LA & NYC Firms Still Hiring for Summer Forum

[Anonymous User]

Just wondering if anyone knows of firms in Los Angeles and/or NYC that are still hiring summers for Summer 2019. Due to personal/familial reasons, had to change target markets to these, so I'm very behind. Any suggestions for firms (big or small) would be much appreciated.

Interested primarily in general litigation, soft-IP, real estate.


Thank you!

[Anonymous User]

Does it have to be a firm? There are plenty of public interest organizations that are hiring now, and if your school offers public interest scholarships you'll be able to scrape by. NYC Legal Department is also paid (not great but you won't starve). The only law firms that are on my Symplicity's page (T20) are in secondary markets

[QContinuum]

Just wondering if anyone knows of firms in Los Angeles and/or NYC that are still hiring summers for Summer 2019. Due to personal/familial reasons, had to change target markets to these, so I'm very behind.

Do you already have SA offer(s) in a different market? If yes, and if none of your offering firms have a LA or NY office (which would seem unusual) and/or none of them will let you switch to LA or NY, then I'd honestly bite the bullet and do the SA. It's only 10 weeks, and most firms will let you only do 8 if you want. Much easier to do 3L OCI and look in LA/NY with a permanent offer in hand, than to do 3L OCI with only a public interest scholarship on the resume.

[Anonymous User]

Just wondering if anyone knows of firms in Los Angeles and/or NYC that are still hiring summers for Summer 2019. Due to personal/familial reasons, had to change target markets to these, so I'm very behind.

Do you already have SA offer(s) in a different market? If yes, and if none of your offering firms have a LA or NY office (which would seem unusual) and/or none of them will let you switch to LA or NY, then I'd honestly bite the bullet and do the SA. It's only 10 weeks, and most firms will let you only do 8 if you want. Much easier to do 3L OCI and look in LA/NY with a permanent offer in hand, than to do 3L OCI with only a public interest scholarship on the resume.

Thanks, I think this is probably what I will have to end up doing. I do have a SA offer in a secondary market, at a large regional firm with no offices in LA or NYC.

I have been so caught up with 2L job searches and OCI, that I haven't paid attention to 3L OCI. I know this would probably be better suited for an entirely different thread, but how common is it to get a job at a large firm through 3L OCI?

[UVA2B]

Just wondering if anyone knows of firms in Los Angeles and/or NYC that are still hiring summers for Summer 2019. Due to personal/familial reasons, had to change target markets to these, so I'm very behind.

Do you already have SA offer(s) in a different market? If yes, and if none of your offering firms have a LA or NY office (which would seem unusual) and/or none of them will let you switch to LA or NY, then I'd honestly bite the bullet and do the SA. It's only 10 weeks, and most firms will let you only do 8 if you want. Much easier to do 3L OCI and look in LA/NY with a permanent offer in hand, than to do 3L OCI with only a public interest scholarship on the resume.

Thanks, I think this is probably what I will have to end up doing. I do have a SA offer in a secondary market, at a large regional firm with no offices in LA or NYC.

I have been so caught up with 2L job searches and OCI, that I haven't paid attention to 3L OCI. I know this would probably be better suited for an entirely different thread, but how common is it to get a job at a large firm through 3L OCI?

I mean, it depends on so many things. If you're at a top school with good grades and you're willing/able to be less picky on practice group, it can be very doable. And if you have an offer in hand, that'll only further confirm your usefulness during 3L OCI. If you're focused on a specific range of firm on vault, or hyper-focused on one practice group, or you have any mediocre/below average blemishes, the well can dry up really quickly.

3L hiring is much more a mixture of specific need for firms than practice group free for all for most firms. Big firms generally aren't showing up for 3L OCI with a mindset toward "we just need 12 more associates regardless of group." It's usually "Corporate/PE/M&A/IP/etc. picked up more than we anticipated," or "we didn't get as much lateral activity as we needed in those groups," or "we're expecting higher than average attrition in the next 2-4 years, so a couple extra associates may be necessary."

If you have a strong profile and you push the mass mail envelope with an offer in hand (which signals that you've done good work before to the new potential employers), you can find something in 3L OCI. There are obviously no guarantees here, but at the end of the day, you'll be employed regardless at the end of the search, even if it's not in LA or NYC initially.

[QContinuum]

I have been so caught up with 2L job searches and OCI, that I haven't paid attention to 3L OCI. I know this would probably be better suited for an entirely different thread, but how common is it to get a job at a large firm through 3L OCI?

Much harder than 2L OCI, but still:

• Realistic if you have a permanent offer in hand, which you'll have;
• Realistic if you're looking at a major market, particularly NYC, which you are;
• Much more realistic if you define "3L OCI" broadly to include both OCI itself as well as mass-mailing (in fact, you'll likely get the most bang for your buck with mass mailing); and
• Downright likely if you aren't choosy about practice group assignment (3L offers are made specifically for a particular practice group, in most cases).

I will say that general lit and soft IP tend to be "popular" practice groups that are less likely to be hiring 3Ls. But real estate's a real possibility.

There are obviously no guarantees here, but at the end of the day, you'll be employed regardless at the end of the search, even if it's not in LA or NYC initially.

This is also true. In the worst case scenario, lateraling after a year or two is much easier than 3L OCI (or, for that matter, trying to land a different 2L SA position at this time of year).

[Wubbles]

I have been so caught up with 2L job searches and OCI, that I haven't paid attention to 3L OCI. I know this would probably be better suited for an entirely different thread, but how common is it to get a job at a large firm through 3L OCI?

Much harder than 2L OCI, but still:

• Realistic if you have a permanent offer in hand, which you'll have;
• Realistic if you're looking at a major market, particularly NYC, which you are;
• Much more realistic if you define "3L OCI" broadly to include both OCI itself as well as mass-mailing (in fact, you'll likely get the most bang for your buck with mass mailing); and
• Downright likely if you aren't choosy about practice group assignment (3L offers are made specifically for a particular practice group, in most cases).

I will say that general lit and soft IP tend to be "popular" practice groups that are less likely to be hiring 3Ls. But real estate's a real possibility.

There are obviously no guarantees here, but at the end of the day, you'll be employed regardless at the end of the search, even if it's not in LA or NYC initially.

This is also true. In the worst case scenario, lateraling after a year or two is much easier than 3L OCI (or, for that matter, trying to land a different 2L SA position at this time of year).

Should 3Ls be including that they have an offer already in their cover letters?

[Anonymous User]

Does it have to be a firm? There are plenty of public interest organizations that are hiring now, and if your school offers public interest scholarships you'll be able to scrape by. NYC Legal Department is also paid (not great but you won't starve). The only law firms that are on my Symplicity's page (T20) are in secondary markets

I did a summer internship at the NYC Law Dept - my understanding is that most of their hiring directly out of law school is for people who interned there 2L summer (they give offers at the end of the summer). Their website says "Currently, we have no positions available for recent law school graduates who are not yet admitted to the bar." They do hire people who haven't interned there who have practice experience or are coming out of a clerkship.

[QContinuum]

Should 3Ls be including that they have an offer already in their cover letters?

No, you indicate that on your CV. Where you list your 2L SA, find a place to insert the phrase "offer extended." You can list it as "Summer Associate (offer extended)", for example. No need to mention this explicitly in your cover letter.