An Important Message for 1Ls Scrambling for Firm Jobs:

[BongJovi]

You have the rest of your life to work in a miserable law firm environment doing menial work which only serves to help the top 2% of society accumulate massive amounts of wealth. This is your summer to do something fun with your life. Do what it is that brought you to law school in the first place. Log onto LSAC and print out your personal statement: If you wrote about how your passion for Mergers & Aquisitions drove you to law school, then fine, go do it. If you wrote about wanting to protect the rights of the vulnerable or fight for equal justice under law, send off some applications to public defenders, DAs, judges, or non-profits.

BIGLAW will always be there. This is your chance to do something fulfilling. Maybe, if you're lucky like I was, you'll discover something that you enjoy doing and care about deeply. And in a profession saturated with miserable, unhappy drones, if you find something you love doing you should run with it and never look back.

Hope this helps,

Just another 2L...

[gershonw]

i have to agree 100% with bongjovi.

im a 1L at a top 50 non t14...and i just got told last week by a judge on the intermediate court of apps in my state that i have a job with him this summer.  (unpaid but still amazing for the resume..especially if i want to work in this state)

i did it just by calling a bunch of judges in my state (the general jurisdiction court judges in my county and the one next door..and also some intermediate app court judges with offices nearby) and asking if they had opaning for summer and also making sure to mention i was a 1L.  some weren't there..some said no..some said go ahead and submit a resume..and this guy (who happened to be an appellate judge) said..come on in for an interview...then i got the job.

so you never know


 

[JobInquiry]

Yes, but: if you want a non-firm job after graduation, it sure helps to get some of the debt out of the way during the two summers, if you can. No?

[gershonw]

Yes, but: if you want a non-firm job after graduation, it sure helps to get some of the debt out of the way during the two summers, if you can. No?

thats a good point...i think the OP was directed to people who want to do biglaw when they graduate...and trying to get them to see there are other things in life

if you already know that you either don't want to do biglaw..or want to do it for as little as possible..then your right (since SA's are treated like humans..and not like the animals real biglaw employees are treated as)

you go to Columbia (i think..according to your post history)..which is the most expensive law school there  is..and also in a very expensive area..so you may be on the high end of loans

[thorc954]

the guy that applied already as a 1L, I would keep that on the DL.  Most, if not all schools, dont allow you to search till dec 1st, so you are mad early.

If you are considering big law, your one L summer is the best summer to try and get a job in a law firm.  First, it opens up sick opportunities if you are fortunate enough to get it.  Second, the pay is amazing and the opportunities and experiences are just as great, and third, if you hate it this summer, you will know now and be able to use your second and third years to try clinics, externships, and part time work at other places to figure out what you really want to do. 

[gershonw]

the guy that applied already as a 1L, I would keep that on the DL.  Most, if not all schools, dont allow you to search till dec 1st, so you are mad early.

If you are considering big law, your one L summer is the best summer to try and get a job in a law firm.  First, it opens up sick opportunities if you are fortunate enough to get it.  Second, the pay is amazing and the opportunities and experiences are just as great, and third, if you hate it this summer, you will know now and be able to use your second and third years to try clinics, externships, and part time work at other places to figure out what you really want to do. 

if your referring to me..our law school encouraged us to start a few weeks ago...we had an official talk about looking for jobs a couple weeks ago and were told for judicial clerkships to start as early as possible...ive heard of nov 1 as a date that career services will start talking to you..but never ave i heard of a rule that tells people they are not to start looking for jobs for the summer on their own before a certain date.

[gershonw]

sorry i just realized you may be talking about some rule for 1ls to apply for SA's at biglaw....i dont knwo anythign about this...never applied..no intrest in ever appling (mommy and daddy pay for lawschool)

but at least at my school there is no rule for not applying to other jobs before any specified date

[focht]

NALP rules say that Nov. 1 is the date your school's OCS can start talking to you about jobs, and NALP employers, like most law firms, aren't supposed to recruit you or take your recruiting materials until Dec. 1 for 1Ls. But there are non-NALP employers who are just off the reservation.

[thorc954]

NALP rules say that Nov. 1 is the date your school's OCS can start talking to you about jobs, and NALP employers, like most law firms, aren't supposed to recruit you or take your recruiting materials until Dec. 1 for 1Ls. But there are non-NALP employers who are just off the reservation.

thats stupid.  my one L year my school made it seem like we couldnt apply to any place at all before dec 1.    I definitely would have gotten applications out earlier if I had known.  damn them, lol.  congrats gershonw on already getting something though. Before you accept, if you havent already, I would just make sure you will be getting decent writing experience there.  I got offered a cleckship last summer that barely involved any writing of substance and had to turn it down.

[gershonw]

NALP rules say that Nov. 1 is the date your school's OCS can start talking to you about jobs, and NALP employers, like most law firms, aren't supposed to recruit you or take your recruiting materials until Dec. 1 for 1Ls. But there are non-NALP employers who are just off the reservation.

thats stupid.  my one L year my school made it seem like we couldnt apply to any place at all before dec 1.    I definitely would have gotten applications out earlier if I had known.  d**mn them, lol.  congrats gershonw on already getting something though. Before you accept, if you havent already, I would just make sure you will be getting decent writing experience there.  I got offered a cleckship last summer that barely involved any writing of substance and had to turn it down.

thanks...no he wants me to draft his opinions and such...wow cool.