Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic? Forum

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SkateboardT

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Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by SkateboardT » Fri Jul 28, 2017 11:54 am

Hey Everybody,

So I'm a 0L starting at a mid ranked Tier 1 (upper 20's) school in a couple weeks. I'm the type to always look ahead, so I'm already poking around seeing what sort of options I can expect to have for a 1L summer associate position. My sister actually networked with an attorney recruiter who does placements in major markets like SF, LA, Chicago, NY, and DC recently, so that may be important to mention.

My question is this: being that I'm not coming from a T14 or even T20, if I make it though my first year around the top 5% to 10% of the class. Do I have a decent shot at landing a paid summer associate gig in a big market? Would a stellar class rank and GPA offset the fact that I'm not coming from a T20? Or am I going to have to sort of just take what I can get and be happy with it?

Would love to hear some personal experiences if possible! Thanks for any adive!

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cavalier1138

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Re: Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by cavalier1138 » Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:04 pm

Are you a candidate for a diversity position?

Barrred

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Re: Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by Barrred » Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:09 pm

I think it will depend on how many firms interview people from your school for 1L positions. I know people in T20 schools with top grades that didnt get biglaw their 1L summer because only a few firms interviewed at their school for 1Ls. The other factor will be whether you are a minority (or even a woman), as many biglaw offices only hire 1Ls through "diversity" programs.

Its not going to matter that you/your sister knows a recruiter. You should expect to get an unpaid gig your 1L summer (shooting for a federal judicial externship), and if you do well 1L year you will have a good shot at landing a paid biglaw SA for your 2L summer. Bottom line though: none of this will matter if you don't get good grades, like, really good grades, your 1L year. So that's where your focus should be next year, not on 1L summer employment.

mrcfa1995

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Re: Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by mrcfa1995 » Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:13 pm

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Last edited by mrcfa1995 on Wed Aug 02, 2017 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

SkateboardT

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Re: Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by SkateboardT » Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:28 pm

Barrred wrote:I think it will depend on how many firms interview people from your school for 1L positions. I know people in T20 schools with top grades that didnt get biglaw their 1L summer because only a few firms interviewed at their school for 1Ls. The other factor will be whether you are a minority (or even a woman), as many biglaw offices only hire 1Ls through "diversity" programs.

Its not going to matter that you/your sister knows a recruiter. You should expect to get an unpaid gig your 1L summer (shooting for a federal judicial externship), and if you do well 1L year you will have a good shot at landing a paid biglaw SA for your 2L summer. Bottom line though: none of this will matter if you don't get good grades, like, really good grades, your 1L year. So that's where your focus should be next year, not on 1L summer employment.
Oh absolutely. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't fully intend on dedicating myself to working hard enough to wind up at the top of my class. Granted I have an extremely limited idea of what to expect, but stellar grades are my first and foremost priority. I'm just trying to ask these sort of questions while I have the time to, before I have to bury myself in outlines for the next 8 and a half months or so.

If Asian/Pacific Islander counts then yes I qualify as a diversity, but it didn't count on law apps so I'm not expecting it to count in this case. However, I'm bi-racial and look caucasian, so there's an ethical dilemma of sorts that I'm faced with there that I'd rather not go in to in this particular thread lol.

Thanks for the insight though, it's good to get an idea how limited those SA positions are for 1L's.

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SkateboardT

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Re: Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by SkateboardT » Fri Jul 28, 2017 12:30 pm

mrcfa1995 wrote:Don't quote me on this because I'm a 0L in this upcoming cycle but I've been told by every attorney I've talked to that a Biglaw SA position is incredibly hard to get 1L summer from any school, be it HYS. OCI's take place in August so the firms hire the vast majority of their SA's before you even have any grades (also you can't interview 1L's until after their first semester according to the ABA, I believe). On top of that, your grades for the fall don't come out until like mid-late January for many schools so you'd be interviewing for a position that would start in only 3 months. If you go to a top school, have a useful contact in biglaw, and get stellar grades it's possible (again, only what I've been told from biglaw attorneys). Consider an unpaid internship with a judge, that's always a great thing for summer 1L. Then again, everything I said could be wrong since it's anecdotal and I literally have less experience with LS than you lol
Lol thanks a lot, anecdotal evidence is pretty much the best we can expect here anyways. Good luck this cycle! Maybe you'll hear back from me a year from now if I can remember this thread and I'll throw my own anecdotal evidence in here lol.

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PeanutsNJam

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Re: Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by PeanutsNJam » Fri Jul 28, 2017 2:24 pm

If you have stellar grades, you could get paying SA positions in local firms. You're only really gonna get NYC/DC/LA/SF/Chi biglaw 1L SAs if you're diverse. It's certainly possible to get 1L SAs if you're not a URM, but so is winning the lottery.

For example, top 10% UGA students could snag Atl biglaw 1L SAs. Maybe. Etc.

omd3117

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Re: Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by omd3117 » Fri Jul 28, 2017 3:13 pm

I largely agree with the above posters. But here is some anecdata: at a T20 - 30 a non-diverse friend (who is a girl) was able to snag a 1L spot in D.C. She mass mailed like crazy and sent in applications immediately on Dec. 1. A have another friend at same school who is diverse and was able to snag a bunch of callbacks, but ultimately didn't get a job. In the end, she had some pre-OCI interviews with that firm, so I think things turned out well for her. (She's URM, but I think also did really well.)

Personally, I wouldn't bank on being top 5 -10%. You'd be surprised how many people at these types of schools are ambitious, and know they are gunning for top of their class to mitigate debt. If you work smart/hard (whichever you have to do to succeed), then things should be alright for you as well. Just a word of caution to never bank on doing super well.

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Talarose

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Re: Can somebody help me make my 1L summer (2018) expectations more realistic?

Post by Talarose » Thu Aug 10, 2017 2:58 am

Go with the official tls motto: focus on grades.

Like others have said, pretty much everyone is betting on being top 15% and as I'm sure you're aware, that is impossible. Top 15% is attainable if you work hard from day 1. You won't even have a ranking after your first semester so it won't even matter for ranking specifically.

That being said, I have a friend who went to a mid T2 and got a 1L SA with good grades. Another friend at a low T1 who networked her way into interviews that led to a 1L SA (mostly based on work experience with decent grades.) Some firms even hire without first semester grades. You don't need to be #1 to get a 1L SA though it definitely helps. Just focus on getting good grades and having everything ready to submit on December 1. And network/connect with anyone and everyone who could help you get in the door/put you application on top of the pile. That's all you can really do.

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