MP's Thread, or how to get paid $75K to sit around: also known as UChicago 2010

[annonymous]

We probably need more info on the clerkships/govt/firms thing. For clerkships, are you talking appellate or district? For government: DOJ or USAO (actually, we do pretty damn good for both)? And for firms, which city?

[annonymous]

Clerkship: anything federal...possibly a state supreme court in Oregon or Washington

Clerkships are an odd bird, and your successes will often depend on a lot of intangible factors (such as, well, luck). That being said, grades are the strongest indicator of whether you'll get a clerkship or not. Its hard to pin down actual chances, but suffice to say that Chicago does better than almost any other school in terms of clerkship placement.

State Supreme, on the other hand, is significantly easier coming out of Chicago. But I think a strong requirement for those is a connection to the state in question.

Govt: FBI/CIA/DHS/DOJ - I'm interested in anything relating to national security or intelligence.

I can't speak about the FBI, CIA, or DHS (although I do have a couple classmates who worked at DHS prior to coming to law school), but we have a great track record when it comes to the DOJ, both for career attorneys and for political appointees.

Firms: DC, Virginia, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington

The only market I can speak for is DC, which is where I'm heading.

DC is one of the grade-snobbiest markets out there, but there are also a lot of firms. And very few of them have been hit hard by the current economic situation (if anything, I'd say work has picked up at DC firms). I know this year students didn't seem to have any problems with DC. And while I can't speak for everyone, I was really happy with how my OCI process came out.

Sorry for the lack of details, but its hard to answer general questions like this.

[Randy Savage]

Hey UC peeps. I'm a T25 1L considering transferring to Chicago (I know I have to get in first..). Anybody want to chime in on the pros/cons of Chicago? I'm specifically curious about how people in the middle of the class do for clerkships/govt jobs/firms jobs. Also, are any of you transfers or know any transfers and would be willing to share relevant experiences/stories? Any and all comments are welcome of course. Thanks.

If you're in shape to transfer out of a T25 that means you're in shape to get a market-wage job there. Is coming to Chicago worth paying upwards of $100,000? No! It's not like we have brand recognition like Harvard or Yale.

[clairel]

*Crickets chirping*

There's a lot of 1Ls around carrying hornbooks, and other non-required-textbook materials. You guys are so studious. It's almost inspiring.

On that note, I am penciling in a Friday start to my studying. It gets harder each passing quarter to try to study for quarters.

titcr. oops at my lack of studying.

[annonymous]

I still can't believe buffet has somehow managed to schedule a 6 day weekend next quarter. Thats insane.

[sillyberry]

I still can't believe buffet has somehow managed to schedule a 6 day weekend next quarter. Thats insane.

I know.  I was impressed with my four-day weekend. 

[buffettologie]

I still can't believe buffet has somehow managed to schedule a 6 day weekend next quarter. Thats insane.

Thank you, thank you.  You too, can have a 6-day weekend.

[,.,.,.;.,.,.]

Starting today, I'm going to stay as far away from the Law School as possible, with the obvious exceptions of exams.  I really can't handle everyone's stress, especially in that terrible, anxiety-producing podium rush we had today at the end of class.  Levmore himself refused to answer any questions after the first three because he said, "We're just stressing ourselves out."

[annonymous]

Yeah, I often do the same thing when finals rolls around. Avoid the law school, that is, not rush the podium (which doesn't make sense from what I have heard about Levmore's exams: either you get it or you don't, a couple extra questions probably won't help... but I didn't have Levmore so what do I know?).

If you absolutely have to be in a library to study (which I sometimes do, because being at home makes me want to do other, more productive tasks like sleep), Crerar's actually not that bad.

Certainly better than Regenstein and their swastika carrels. Although Regenstein is great if you want to be so miserable that you quickly finish your work and get the hell out of that horrible place (so its better for writing a paper).

[,.,.,.;.,.,.]

I like your thinking, both with the Levmore idea and the library.  I'm currently sitting at home, eating a bagel and reviewing my Fennell notes.

On a related note, is it just me or are the big DC firms (Hogan, GDC, W&C) not hurting that badly in this recession?  I haven't seen any layoffs at any of the big DC players, even lower-ranked firms like Arent Fox.  Any thoughts on this?  As someone who wants to bid almost exclusively on DC at OCI next year, this gives me some optimism.