Date: May 17th, 2008 2:32 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
Ok, here's the list of firms coming to see 3Ls. As you can see, most of these are either way out of my league or patent firms. Which of these could I get a callback at? I have a little over a 3.0 now. I had a 3.2 last semester. I expect about a 3.0 this semester.
Date: May 17th, 2008 3:32 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
Here's the list when I take out firms I have no shot at, everything in DC, non law firms and IP firms that I know of AND firms that plan on interviewing only 5 or fewer 3Ls
Baker & McKenzie, LLP (Palo Alto, California)
Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. (San Francisco, CA)
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (New York, NY)
Cooley Godward LLP (New York, NY)
Cooley Godward LLP (Palo Alto, CA)
Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP (New York, NY)
Dechert LLP (Austin, TX)
Dechert LLP (Boston, MA)
Dechert LLP (London, UNITED KINGDOM)
Dechert LLP (New York, NY)
Foley & Lardner LLP (New York, NY)
Gide Loyrette Nouel (New York, NY)
Kostelanetz & Fink LLP (New York, New York)
Loeb & Loeb LLP (New York, NY)
McKee Nelson LLP (New York, NY)
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (New York, NY)
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP (New York, NY)
Roberts & Holland LLP (New York, NY)
Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke LLP (New York, NY)
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP (New York, NY)
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (New York, NY)
WilmerHale LLP (Boston, MA)
Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP (Wilmington, DE)
Date: May 18th, 2008 2:50 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
that's fine. i know people working there with very mediocre grades who aren't going to do patent prosecution.
the patent bar is only relevant for patent prosecution, and that doesn't make any money at most big firms (exceptions are fish & richardson, finnegan henderson) so don't overestimate its importance.
EDIT: i don't know much about fenwick, but i don't think it's particularly selective.
Date: May 18th, 2008 2:53 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
So I just need to express an interest in patent lit? I'll give it a shot. I'm pretty close to being able to qualify for the patent bar. My megaback up would be to qualify for it after law school.
Date: May 18th, 2008 3:13 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
how many classes do you need for the patent bar? if there's any way to qualify before graduating law school you should try to do it (working off the assumption that you strike out at 3l eiw).
i'm not sure what you ended up deciding to do this summer, but if you could work out a way to take some of the classes you need i would definitely do it.
Date: May 18th, 2008 3:17 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
3
I don't think I can take any classes this summer. I've looked at the local universities and their offerings in this area are not advanced enough for me to get credit for them.
Date: May 18th, 2008 3:19 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
well i'd still see if you could work something out when you're a 3l. e.g., you could do directed research for a couple of credits this summer to free up some schedule space, there's a "winter term" that might have something? i'm just saying, it might be worth getting creative.
Date: May 18th, 2008 3:21 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
hmmm
well i'm not in new york this summer. But the UG credits dont count toward my limit, so technically I could take them. A full law school load with a half load of science sounds really tough though
Date: May 18th, 2008 3:25 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
as far as directed research, it wouldn't necessarily matter where you are as long as you could get it set up in time.
agree that you don't want to over-burden yourself since you struggle with the law school classes as it is. still, it seems reasonable to assume that you won't get a job through eiw and it'd still be better, e.g., to be 1 course short at graduation than 3.
Date: May 18th, 2008 3:34 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
yeah. It would be great if I could tell firms that I could qualify for the patent bar by graduation. the only other problem is that while my college grades are pretty good, I have like 10 Ws, mostly from the last two semesters I was there
Date: May 18th, 2008 3:36 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
mmm yeah that won't help. whatever else you decide to do, definitely bid all 50 of your spots (and pick up extra interviews during EIW if you can). good luck.
Date: May 18th, 2008 3:01 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
they do primarily venture capital work and were high-flying during the internet boom (first to raise to 125k). they ended up laying off like half their attorneys but they keep plodding along.
what's important, though, is that VC funding work is even more repetitive and stupid than other corporate stuff and they know it. so i think it's a place where the nyu counts more than the 2.9.
Date: May 18th, 2008 2:56 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
I dont know. I thought they were selective. I dont have a good idea of who is selective and who isn't beyond the obvious candidates. Do you think I have a shot at any of their offices?
Date: May 18th, 2008 2:58 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
i don't have a great feel for them, but i don't think they're super-selective at least. they've got really big offices in boston and nyc so i'd bid those.
Date: May 17th, 2008 3:47 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
yeah I wasn't going to. the least selective firms at 2L eiw do not come to 3L eiw. there is no cadwalader, stroock, hughes hubbard, and so forth. like over half the firms are pretty selective
call ("my name is nyu 2.9, student from NYU law. is CWT accepting resumes for full time positions, despite not being on EIW") and then send resumes to these firms regardless. also hit up jones day nyc, chadborne park nyc, baker mck nyc, DLA nyc, etc.
Gotcha, in general they aren't that selective. It is usually populated with top students at Temple/Villanova, bad students from Penn, and a spattering of good T14 students who want to work in Philly. Take that for what it is worth.
Date: May 17th, 2008 3:50 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
Yeah, but as a 3L they have to be looking for people who are decent students and want to live in philly. they aren't looking to add much to their class if they are only interviewing 5 people.
as a 2L I had an impossible time getting interviews with pretty crappy firms in markets where I had lived my whole life.
You might want to give McKee Nelson a shot and say you want to do securities litigation. Even though they laid some people off in structured finance, they've been hiring a bunch of 1L's because they need help in litigation badly.
Date: May 18th, 2008 2:42 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
you may be right that they'd like to be selective, but i would add these back in if you still have slots since they might not be able to be selective. or maybe you'll get super lucky and they'll have a bunch of SAs not accept offers and they'll need a lot of people and won't have a big pool to select from.
Date: May 17th, 2008 3:57 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
I'm definitely not going to bother with the big 4, but I might bid McKinsey and see if I can impress them with my manhole counting skills. they have a lot of spots
i assume big 4 refers to accounting? i would suspect that you have absolutely 0 chance at mckinsey with anything sub 3.5 from NYU (as in, if you can't get sullcrom, let alone weil, you won't get mckinsey). if your undergraduate GPA is decent, then maybe the consulting firms could panout. also look at bain, booz, BCG, and other consulting firms. they might also be more willing to look past your 2L summer.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:14 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
Yeah, accounting firms totally blow. I can get something starting at 50-60k through martindale.
My UG gpa is decent in a major everyone respects.
If I bid McKinsey, it would be like 50th out of 50. they are going to interview like 30 3Ls so I would still probably get an interview...I don't think there's any law firm or government legal job I can bid at 50 and get an interview, so there's no loss
Those other firms don't come to NYU, but it wouldn't hurt to send them a cover letter/resume
Date: May 19th, 2008 10:21 PM Author: fantasy-prone pungent locale
Talk to OCS and have them map out a plan for you! You can get a biglaw job if you want one. Many NYU people with lower grades than yours are working at V100 firms.
Date: May 20th, 2008 5:24 AM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
I talked to ocs.
Their plan: Do exactly what I did last year, except this time send out fewer resumes, and send some to small law firms through martindale.
Like last year when they told me it was fine to skip 2L eiw, they didn't even suggest 3L eiw, and when I brought it up their attitude was basically that it wouldn't matter much if I went or not. So I guess I'm a little disappointed that they haven't really had more advice for me.
Date: May 20th, 2008 9:08 PM Author: hilarious galvanic stage
That advice is terrible. Take it from me; I'm basically your CLS counterpart. I have 3 B-'s, which I think is approaching some sort of record. The only difference is that after 50 fucking screening interviews, I managed to get a single offer from a Vault firm.
Send out as many resumes as you can. You can try small firms, but they are almost invariably a waste of time. They are looking to hire maybe one person, and aren't likely to bother with somebody from the bottom of the class. They might seem less selective, but really, they aren't. It's easier to be the *last* NYU student Cadwallader takes than the *only* NYU student some tiny firm takes.
Apply to every big firm out there. If they're not at EIW, send a resume anyway. Who fucking cares? What do you have to lose? You don't need a "strategy," you need a shotgun. GL, friend.
Date: May 20th, 2008 9:13 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
thanks man. last time I sent out almost 400 resumes. Hope I have better luck this time. OCS tells us to expect around 10 screening interviews from 50 bids as a 3L.
3 B-s at cls is worse than 1 from nyu I think, what are the rest of your grades like?
Date: May 20th, 2008 9:29 PM Author: hilarious galvanic stage
Most of my other grades are Bs and B+s. I probably have around a 3.15 overall now (I'm graduating this week). As a 1L, though, I had about a 2.85. I knew two people whose grades were almost as bad as mine (including someone who actually got a C) and neither of them got a biglaw job because they weren't willing to do every goddamn interview they could.
Date: May 20th, 2008 9:45 PM Author: hilarious galvanic stage
One of them is still looking. She had some PI job last summer. The other one got a job with a midlaw firm in Seattle (where he's from). I think he's going to stay there.
I really can't believe they told you it was fine to skip EIW. That's staggering incompetence on their part.
Date: May 20th, 2008 9:55 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
Yeah, at least I know better this time. But there's a huge difference this time around. Only 140 firms come for the 3Ls, and the bulk of them are either like cravath, patent firms, or are interviewing only like 3 3Ls. Other than Dechert NY I don't think there is a single reasonable firm for me that is interviewing more than 20 3Ls.
With only about 10 screening interviews, it's going to be a real stretch to get anything.
Date: May 23rd, 2008 2:00 AM Author: purple national wrinkle
obsessing over this isn't going to help...make a reasonable list, do your fucking research before going in, make sure you are well dressed and well coiffed, and try to come up with a good explanation should a firm ask you about x grade in x class
Date: May 23rd, 2008 2:23 AM Author: purple national wrinkle
vault+nalp+chambers+infirmation.com+xoxo searches for past threads will generally give you enough info about the kind of things you should emphasize during your interviews. since you are an nyu dude you can also use the packet OCS has on its website (I believe) with all of the reports from past SAs--there are often details in there about particular training programs, practice areas, firm culture, etc that can help.
Date: May 23rd, 2008 2:26 AM Author: purple national wrinkle
also, wilmerhale boston and foley hoag boston are probably no go's---roberts and holland is going to be tough as well. VERY small firm--i know you have taken some tax courses, but, to repeat what a previous poster said, bid them low--those kinds of boutiques are very particular about what they are looking for
Date: May 23rd, 2008 3:43 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
Wouldn't it be better to spend the bids on like faegre des moines or whatever? like cleary and debevoise wont even look at people with less than a 3.3 (or whatever it is)
Date: May 23rd, 2008 2:06 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
They are fine for the average student. If you notice, 90% of what they do is just standardizing things. They want everyone's resume to look exactly the same. They give everyone pretty much the same advice.
They are horrible if you have bad grades, or if you want to do something other than work for a big firm.
Date: May 23rd, 2008 1:45 PM Author: sickened misunderstood newt
The problem with your edited list is that it is filled only with either very very small firms or NY branch offices of mid-ranged Vault firms in the V40-50 range that I am guessing only take on 20-30 summers. I assume that the list is of only firms visiting NYU for 3L's.
If I were you, I would instead mass mail vault firms in NY that take on TONS of summers. Who knows, some random large vault firm may need a new associate to help with some God-awful doc review project or something. Luckily you go to NYU and the firm can at leats justify their decision given your school's ranking.
Date: May 23rd, 2008 2:03 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
Yeah, these are only firms coming to NYU. I am going to do a mass mailing of every nalp firm in new york, chicago, and half a dozen other cities at least.
Date: July 2nd, 2008 7:12 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
probably at some point
EDIT: when you post your list, please include the total number of 3l interview spots for each firm, since ranking is a combination of fit (i.e., shitty firms ranked high) and just plain gaming (you can rank firms with a ton of spots lower).
it's apparent that this is going to be an ugly fucking interview season. i bet it'll be much worse than last year.
Date: July 2nd, 2008 7:39 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
Sure, why not
although you can defer loans so long as you are in school, so it's not that big of deal for me to go back and take the 6 classes I need for the degree or whatever. People seem to think that makes it a lot easier to get a firm job
Date: July 2nd, 2008 7:41 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
true, but you'd be doing it differently than most people. i think it's not a bad idea, but still one with lots of risk. presumably you could go somewhere super cheap?
Date: July 7th, 2008 8:36 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
without knowing anything else, i think the usual rule of thumb is that offices in really shitty places (e.g., DE) are the least selective, followed by the offices in declining order of size. Exception: DC offices are almost always the most selective.
Date: July 7th, 2008 9:53 PM Author: chrome greedy coffee pot nowag
I am bidding it dead last. You get extra bids when you bid multiple offices for firms that allow only 1 interview, so it makes no sense not to bid all of the Decherts
Date: July 7th, 2008 9:26 PM Author: sickened misunderstood newt
Unless you have a strong tie to ATL or other smaller markets, I would strongly suggest focusing all or almost all of your attention on NY (or any market you have a strong tie to). An atlanta firm is not going to give you the light of day unless you are from there, as absurd that may be and sound. Those firms are suspcious of outsiders -I would steer clear.
Date: July 7th, 2008 9:33 PM Author: sickened misunderstood newt
It may. If you are from, for example, South Carolina you can say "I want ATL because its in the south." - that could work. But if you are from suburban PA, for example, you are limited to Philly, NYC, DC.
I should have said have a tie to the greater region, unless you are in the northeast or California, where I would say have a tie to the city.
Date: July 7th, 2008 9:37 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
i'd say lie as much as you want about that stuff.
also, i bet the paranoia is probably more focused on 2Ls. firms are worried you'll spend a summer there and not go back. since this would be a full-time thing, i bet they'd be less worried...
Date: July 7th, 2008 10:30 PM Author: Puce nudist friendly grandma tanning salon
coin-flipping might make sense at this point.
the FRB, in particular, is tough. i think the feds tend to be less school-conscious and more grade-conscious, in general. but there are probably relatively few people bidding.