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quepasa18 posted:Just like with attorneys, litigation paralegals will work long hours when a trial is looming, whereas transactional paralegals don't have as much of that. It may depend on where you're located, but our transactional lawyers and paralegals worked long hours during closings.
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May 10, 2010 19:17
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quepasa18 posted:Basically, I know my current firm will need to replace me, and it's likely to be with a new grad who might need some training. I was thinking of giving a month's notice, but I'm just not sure. I don't want to leave them high and dry, but I don't want to give too much notice in the event they are not happy with me leaving and ask me to go immediately (I don't anticipate that happening but you never know). No notice. Instead, let me seamlessly take your place and hope they don't notice.
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May 11, 2010 21:32
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quepasa18 posted:If you were in Wisconsin, I'd recommend you, even though in reality I'm sure you'd hate it. I secretly think I hate all law and I just didn't realize it in time. Still - easy, stress-free and boring sounds right up my alley.
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May 12, 2010 01:54
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mushi posted:It sucks just as much the second time. It really didn't at all, but you have to take the second one quick enough so you don't have to take the MBE and can transfer your original score. Some states have time limits on that.
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May 13, 2010 00:11
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Secret Asian Man posted:its somebodys special day... It's my birthday tomorrow. You guys can just send cash.
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May 15, 2010 16:28
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nm posted:Are you me? Yes, I am you. People, please send double cash. (Happy Birthday!)
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May 16, 2010 08:42
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MoFauxHawk posted:Virginia residents have a huge advantage when applying to UVA Law, which I think is pretty lame. UVA only reserves 40% of it's class for VA students, so it's really not a huge advantage. At least in comparison to schools like UT who reserve 65% of their class to residents and UNC who take 70-75% residents. deathdrive83 posted:At least I only have to take the MBE once, but I have to take in the state I don't live in because they don't accept MBE scores from other states. Does it really matter? The MBE tests black letter law, and it's the same everywhere, unless you're just complaining about having to get a hotel room for a night. deathdrive83 posted:After emerging from my post-graduation bender, I am realizing how awful it is going to be to prepare for two bar exams. For tests you could take with the NY bar (I think Mass, CT & NJ), the general idea was that you only learn NY law and then just apply NY on whatever second exam you're taking because it's not going to be wrong enough that you won't pass. Don't know if that strategy works for your two states but it seemed to work just fine for all of my friends who took NY and another bar. TyChan posted:I hear that if one of the states is only testing you on MBE knowledge or MBE subject areas, it's not quite that bad. There are states that only test you on the MBE section or MBE subject areas? That's pretty awesome. I thought you usually took the MBE once and then had two state based essays when you're taking two at once. HooKars fucked around with this message at 16:04 on May 18, 2010 |
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May 18, 2010 16:01
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MoFauxHawk posted:I think 40% is huge for a T14. Do you want them to change this just because a random magazine decided they were a good school? Virginia residents definitely have an advantage but in state school land, their quota is relatively tame. I'm pretty sure UVA could make their numbers lower since they're almost entirely privately funded, but a lot of residency statistics are tied to state funding. Schools aren't just going to give that up or make huge changes because US News bumps UCLA, UNC, UT or whoever up into the top 14. Berkeley "strives to enroll a class that has a majority of residents, but offers admission to an equal number of residents and nonresidents in order to obtain the ratio they seek" according to their FAQ page -- which seems like it may lead to more than 40% California residents in any given year. #15 UCLA class profiles seem to be around 65% - 70% California Residents. #15 UT takes around 65%. Minnesota seems to keep a 60/40 split like Virginia, Iowa takes around 50%. Seems like Michigan is really the big outlier at 20%. (Just to clarify: I thought you meant UVA is lame for taking as many as 40% residents, in which case - they are pretty in line with other schools. But maybe you just don't believe state schools in general should have to take a % of residents, I don't know.) HooKars fucked around with this message at 22:23 on May 18, 2010 |
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May 18, 2010 21:59
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MoFauxHawk posted:California again is an enormous state, even bigger than Texas, and Berkeley and UCLA probably get enough applicants from California who have roughly the same GPA/LSAT cominations as non-residents who get in. I get what you're saying but I honestly don't think UVA dumbs down its population that much to meet the numbers and can usually find 150 residents that match their general GPA/LSAT profile. I think this probably has something to do with the fact that even if the state is relatively small population-wise, its population is concentrated in the suburbs of DC where there are a lot of wealthy, educated people. Admission-wise, they never seem to have to reach beyond UVA or William & Mary as far as Virginia feeder schools go. And a lot of my VA friends had better scores than I did (I'm out of state) but UVA won out over other, better schools that many people would have chosen because they got in state tuition at a T14. You are more likely to get in if you're a VA resident with the right numbers over an out of state person with the right numbers, but I really can't imagine someone with lovely numbers getting in just because they're a resident. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and they do, but it didn't seem that way. As an aside: Does VA has a large Mormon population? I've noticed Brigham Young pretty consistently ranks as one of the top undergrads UVA takes from which seems weird.
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May 18, 2010 23:55
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evilweasel posted:I've got a friend who got a partner mentor in a field they'd hate: does that mean they're likely to end up in that part of the firm this summer? This firm has a pretty small summer class this year, if it matters. Don't think anyone can really say since all firms are different. We got to choose which groups we rotated through during the summer at my firm. Unless things have changed drastically since I was a summer, he shouldn't be stuck in one area for the entire summer though he may rotate through. Here's my advice: If you're rotating through several different departments and there's one you're pretty sure is the area of law you want to practice in, do an extra spectacular job in that department and get to know them - better than anyone else. Keep going to lunches or getting coffee or talking them up at events even after you rotate. In the end, your preference as to placement is secondary to which department wants you, so you want to be sure that the department you want to be in is willing to fight for you more than any other department. Don't do a lovely job in other departments but save your stand out moments for the department you're aiming at or it could backfire on you.
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May 22, 2010 18:11
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builds character posted:This is also true, but in this climate I'd be leery of not doing your very best for everything just because having a job in a lovely department is better than nothing. I'm not saying do a bad job in any department, but for example, if you decide to participate in a pro bono activity, try to pick one that's being led by associates/partners in the department of your choice. Continue contact with the department of choice after you rotate out - talk to them at activities, schedule lunch with them, schedule coffee with them... Don't blow off the partners and associates in the group you're currently in but don't forget about the department you rotated out of. I think this is especially important if the group you want to be in is during your first or second rotation. You don't want them to have a chance to forget how awesome you were.
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May 24, 2010 19:57
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I wish my boyfriend could see how awesome he has it. He works from 9:30/10ish am - 5:30 - 7 pm on most nights. He takes an hour out of the day to workout, then grabs lunch. During his time in the office, he bills almost every hour he's at work and then he just comes home. If he has extra work to do, he works from home but it's rare. I've never seen him actually go into the office on a weekend and he rarely ever works on weekends but if he does, it's usually contained to Sunday night for a few hours. The Iphone stays in the kitchen and not by the bed while we sleep. His paycheck is over $100k, he doesn't kill himself over it, he's hitting his billables, and he likes every single person in his department. He's a second year but both of us still get invited to the firm box for client ball games and hockey games so there are also actually some perks. Yet he still manages to hate his job. Drives me crazy.
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May 24, 2010 22:19
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evilweasel posted:what practice group is this and how do I get it He started in Environmental full time but now he does both environmental and antitrust. It's a lot of regulatory, compliance and advocacy work with some shittier asbestos stuff that he's not a huge fan of. It seems to work well because he's mainly in environmental but almost always has non-essential antitrust stuff in the background to fill in gaps when environmental slows down. entris posted:Did he go from undergrad straight to law school? A lot of people say that they hate their first "real world" job, simply because they've never worked at one before. I've seen this translate into JDs who graduate after going straight through from college, who then get a job at a law firm as their first real job ever, and they hate it and hate it but really only because it's a job and they aren't used to working like adults yet. I was going to write just this to TyChan. He has plenty of jobs that he thinks would be cool but of course they're things like "Maybe I'll just go work for the Rams" or "I'll just write a bestseller and be rich."
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May 24, 2010 22:46
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TyChan posted:Still, if he wants to find something else to do, he better search those options out now. He knows. But like most lawyers, he's pretty risk adverse so he'll probably continue on the law firm path until they kick him out. I think deep down he knows he has it good, but he likes to complain as much as everyone else. He actually just left the office now and it's only 5 pm. But at least he left to go pick up beer before the firm softball game.
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May 24, 2010 23:03
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sigmachiev posted:What was the funnest summer associate activity you did? Retreat to the Hamptons for the weekend - just a good drunken time. All of our events kind of sucked because our engaged recruiting director was hooking up with an engaged summer (not engaged to each other). They kind of turned each event into their own private date, so if you hung around after the partners left, they would shoot dagger eyes at you unless you had an associate or summer you were also hooking up with, then you were welcome. It was also ridiculously gossipy because anything you said to a fellow summer would eventually get back to recruiting. Also, some events are very hard to not get drunk at. We had a vodka tasting that was scheduled BEFORE the event dinner. The same recruiting director as above got so drunk she puked. (She was not laid off during our layoffs either).
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May 25, 2010 01:50
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wacko_- posted:Fancy pants. We went to some place in Florida, Gulf side. The firm was actually probably just cheap. Each office did their own retreat vs. one big one, so essentially the Hamptons was a location that could be traveled to via subway or bus. I think it'd be more fun to have people from every office. Probably would have kept all the summers and associates from hooking up with one another since you could find someone from another office and it'd be less awkward.
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May 25, 2010 19:03
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The Warp posted:She's wondering who the gently caress you guys are and where are all the unemployed lawyers you're talking about? She thinks that's there's no harm in going to Western State because she'll get her JD and pass the bar exam like every other lawyer, that they all learn the same damned material and they offered her a really huge scholarship. I'm unemployed. I went to UVA Law (T14), was on Law Review (prestigious) and have passed the bar (in 2 states), was employed for 6 months at a good law firm in NYC, and now have no job and have been unemployed for a little over a year. I wouldn't recommend going to a lovely school in this economy. It's tough out there and there's a lot of competition. The most frustrating part is that Like Ainsley, not only can I not get a job as an attorney, I can't get a job as something like a paralegal either. I was a paralegal before going to law school so I have real life experience at it and it doesn't matter. What does she want to do with her law degree anyway? TyChan posted:In the last 2 years, I have yet to meet a Cardozo 3L who actually had a job lined up The person they kept in my firms finance department over me was a Cardozo grad. He was the firm's diversity scholarship person his 1L year (Asian Male). Lykourgos posted:Has anybody used examsoft for the bar? I used it for both my exams, I think it's worth it, but I can't hand write for poo poo - my hand cramps up really quickly and I like the ability to go back and edit neatly and rearrange things very easily.
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May 28, 2010 00:53
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TyChan posted:I bet he slept with someone important. He didn't even interview with the firm ever. Essentially he applied for a diversity scholarship and then they selected him and randomly placed him with a firm. As far as I can tell, he could have ended up at Skadden as long as they were participating in the program. I don't think he'd be working there without the scholarship though he apparently proved his worth more than I did.
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May 28, 2010 01:11
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TyChan posted:I didn't know they reached into summer associates too. We had two - one for 1Ls and one for 2Ls. I know the 2L one was firm specific and people usually came from pretty good schools. The 1L program is through the Bar of the City of New York’s Minority Fellowship Program, or something similar, and the 1Ls chosen for my firm were from Cardozo and Hofstra.
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May 28, 2010 02:10
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Alaemon posted:Ainsley, do you put your JD on your resume when you submit it? You didn't ask me, but I tried leaving my JD off and changing "Summer Associate" to "Law Clerk" (an ambiguous term I've seen applied to both paralegal positions and lawyer positions), and changing the dates so they are just in years to disguise the fact they are just summer positions, dumbing down my job description, and still nothing. I think they Google - drat an uncommon name.
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May 29, 2010 01:27
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newberstein posted:So a few pages back I asked about how much of an effect knowing the dean in a non-related department would help my chances at a T14. The general consensus was that it wouldn't really make a difference but I found out today that he got promoted to Vice President. How much more of an impact am I looking at? How are they going to know that you know him? Recommendation letter? Knowing someone who's important at the school can definitely help but there's a big difference between someone saying "Yep, I know that guy, he's swell" in a letter or phone call and him being willing to exert his influence to put some pressure on them to accept you. There are plenty of people out there in any given year who know a notable alum. Most alums are willing to write a letter for a person but are not willing to exert any pressure until its their kids or relatives. If your numbers are good, and this guy was your professor/employer, maybe they'll give his recommendation a little more weight, but I can't imagine it would make up for subpar grades/LSAT.
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May 30, 2010 19:26
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newberstein posted:All I wanted to know was if a VP wanted to, could they push their weight around enough to get anyone in? Yeah, they definitely can, and if you're a minority, they're probably more likely to accept you with a lower gpa/lsat. Is this a school you really want to go to? If you don't know him very well and it's not actually a top choice, I would probably ask your mom or dad if he's the type who would be offended if he threw his weight around and then you turned down an acceptance to go somewhere else.
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May 30, 2010 22:22
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TheMadMilkman posted:http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?JobID=88472366&aid=89081893-3610&WT.mc_n=125 Is where you end up completely random or can you select from pretty much anywhere in the nation. I might be interested in learning how to properly embellish my answers.
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Jun 4, 2010 04:01
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quotison posted:I think every state is two days except California and Louisiana. There are a ton of states with three days exams - Texas is a big one, but a lot of the south does like South Carolina, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. Washington has a three day exam because there's a day of professional responsibility and no MMPRE. And there are other states too... Delaware, Ohio and probably more. Montana manages to have a three day bar and no reciprocity just like California.
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Jun 5, 2010 23:58
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Green Crayons posted:So, the process is: you take the bar, pass the bar and then you have to be admitted to the bar? What's between passing and being admitted? Is that when the character and fitness/background check comes into play? Most states have you do the Character & Fitness test before you take the bar (though some states like New York do it after). In Missouri, it was take the bar in February, wait until April to find out you passed and get sworn in that week - pretty hassle free. In New York, it was take the bar in July, get results in November and then you filled out all the character & fitness paperwork, then you were scheduled for an interview and a time to get admitted - which could be a month or so away due to how many people need to be admitted. New York gives you 3 years from the date you pass to get admitted before you have to retake the exam.
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Jun 9, 2010 18:02
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Anyone have any really good made-up excuses for wanting to work in a specific state that you have no connection to (and haven't even ever been to)?
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Jun 15, 2010 00:27
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wacko_- posted:Like a few have said now, engaged to someone from that state is the standard. This seems easier for a guy. Do I have to go out and buy a cubic zirconia ring? My story will be awesome... I've already moved to Missouri for the guy, now apparently I'm following him on to Tennessee in my little made up story.
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Jun 15, 2010 03:34
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nm posted:How does this work when you get the job? You break up?
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Jun 15, 2010 03:39
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Durry posted:So I'm probably dropping out of law school. I'll go get drunk with you before your interviews.
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Jun 17, 2010 03:22
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I Am Not Clever posted:Lewis & Clark claims that of the 216 graduates of the class of 2008 who sought employment, 92% report full-time employment, with 44% in private practice, 20% in business & industry, 17% in government, and so on. Let's say you graduate and you go back to your job as a cashier at Wal-Mart... do you know what you are doing? You're working a job "in business & industry." Aside from maybe someone who worked at McKinsey before law school and goes back there, very few people become general counsel for a business straight out of law school so always be wary of schools with large business numbers. It's a catch-all. There are quite a few people in this thread who work in government but guess what? They're not actually working as government ATTORNEYS, they work as things like tax compliance officers and patent examiners that don't require any sort of JD. But now they have debt. And private practice? There's a wide variety in that category as well - including going solo. Some people are okay with that and go in head first, other people are pretty intimidated and unprepared because law school doesn't really teach you about the realities of practicing law. Let's say you want to practice in Oregon - take a look at NALP Directory (http://www.nalpdirectory.com/) - a directory that contains the names of most of the large, competitive firms and info about their salaries, offers etc.. You'll see 19 firms listed for the entire state of Oregon, all in Portland, which is a desirable, trendy city. Now click on their names and look at their info: Let's take Davis Wright, a 100 person firm in Portland. They took 6 summers in 2009 and made TWO offers. Stoel Rives has 154 people. They had 9 2L summers in 2009 and gave FOUR offers. Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt? 141 Attorneys, 5 2L Summers and THREE offers. Tonkon Torp? 84 attorneys in the office, 4 2L summers and THREE offers. Go through some of the other offices and you'll find a lot of those listed only have 5 - 20 attorneys in them and don't take more than one summer, if any. So TWELVE people got offers from four of Portland's largest law firms in 2009. You don't think there are 12 people at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Penn, Duke, UVA, etc that are from Oregon and want to move back home? There are other firms not listed but even the largest firms aren't taking very many people and the smaller firms are taking less and obviously, the practices that smaller firms are engaged in tend to differ so think about what you want to do when you graduate law school. Sometimes it's actually easier to go to places like DC and NYC because there are just flat out more firms and bigger class sizes. Sometimes wanting to work locally is not a good thing. Edit: Also take a look at where these firms interview. You'll see that your schools are usually on the list but that the other schools they interview at are places like Harvard, UVA, Michigan, Washington, Berkeley, Stanford... so these firms are not just hanging around waiting for applications, they're actively going to on campus interviews across the country to interview at top 10 schools for those 12 spots. HooKars fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Jun 17, 2010 |
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Jun 17, 2010 17:41
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i81icu812 posted:Just checking, but Asian males still don't count as URMs, do they? Not for admissions, but they do count as minorities for law firms. You can definitely apply for firm diversity programs and scholarships and things because you're Asian (works for females of any race too even though they're not a URM for law school admissions). Some applications will let you apply if you just have a "diverse lifestyle or viewpoint" though they'll probably choose a real minority over you to win the position. Mookie posted:Unfortunately for a lot of people, I've heard that all of these are only for people who currently have full-time associate positions. In other words, unemployed need not apply. I really do wonder how I'm ever going to get a job again, anywhere.
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Jun 19, 2010 18:27
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Defleshed posted:So what you're saying is you want to take on an unemployed Loyola grad (me) and teach him the ropes of immigration law so that I become experienced enough to buy your practice from you. Right? RIGHT? I'll throw in some money if I can get in on this. Perhaps this is the start to Something Lawful LLC?
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Jun 21, 2010 22:06
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I applied to a paralegal job asking for 5 years experience at the company that my dad used to work for (and was general counsel for and he submitted my resume to). I was thinking I might actually hear back that I wasn't qualified enough because it required so many years of experience and I only have like 2 years of actual paralegal experience. Wrong. The person thought it "wouldn't be challenging enough" for me and that "the payscale wouldn't be good enough for me." And my dad said he couldn't disagree (thanks Dad). The job paid about $60k to start and since if I'm honest, I have no real interest in being a lawyer, would have been perfect for me. I can't figure out what kind of job my dad thinks I'll magically get.
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Jun 22, 2010 07:00
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entris posted:Your father has seriously done you harm, and he needs to understand that. Well that was their words and reasoning, not his. He just didn't seem to try to persuade them very much which is frustrating since it's one of the few positions where it's not just a cover letter with a few sentences on it. He's retired so he doesn't hold a lot of sway anymore, it's just frustrating for him to talk about how he doesn't disagree with their reasoning. It may sound crazy but I actually don't view challenging, stressful work that you take home with you every night as a good thing.
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Jun 22, 2010 15:59
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InternetRulesLawyer posted:I have a law firm and brokerage in Connecticut. I have an extensive background in bankruptcy law and mortgage work. I even posted an "ask me about bankruptcies" thread forever ago. Are you still looking to expand and hire more people?
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Jun 24, 2010 03:01
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amishsexpot posted:It's apparently the ONLY Fashion Law program in the entire U.S. and the professor is supposed to be incredible. It's not much of a program - there's one class and a clinic of sorts. The reason no other school has it is because it's just a bullshit course, like the fact that Columbia offers some sort of class for Art Law. Come on, it has "civil rights related to apparel" in the course description. That will never be useful. What does "fashion law" entail? Contracts/Agreements/Leases. Employment Issues like benefits, sexual harassment, discrimination, wage & hour. Licensing. Litigation. Trademarks/Trade Secrets/Patent/Copyright registration & enforcement, maybe some Import/Export laws, Mergers and Acquisitions... basic classes that are not fashion specific. You can teach them in a fashion specific manner but you don't need to. You won't do all of those things, you won't be put into some "Fashion Law Practice Group" - you'll be put into IP, Litigation, Corporate, Employment Litigation (assuming you snag a firm job) - and you'll hope and pray and cross your fingers that someone in the fashion industry becomes your company's client or needs your law firm so that you can establish a working relationship with them and move in house. Or maybe you can keep in touch with all your fashion school friends and go solo and help them do contracts and licensing and stuff (but you probably don't want to limit yourself to fashion law then). Or if you're real lucky maybe someone in your school with become successful enough to need a full time attorney for their business and think of you. Fashion law isn't something to get excited about because it's really just a conglomeration of basic law that exists in a variety of industries.
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Jun 25, 2010 03:22
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I'm convinced that God just sits up there and laughs at me. I spent a year and a half in St. Louis - Not a single interview. Last week I broke up with my boyfriend and moved back home this past Saturday. Of course, today a law firm in St. Louis wants to interview me. I'll still go interview with them but dammit... the timing.
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Jun 30, 2010 05:17
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Mookie posted:
Sooooo... what are you doing Friday night?
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Jun 30, 2010 05:24
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NO JOBS, DIE ALONE
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Adar posted:Aww, that sucks. If it's any consolation, he really did come off as a jerk through your posts? Aw, that's terrible, he's a seriously nice, good guy who supported my unemployed, depressed and mopey rear end for over a year - not a jerk at all, just not into law or being a lawyer. I hope the interview goes well, even though my thoughts about me and the law pretty much mirror Quepasa's.
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Jun 30, 2010 15:49
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commish posted:Yeah, I understand. One of my best friends at Cravath - I haven't seen her in 8 months, mind you - billed (BILLED) over 120 hours a week for the first 3 months she started at the firm. I have a friend at Cravath in Corporate who pretty much does nothing all day but "professional reading." He's leaving for a clerkship soon so nobody will give him anything now but it's been like that pretty much since he started. It depends on a lot of different factors - not just on the firm but the practice group, how much you procrastinate, etc. I know a ton of people who seem to gently caress around all day chatting and don't even start their work til late afternoon but "work so hard."
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Jun 30, 2010 23:13
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