Law School Discussion

Quote

Take it easy and realize only 20-25% of screening interviews lead to callbacks.   

This really depends.

Some firms like to do more screeners, some fewer.

Right, 20-25% is the supposed average across firms.  I have no idea what this firm's ratio is.  Anyway, the advice is still the same.  Friendly and outgoing.  Mix in some talking points you think are important.  Ask some thoughtful questions.  Try to connect with the interviewer.

I wonder what type of "scientifical methodology" they use to determine "prestige score" for each firm, what a bunch of BS

"In total 15,350 attorneys returned anonymous surveys to Vault. Associates from all over the country and the world responded. We heard from lawyers in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Miami, Cleveland, Seattle, Orlando, Phoenix and Atlanta, among many other domestic locations, not to mention Hong Kong, London, Paris and beyond. The online survey asked attorneys to score each of the 156 law firms on a scale of 1 to 10 based on how prestigious it is to work for the firm. Associates were asked to ignore any firm with which they were unfamiliar and were not allowed to rank their own firm.

We collected all the surveys and averaged the score for each firm. The firms were then ranked in order, starting with the highest average prestige score as No. 1 on down to determine the Vault Top 100. Remember that in the Top 100, Vault is not assessing firms by profit, size, lifestyle, number of deals or quality of service; we are ranking the most prestigious law firms based on the perceptions of currently practicing lawyers at peer firms."

http://www.vault.com/nr/lawrankings.jsp?law2009=7&ch_id=242

Biglaw consists solely of the 10 most prestigious firms on vault.com.

Ugh . . . you're wrong.  Many of them had the grades to go anywhere they wanted in legal practice -- appelate litigation, M&A deals at a top NYC firm, IP in Silicion Valley -- but they chose to go into academia.  That might suggest retreat. 

Choosing the most prestigious option available is not retreat.

I would send her an updated cover letter, saying there was a mistake in the old one.  You want to get to her before that letter gets to the attorneys.