How Screwed Are the 1Ls?
March 9, 2009 by Legal Tease
Q: As a 1L hoping to score a summer gig with a big law firm for my 2L summer, all of this layoff news does not bode well. Given the fact that law firms are slashing people left and right, delaying start dates for first year associates, rescinding offers, and offering year-long delayed start dates, what is going to happen this August when current 1Ls go through recruitment?
Obviously the competition will just be worse as law firms will be hiring less people….but how bad will it be? Is it time to plan a volunteer trip building houses in a third-world country or something so that I can say I did something interesting my 2L summer (and hope that I can score a big law job after my 2L summer)? I’ll be clerking at a non-profit law firm this summer, and am reasonably ranked at my Tier 1 law school, so in any other year I’d have an OK shot at big law. I know that people who are in the top 10% at T14s will be ok—but what about the rest of us? Let me know if it’s time to pack my eurotrip backpack.
A: Well, I’m a big fan of having a eurotrip backpack packed and ready to go at all times (hey, between layoffs, mental breakdowns, and regrettable liaisons, you never know when you might need to get out of town in a pinch) but I actually don’t think you’re going to need one anytime soon—at least not because you can’t find a job.
Believe it or not, you’re in a pretty decent spot right now—at least compared to, say, 2Ls or 3Ls. Sure, BigLaw is in the toilet and slashing bodies left and right, but the silver lining there—at least for 1Ls like you with good resumes at top schools—is that the BigLaw hiring model is changing. And fast. Even though law firms seem to be working overtime lately to keep their junior ranks as lean and mean as possible, they are eventually going to hire new people to fill their junior classes. And when they do, the old Top-10%-Gets-In-Wherever-They-Want model will have gone the way of the $10,000 stub bonus.
Because here’s the deal: Back in the day, you could literally be a socially retarded serial killer, but if you were a top-10%-Law-Review type from a top school, you could pretty much write your ticket to BigLaw. Not anymore. Law firms have finally realized that students who just happened to get good grades the first couple of semesters of law school, but have never worked a day in their lives and are otherwise douchey wastes of space don’t necessarily make the best lawyers—and are layoffs waiting to happen in bad times. Sure, BigLaw firms will always look for a prestigious resume, but they’ve seen what papering their junior ranks with nothing but a sea of prestigious resumes can yield. Going forward, firms are going to actually evaluate who they’re hiring and look for people who have some value beyond bolstering the firms’ Ivy League totals.
So, between your solid summer gig at the nonprofit law firm, the good grades, the T14 school, and the sheer fact that you won’t need full-time employment until the fall of 2011, you actually have a shot at BigLaw. Firms—like any employers—are going to have to gamble on what their 2011 needs may be, but it’s safe to say they’re going to need someone. So, make sure to keep your grades up and yes, try to get a decent summer gig for after your 2L year. As you suspect, that’s gonna be tricky given the economy, but remember: Everyone’s in the same boat. In the next couple of years, not having a BigLaw summer gig won’t necessarily be the death knell it used to be for nabbing a 3L offer. Sure, see if you can land a BigLaw summer clerkship, but make sure to have a Plan B ready. And the good news there (well, sort of) is that you’ll know by early Fall whether you’re going to be working in BigLaw after your 2L year—and if you’re not, you’ll still have tons of time to hook up a good alternative that makes your resume stand out. (See here for some ideas).
Now, sure, I have to admit that all of this advice is qualified by the fact that I’m not…psychic. There’s a chance this shithole economy could be even worse in three years, in which case, all bets are off. Either way, at the end of the day, might as well keep that backpack at the ready—whether it’s for a post-bar trip or an extended, er, job search, it should come in handy.
Good luck.
Need advice? Email our Sweet Hot Counsel at counsel@sweethotjustice.com.
In these uncertain times, it’s time to latch on to a firm that will be there, and in your personal life, to someone with mucho dinero. I’ve seen it already. Good looking women in NYC who ordinarily wouldn’t give some turds the time of day in a bar are now getting engaged left and right to those same guys. Those guys all of a sudden think they’ve hit the lottery, when in reality, those women are looking for financial stability, at the price of sex 3-4 times/week. Tiffany’s making a mint on diamond 2 Carat diamond solitaires.
I’ve had 2 decent looking women in the last 2 months try and cozy up to me, and I’m just a 5th year associate with little hope of partnership (though I’m a good plow horse at my firm in the restructuring arena). I figure if the economy stays in the toilet for a few more years, I can lateral my way into a partnership somewhere else. But I’ve got to make sure I make the right moves (both at work and in my personal life).
In the meantime, ride it out however you can. Make sure you maintain your standards, though, because you will regret it if you settle for something quickly which turns out to be a rotten egg.
The 2010’s are totally fucked, but the 2011’s maybe have a shot. COnsider yourself lucky that you didn’t apply to law school one year earlier.
I’m not sure what the bulk of the first moronic comment has to do with anything related to the question, but I would echo the sentiment of riding it out. I’d also have you ask yourself why you really want to be a part of big law, given the current state of it.
Get some diverse experience over the course of the school year and the Summer, even if not strictly in law; that way you may have some options over the next 3 years. You’re going to need some luck, too, because of all of the others out there. Why is El so crabby?
I’m with you EL. This blog alone should open your eyes to the reality of Big-Law.
That being said, you’re a 1L, dude. I say you get some basic experience for the first half of the summer doing something/anything (like intern for a judge or something) then, do an abroad program in Europe for the 2nd half. That’s what I did. I got excellent experience and contacts working for some great judges then I skipped town with my backpack in one hand and liver in the other, saw some great stuff, drank my ass off and then made straight A’s. When I got back I was rested, ready to go, 5 credits ahead of everyone else and already 10 spots higher in the class. This also allowed me to spread classes out over the next year and have fewer hours to stress over and more time to study when it counts.
Of course you could spend your whole summer in a library doing the most boring research out there on topics which mean nothing to you since you’ve only been in law school for one year and know exactly jack about the real world of law only to be taken to lunch by some freak show who is trying to impress you by how much he spent on his tie……yeah that’s umm fun too…then you get to do it all over again your NEXT summer.
You need to get experience, of any sort. Hopefully, you will not be prejudiced against, if youre a woman, as it is a man’s world still in BigLaw. Try and understand that most men lawyers are dufisses who are in law because they are legacies at their schools. If you have no connection, then maybe you should try something overseas, but do NOT do something stupid like the Southern Lawman suggests–getting drunk and ruining your liver. You must adhere to basic standards of conduct, whether it be at BigLaw or overseas. You don’t want to have your picture posted on the web drinking from drinking from a Statue of David’s private parts at the Trevi Fountain, or suckling Aphrodite in Athens.
Times are tough. I see Dugey Dugmeister has beat me to the site. Hey, pal. How about Al’s comments? I agree with him. My cousin got layed off from Morgan Stanley and his girlfriend dumped him so fast he’s still in a tizzy. Evidently she is holding out for a managing director somewhere–anywhere–and is not interested in my cousin unless he can show her he’ll have money enough to support her. For now, she’s moved out and living with a friend in Queens, NY!
There is a website devoted to women like this, Al.
http://www.dabagirls.com
You will see that lawyers don’t stand a chance, when all the good-looking babes are looking for I-bankers.
PS: Al, I think I went to Newtown High School with your little sister, Linda, graduated in 2001.
I cheked out the dabagirls website. Remind me never to date a woman like that. They sound like gold-diggers.
El is a mess. If she doesn’t understand the post, she should read it again, and if she still doesn’t understand it, she should ask a man to help her.
Men, women will not respect you and treat you well if you do not respect them. You must learn that women are hard-wired differently than men.
Women expect caring and a little romance. Men, you should not presume that we are so anxious for sex that we will immediately go for the bedroom when we see you. You must be complimentary, and sympathetic of the woman’s situation. You will get much closer to women if you follow this rule.
Men who do not follow this simple advice will not be successful with women.
Xuan Lin–here is some Eastern Wisdom for you:
Confucious say:
It is good for girl to meet boy in park, but better for boy to park meat in girl.
Man who farts in church sits in own pew.
Man trapped in woman’s pantry have ass in jam.
Woman who fly upside down have crack up.
Man who stick face in punchbowl get punch in nose.
Man who go to bed with itchy asshole wake up with smelly finger.
Man who go to bed with sex in mind wake up with solution in hand.
Virgin like balloon . . . one prick, all gone.
Baby conceived in automatic car: shiftless bastard.
A bird in hand makes hard to blow nose.
Find old man’s penis in dark, not hard!
Man who smoke pot choke on handle.
Man who put head on railroad track to listen for train likely to end up with splitting headache.
Sailor who get discharged from navy leave buddies behind.
Secretary becomes permanent fixture when screwed on desk.
Don’t drink and park, accidents cause people.
He who cross ocean twice without washing is dirty double crosser.
Man who tell one too many light bulb joke soon burn out!
It take many nails to build crib, but one screw to fill it.
Woman who cook carrots and peas in same pot is unsanitary.
Man who fart in church sit in own pew!
Man who eat many prunes, sit on toilet many moons.
Those who quote me are fools.
Man who drive like hell bound to get there!
Man who keep feet firmly on ground have trouble putting on pants!
Man who stand on toilet is high on pot!
Man who sit on tack get point!
Man who run behind car get exhausted!
Man who jump off cliff jump to conclusion!
War does not determine who’s right, war determine who’s left.
Good advice Xuan Lin.