Minorities and Big Firms

[tommytutone]

Ok, I'm a minority (not asian) at NU with a 3.5. Does this mean that I have a good shot at the big Chicago outfits like Sidley and Kirkland even though my GPA is just ok?

Richard Sander's stuff on Elsblog seems to make me think that I should shoot for big firms over smaller boutiques because race preferences are more prevalent at the big firms. Any opinions?

[lawmama09]

One thing we were told by the firm I am working for is that many corporate clients want to see diverse attorneys in the firms that they work with, and information about how many minorities (or women) are at the firm is part of the marketing to these larger corporate clients. People may have differing opinions as to whether or not that's a useful thing, but law firms are concerned about it. I don't think applying can hurt, but I am not from Chicago and I don't know enough about that market to know if your school/GPA makes you competitive.

Good luck!