn't go to t14.

[viking138]

Great, thanks everyone I will keep all of this in mind.

Ask what school he went to, it's always interesting to see that every biglaw attorney I met, besides one, didn't go to a T-14.

Please don't ask what school he went to. It's on his profile which is on the firm website...which you should have read before you met him so you know his practice area, any major projects he's worked on, and anything he's published.

And I've only met one biglaw attorney who didn't go to a T-14 and they went to Boston U so...anecdotal evidence ftw?

I agree. Never ask a question that you could find the answer to yourself. All you're doing is wasting the person's time and making yourself look completely incompetent.

He didn't go to t14.

How old is he? If he's a lot older, his advice on getting into firm life from a lower tier school won't be worth much. However, if he's under the age of say 35, he will know something about how to get into a firm from a lower tier school and that kind of advice is really helpful.

[nealric]

Lol at this thread.

[apollo13]

Is he a drinking pina colada on a Hawaiian beach kinda dudee or kegstand kinda bro?

[Ignatius Reilly]

Are associates allowed to drink while billing?

[nealric]

Only if billing at home.

[romothesavior]

Lol at this thread.

Yeah seriously.

OP, you're a 0L right? If so, just go to talk and learn about him, what he finds likes/dislikes about his job, see what kind of advice he can give, etc. He is going to expect that you're a naive 0L, and this isn't going to lead to a job, so just be loose and laid back. Don't stress it too much. And don't wear a suit for a casual lunch or coffee. That will come off as overkill. Just look nice.

[viking138]

Lol at this thread.

Yeah seriously.

OP, you're a 0L right? If so, just go to talk and learn about him, what he finds likes/dislikes about his job, see what kind of advice he can give, etc. He is going to expect that you're a naive 0L, and this isn't going to lead to a job, so just be loose and laid back. Don't stress it too much. And don't wear a suit for a casual lunch or coffee. That will come off as overkill. Just look nice.

You're definitely right if he's meeting for coffee or lunch, but if they're meeting in the attorney's office, he should at least wear business casual. I wore a suit when meeting an attorney at a firm and she said that was the right thing to do for the office, but coffee/lunch can be casual. If you're a guy, you can wear like slacks and a jacket, doesn't have to be a suit. I didn't have anything but a suit at the time, but now I'd probably wear a sheath dress and that would similarly be appropriate.

[romothesavior]

You're definitely right if he's meeting for coffee or lunch, but if they're meeting in the attorney's office, he should at least wear business casual. I wore a suit when meeting an attorney at a firm and she said that was the right thing to do for the office, but coffee/lunch can be casual. If you're a guy, you can wear like slacks and a jacket, doesn't have to be a suit. I didn't have anything but a suit at the time, but now I'd probably wear a sheath dress and that would similarly be appropriate.

Slacks, button down, blazer. That should be safe.

[SupraVln180]

Ask what school he went to, it's always interesting to see that every biglaw attorney I met, besides one, didn't go to a T-14.

Please don't ask what school he went to. It's on his profile which is on the firm website...which you should have read before you met him so you know his practice area, any major projects he's worked on, and anything he's published.

And I've only met one biglaw attorney who didn't go to a T-14 and they went to Boston U so...anecdotal evidence ftw?

I agree. Never ask a question that you could find the answer to yourself. All you're doing is wasting the person's time and making yourself look completely incompetent.

I wasn't seriously asking him to ask that question. I was making a point that T-14 is not necessary or sufficient for BigLaw.

[romothesavior]

I wasn't seriously asking him to ask that question. I was making a point that T-14 is not necessary or sufficient for BigLaw.

And no one ever said it was, so congratulations on proving everybody nobody wrong.