Biglaw Chances/Help Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hey guys,

I am a 3L at a T15-18 and have a GPA in the mid-2's. I'm shooting for biglaw wherever I can get an opportunity. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances? I have not tried mass mailing New York yet (was planning on trying over the break). I was also thinking flyover states. Do I have any meaningful chance?

Thanks

[objctnyrhnr]

Leave your gpa off your resume if you aren’t already doing that. That and network network network.

That’s all I got, though, unfortunately.

[Lacepiece23]

Hey guys,

I am a 3L at a T15-18 and have a GPA in the mid-2's. I'm shooting for biglaw wherever I can get an opportunity. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances? I have not tried mass mailing New York yet (was planning on trying over the break). I was also thinking flyover states. Do I have any meaningful chance?

Thanks

I mean, do you just want biglaw? Do you care about practice group at all? The backdoor path that I've seen work on the Lit side is shoot for a firm that does defense L&E, do not do Plaintiffs side. Then, try to lateral to one of the boutiques (Little, Jackson Lewis, Ogletree, etc.), they might look past your gpa if you have relevant experience. Then, try to lateral into biglaw around the 3-4 year mark. But we may be in a recession by then and it may be harders to break in with L&E. L&E is good right now because the economy is hot and not everyone does it. I've seen tons of postings for it.

[Anonymous User]

Leave your gpa off your resume if you aren’t already doing that. That and network network network.

That’s all I got, though, unfortunately.

Yeah, I leave it off.

Thank you for your help.

[acr]

Hey guys,

I am a 3L at a T15-18 and have a GPA in the mid-2's. I'm shooting for biglaw wherever I can get an opportunity. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances? I have not tried mass mailing New York yet (was planning on trying over the break). I was also thinking flyover states. Do I have any meaningful chance?

Thanks

(1) Mass mail as many target firms in NYC as possible

(2) Follow-up with firms you've mass mailed in NYC every month

(3) Mass mail firms in "flyover states" saying, "what a coincidence!! I will just happen to be in Indianapolis/Cleveland/Minneapolis on xxx date if you can interview me"

(4) Follow-up with "flyover state" firms every month

(5) Email law school alumni at target firms and ask for a 15 minute chat about firm/practice group

(6) Email undergrad alumni at target firms and ask for 15 minute chat about firm/practice group

(7) Have said phone call with alum and kindly ask/express a desire for attorney to forward resume to recruiting (in follow-up email if more comfortable)

(8) Harass useless CSO for mock interviews/connections with alums/resume reviews

(9) Enjoy big law and thank me later

[Anonymous User]

Hey guys,

I am a 3L at a T15-18 and have a GPA in the mid-2's. I'm shooting for biglaw wherever I can get an opportunity. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances? I have not tried mass mailing New York yet (was planning on trying over the break). I was also thinking flyover states. Do I have any meaningful chance?

Thanks

I mean, do you just want biglaw? Do you care about practice group at all? The backdoor path that I've seen work on the Lit side is shoot for a firm that does defense L&E, do not do Plaintiffs side. Then, try to lateral to one of the boutiques (Little, Jackson Lewis, Ogletree, etc.), they might look past your gpa if you have relevant experience. Then, try to lateral into biglaw around the 3-4 year mark. But we may be in a recession by then and it may be harders to break in with L&E. L&E is good right now because the economy is hot and not everyone does it. I've seen tons of postings for it.

I want biglaw before anything else, but within biglaw I have preference for practice group. I like l&e, so that sounds like a great path. Thank you very much for your help.

[objctnyrhnr]

OP can you tell us what you’ve been doing network-wise thus far?

[Anonymous User]

Hey guys,

I am a 3L at a T15-18 and have a GPA in the mid-2's. I'm shooting for biglaw wherever I can get an opportunity. Is there anything I can do to improve my chances? I have not tried mass mailing New York yet (was planning on trying over the break). I was also thinking flyover states. Do I have any meaningful chance?

Thanks

(1) Mass mail as many target firms in NYC as possible

(2) Follow-up with firms you've mass mailed in NYC every month

(3) Mass mail firms in "flyover states" saying, "what a coincidence!! I will just happen to be in Indianapolis/Cleveland/Minneapolis on xxx date if you can interview me"

(4) Follow-up with "flyover state" firms every month

(5) Email law school alumni at target firms and ask for a 15 minute chat about firm/practice group

(6) Email undergrad alumni at target firms and ask for 15 minute chat about firm/practice group

(7) Have said phone call with alum and kindly ask/express a desire for attorney to forward resume to recruiting (in follow-up email if more comfortable)

(8) Harass useless CSO for mock interviews/connections with alums/resume reviews

(9) Enjoy big law and thank me later

Thank you very much!

[Anonymous User]

OP can you tell us what you’ve been doing network-wise thus far?

I haven't done any networking outside of my internships. Do I just contact attorneys at firms I want to work for and ask to get coffee?

[objctnyrhnr]

So I’d start ASAP and look at firms you want to target and get a nice firm email down. Find alums from your law school and undergrad. Email 5-10 every day and get as much coffee or lunch as possible and always pay.

This will take a while to yield results but one day it will and remember you only need to succeed once. Some of these people will connect you with other people. Keep a spreadsheet of all of the people and the contact.

Before you do that, though, make sure you’ve honed your narrative. What do you want to do (“make biglaw money”) just won’t cut it. Make it clear that you want to learn about their paths. Don’t make it about helping you in the email. Instead, make it about asking them questions to gain insight into their specific type of lit for example.

Good luck.

[BasilHallward]

I will echo what everyone is saying ITT. Network, network, network. But at some point you're going to have to face the music and consider other options. This title of this thread appears to invite us to gauge your "chances" at landing biglaw. Honestly, it's a long shot. A mid 2's GPA is approximately bottom 5-10% I would suspect. So, you need to keep all jobs on the table that require a law degree IMHO.

[ClubberLang]

Biglaw is highly unlikely with those stats. But if you want to pursue it, you need to network and mass mail like your life depends on it. I'd guess that NYC is the only market where you have a shot. You should also pursue other opportunities with equal vigor, because any job, not just biglaw, is going to be tough to get. Conventional wisdom is that if you didn't get a 2L SA, then you aren't getting biglaw. I'm surprised other are so optimistic. You certainly can't be choosy about where to apply.

[QContinuum]

Biglaw is highly unlikely with those stats. But if you want to pursue it, you need to network and mass mail like your life depends on it. I'd guess that NYC is the only market where you have a shot. You should also pursue other opportunities with equal vigor, because any job, not just biglaw, is going to be tough to get. Conventional wisdom is that if you didn't get a 2L SA, then you aren't getting biglaw. I'm surprised other are so optimistic. You certainly can't be choosy about where to apply.

Seconding the above. My general advice - which is also applicable here to OP - is to mass-mail NYC yesterday (absolutely do not wait for winter hols), and also mass-mail any other markets where they remotely have ties (does OP have an uncle in San Antonio? that's a Texas "tie" they should use for firms in Houston and Dallas!). And I echo the other advice ITT to network, network, and network some more, and make use of their school's career services office to the maximum extent possible.

At the same time, while I don't want to be discouraging, I think it's important to be frank that OP's not in a good situation as far as landing BigLaw goes. OP's a 3L at a T20 with a sub-3.0 GPA and without a past 2L SA. That's really tough. OP can - and should! - certainly do their best, but I'm concerned that OP seems to be a bit too laid back about this whole process ("was planning on trying over the break" is decidedly not the right attitude here). OP, IMO, should really be investigating non-BigLaw options yesterday. This means midlaw, this means non-prestigious PI gigs, this means insurance defense. I'd say state court clerkships, but I'm not even sure if OP would qualify with a sub-3.0 GPA.

I don't want to be alarmist, but OP is at real risk of being unemployed after graduation. With one semester to go, OP doesn't have the luxury of focusing solely on BigLaw at this point. I hope this isn't overly negative.

[nealric]

I don't want to be alarmist, but OP is at real risk of being unemployed after graduation. With one semester to go, OP doesn't have the luxury of focusing solely on BigLaw at this point. I hope this isn't overly negative.

Agreed. OP's bet to get into biglaw is to find a job that will create transferable skills that might allow a biglaw lateral. For example, if you can get into a decent L&E boutique, that will get you a fighting chance of a biglaw L&E offer.

[Lacepiece23]

I don't want to be alarmist, but OP is at real risk of being unemployed after graduation. With one semester to go, OP doesn't have the luxury of focusing solely on BigLaw at this point. I hope this isn't overly negative.

Agreed. OP's bet to get into biglaw is to find a job that will create transferable skills that might allow a biglaw lateral. For example, if you can get into a decent L&E boutique, that will get you a fighting chance of a biglaw L&E offer.

That’s what I said, I thought we were all assuming that OP has virtually no chance of snagging biglaw as a 3L. OP, it’s okay if you don’t. I know plenty of ppl that were strategic and broke in later. It also helps that you will have a good law degree for the firm to put on its website.

[PeanutsNJam]

Yeah definitely try to get biglaw because it’s not impossible, but at this point you need to be hustling for any job at all.

[albanach]

Does your school have any school-funded PI fellowships? If so, can you use them for clerkships?

That would give you a potential option of a federal clerkship (which is going to be a lot more accessible to you if you come free of charge) which might in a year's time open doors that are currently closed to you.

[objctnyrhnr]

OP, I went to a good but not t14 school and broke in a couple years later. It’s doable.

Maybe try to be an ada. Respected job but doesn’t care about gpa. You will have the time to network at the same time. Just a thought.