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How much would having, say, a distant relative help in getting an interview/offer at a big firm?

It sounds like could be huge for getting you an interview if your connection wants to help, but after that you'll more or less have to get the offer on your own.

Many firms have rules against nepotism to avoid problems with this.

SLS_AMG wrote:How much would having, say, a distant relative help in getting an interview/offer at a big firm?

Who do you know? What influence does she have at the firm? A practice area head?

This is an impossible question to answer. It all depends on the particular firm, the influence this person has there, and what he or she is willing to do for you. If the "connection" is a junior associate who will simply say good things about you to the recruiting chick, that's probably not going to help much. On the other hand, if the connection is a partner with millions of dollars in business who serves on the hiring committee and will tell everyone that you deserve a job there, then you're probably in great shape.

I have a number of connections with law school faculty and nothing helped for my own son. I know a federal judge who couldn't get his kid into a T14 law school. Perhaps if you knew well the dean of admission or dean of the law school, you might have a better shot. Of course, giving a million++ or more to a university might very well result in a much lower bar for the donor's kids.

The problem is that most law schools admit by committee. It would be a very hard sale, not to mention politically unpopular, to force a kid down the committee's throats without one heck of a reason besides family connections. A LOT of money is the only think that I think would sway a committee or admission office.

Relative partner or associate?

Master Tofu wrote:

SLS_AMG wrote:How much would having, say, a distant relative help in getting an interview/offer at a big firm?

Who do you know? What influence does she have at the firm? A practice area head?

It would be a partner. I don't think he is a hiring partner, but definitely a partner who has been at the firm for a long while.

Interview? Hugely helpful. Offer? Not unless you've actually worked for them and managed to impress at least one other person (usually). Of course you can always nail the interview, and unless you have a really bad resume, there's no reason they'd actually be prejudiced against you.

taxguy wrote:I have a number of connections with law school faculty and nothing helped for my own son. I know a federal judge who couldn't get his kid into a T14 law school. Perhaps if you knew well the dean of admission or dean of the law school, you might have a better shot. Of course, giving a million++ or more to a university might very well result in a much lower bar for the donor's kids.

The problem is that most law schools admit by committee. It would be a very hard sale, not to mention politically unpopular, to force a kid down the committee's throats without one heck of a reason besides family connections. A LOT of money is the only think that I think would sway a committee or admission office.

Tax guy you are always entertaining (even if you say the same thing over and over). I don't think you read the OP correctly. This is about getting into Big Law not a t-14. The process for getting into a law school is very different from getting into big law.