Jr. BigLaw Associate in NY Taking Questions

[Burning Sands, Esq.]

Silly Q but--did you bring your own lunch?  Are there places to eat way out on 12th ave?  I've never been to the Javits.

Also can we bring soda/water in, or only what's in thet little baggie Barbri gave us?

Thanks!

I think that's one of the most slept on aspects of the entire bar taking process - LUNCH!

Especially around Javits. There is NOTHING around there!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously there are like 2 or 3 little deli places and believe you me, all 8 or 9 thousand people will be there standing in line for the entire hour (or whatever it is) you get for lunch.

I parked my car overnight across the street in a paid parking lot for like $20 bucks, packed my lunch in a cooler and put it in the trunk of my car.  As soon as the lunch break came I walked straight to my car and spent at most 10 minutes eating and then spent the rest of the hour refreshing my memory on the two essay subjects that I knew were coming because they were not tested in the morning (family law and corporations).  Sure enough, those two subjects were the two essays in the afternoon, so I probably earned a few more points on those essays. Hey, every point counts right?

[Eugene Young]

Silly Q but--did you bring your own lunch?  Are there places to eat way out on 12th ave?  I've never been to the Javits.

Also can we bring soda/water in, or only what's in thet little baggie Barbri gave us?

Thanks!

I think that's one of the most slept on aspects of the entire bar taking process - LUNCH!

Especially around Javits. There is NOTHING around there!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously there are like 2 or 3 little deli places and believe you me, all 8 or 9 thousand people will be there standing in line for the entire hour (or whatever it is) you get for lunch.

I parked my car overnight across the street in a paid parking lot for like $20 bucks, packed my lunch in a cooler and put it in the trunk of my car.  As soon as the lunch break came I walked straight to my car and spent at most 10 minutes eating and then spent the rest of the hour refreshing my memory on the two essay subjects that I knew were coming because they were not tested in the morning (family law and corporations).  Sure enough, those two subjects were the two essays in the afternoon, so I probably earned a few more points on those essays. Hey, every point counts right?

Damn, Sands! That was remarkably crafty. Did someone advise you to do that, or did you come up with that your own? I never would have thought of that, but best believe that's how I will play it when my turn comes up.

["Legapp" Stands for "Legal Application"]

Silly Q but--did you bring your own lunch?  Are there places to eat way out on 12th ave?  I've never been to the Javits.

Also can we bring soda/water in, or only what's in thet little baggie Barbri gave us?

Thanks!

I think that's one of the most slept on aspects of the entire bar taking process - LUNCH!

Especially around Javits. There is NOTHING around there!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously there are like 2 or 3 little deli places and believe you me, all 8 or 9 thousand people will be there standing in line for the entire hour (or whatever it is) you get for lunch.

I parked my car overnight across the street in a paid parking lot for like $20 bucks, packed my lunch in a cooler and put it in the trunk of my car.  As soon as the lunch break came I walked straight to my car and spent at most 10 minutes eating and then spent the rest of the hour refreshing my memory on the two essay subjects that I knew were coming because they were not tested in the morning (family law and corporations).  Sure enough, those two subjects were the two essays in the afternoon, so I probably earned a few more points on those essays. Hey, every point counts right?

This is genius!  My fiance is making the trip with me, so I think I will ask him to meet me for lunch with a good sandwich and some flashcards/outlines.   

[Burning Sands, Esq.]

Silly Q but--did you bring your own lunch?  Are there places to eat way out on 12th ave?  I've never been to the Javits.

Also can we bring soda/water in, or only what's in thet little baggie Barbri gave us?

Thanks!

I think that's one of the most slept on aspects of the entire bar taking process - LUNCH!

Especially around Javits. There is NOTHING around there!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously there are like 2 or 3 little deli places and believe you me, all 8 or 9 thousand people will be there standing in line for the entire hour (or whatever it is) you get for lunch.

I parked my car overnight across the street in a paid parking lot for like $20 bucks, packed my lunch in a cooler and put it in the trunk of my car.  As soon as the lunch break came I walked straight to my car and spent at most 10 minutes eating and then spent the rest of the hour refreshing my memory on the two essay subjects that I knew were coming because they were not tested in the morning (family law and corporations).  Sure enough, those two subjects were the two essays in the afternoon, so I probably earned a few more points on those essays. Hey, every point counts right?

This is genius!  My fiance is making the trip with me, so I think I will ask him to meet me for lunch with a good sandwich and some flashcards/outlines.   

Ah a trusty sidekick.  Even better.

Good luck tomorrow!

[Burning Sands, Esq.]

Silly Q but--did you bring your own lunch?  Are there places to eat way out on 12th ave?  I've never been to the Javits.

Also can we bring soda/water in, or only what's in thet little baggie Barbri gave us?

Thanks!

I think that's one of the most slept on aspects of the entire bar taking process - LUNCH!

Especially around Javits. There is NOTHING around there!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously there are like 2 or 3 little deli places and believe you me, all 8 or 9 thousand people will be there standing in line for the entire hour (or whatever it is) you get for lunch.

I parked my car overnight across the street in a paid parking lot for like $20 bucks, packed my lunch in a cooler and put it in the trunk of my car.  As soon as the lunch break came I walked straight to my car and spent at most 10 minutes eating and then spent the rest of the hour refreshing my memory on the two essay subjects that I knew were coming because they were not tested in the morning (family law and corporations).  Sure enough, those two subjects were the two essays in the afternoon, so I probably earned a few more points on those essays. Hey, every point counts right?

Damn, Sands! That was remarkably crafty. Did someone advise you to do that, or did you come up with that your own? I never would have thought of that, but best believe that's how I will play it when my turn comes up.

What made me think of it was my experience during the BarBri practice exam at the Javits.  They simulate an entire day of the bar exam for practice about a month before the real thing and all I could remember was that during lunch we wasted so much time waiting for food along with everybody else.

After that experience there was no question in my mind as to what to do on the real day.

[Eugene Young]

Sands, as an aside, is it possible to take the Georgia and NY bars together? Not sure if you even know the answer.

[Matthies]

Sands, at what point in your career do they expect you to start brining in new business and creating business. I mean by what year should you start to have your own book of business if you want to stick around? Also do they give you any clients, like let you take over an account from someone else or do they expect you to bring in all your own book?

[Burning Sands, Esq.]

Sands, as an aside, is it possible to take the Georgia and NY bars together? Not sure if you even know the answer.

No, they test on the same dates so it's not possible to take them both at the same time.

[Burning Sands, Esq.]

Sands, at what point in your career do they expect you to start brining in new business and creating business. I mean by what year should you start to have your own book of business if you want to stick around? Also do they give you any clients, like let you take over an account from someone else or do they expect you to bring in all your own book?

This is such a gray area.

You usually don't get to develop your own book until you are pretty sr., like 7th or 8th year.  It is, of course, possible to develop your own book at any time.  If you are a 1st year associate and you bring in a steady client for the firm I'm sure that would set you up nicely for the partnership track if  you were so inclined.

But they don't really expect you to worry about those things until you become sr.

Nearly 100% of the clients you will deal with will be given to you by the firm and, thus, belong to somebody else's book of business.  It may be possible, however, to develop your own relationship with other individuals within the client's company other than your partner's point of contact there.

[Matthies]

Sands, at what point in your career do they expect you to start brining in new business and creating business. I mean by what year should you start to have your own book of business if you want to stick around? Also do they give you any clients, like let you take over an account from someone else or do they expect you to bring in all your own book?

This is such a gray area.

You usually don't get to develop your own book until you are pretty sr., like 7th or 8th year.  It is, of course, possible to develop your own book at any time.  If you are a 1st year associate and you bring in a steady client for the firm I'm sure that would set you up nicely for the partnership track if  you were so inclined.

But they don't really expect you to worry about those things until you become sr.

Nearly 100% of the clients you will deal with will be given to you by the firm and, thus, belong to somebody else's book of business.  It may be possible, however, to develop your own relationship with other individuals within the client's company other than your partner's point of contact there.

Most of the lawyers I know are all 10 years plus (just happened that my mentors where older lawyers, introduced me to their friends ect.) Of the ones that are still at larger firms and are partners here in town they say in an average week about 40% of their time is spent “creating business” for existing clients. Like interpreting how a new regulation or case decision might impact them, or suggesting a compliance review or other things they suggest to the client legal work wise than the other way around with the clients coming to them with new legal issues. Another 30% of their time is spent overseeing those reporting to them and checking their work. And 30% is either keeping current clients happy (golf, lunch, games) or looking for new clients and only about 10% of their time is actually spent doing legal work. My friends who have their own firms report more actual legal work, but still a lot of time spent creating business and cultivating/keeping happy current clients. Is it like that as much in NYC big firms?