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1st Year Big Law Associate - AMA
speightj2004
Alum Member
7Sage helped me a ton, so I thought I would try to give a little something back if there is interest.
I went from a 149 diagnostic to 169 actual score, T1 law school, graduated with honors, 1st year corporate & securities associate at non-NYC big law firm.
If there's interest feel free to ask me anything about LSAT, law school, OCI, or practice and I will be happy to answer.
Comments
Hello! Is T1 absolutely necessary for big law? I live in Texas and I'm considering schools (aside from UT) like SMU and UH. Thanks
It's not strictly necessary. The top of the class (assuming good interviewing skills) at either school you mentioned will be fine. There is a bigger margin for error grade-wise at UT than the other schools though.
My best advice, and it's not novel but it holds from an insider's perspective, is go to a school in a location you a) have ties, b) want to work, and c) are happy with the outcome if you are in the middle of your class.
How long did it take you to study? And what would you recommend doing to help go from low/mid 160s to 170?
Thank you.
So generous of you to offer! Thanks so much.
Did you summer at your firm? Are you in a major city (LA, Chicago...) or in a smaller secondary market? How did you feel about how OCI went? Did you get offers for what you were hoping?
Do you have a sense of how your fellow classmates did? Your outcome sounds awesome. Was there a general sense that folks got jobs they were happy with, or many people that struck out at OCI?
I can think of more but don't want to bombard you too much lol.
I started studying at the beginning of January, took the Feb. LSAT, got a 163, then took the June LSAT and got a 169. 7Sage was instrumental. I did the course, but getting on Skype calls with other members and working through questions was probably the most important thing I did. It was invaluable to be forced to defend my positions on questions against other stubborn future lawyers. Often times I ended up admitting I was wrong, but I understood WHY I was wrong b/c we all went through a, sometimes painstaking, process together.
I did summer at my firm my 2L summer. I'm in a secondary market of a southeastern based firm that has a little over 1000 lawyers.
Honestly, OCI is a slog of rejection and stress. I wish I could say something better, but it's rough. I did ~26 screeners, got ~12 CBs, and 5 offers. That is a mountain of rejection, but whatever doesn't kill you? I'm thrilled with my outcome; I love my firm and the office I'm in specifically.
I have friends in NYC v5 big law and friends who failed the bar in July and re-took in Feb, so a HUGE range. At my school the same people got all of the interviews. I think that is par for the course at non-T14 schools, so I have a good idea of those people's outcomes. They track almost identically with the historical performance of my school on law school transparency. Nearly everyone who was in the "got all of the interviews" group had a nice outcome.
To add on to the how long did it take to study, do you remember roughly how many hours per week you put in to get such a great score jump from your diagnostic in six months?
Do you plan on staying in biglaw, or do you eventually want to transition to a different kind of practice?
Thank you!
In January and February I put in a lot of time, maybe 10hours/day. I took a decent bit of time off after the Feb. test when I did literally nothing because I was burned out. I started studying 3-4 hours a day in May or so and kept that up through the July test.
My plan is to stay in big law. The culture and work in a non-NYC firm is vastly different than NYC. My friends up there will not be able to sustain the pace at which they work. I have a had a few very late nights (2-3am) and I put in a few hours most weekends, but nothing like what they do. As I said, I love my firm, office, and the senior associates/partners I work for...and that makes all of the difference.
Thanks for this! Was BL a goal going into law school? If not, what led you to that outcome?
My goal going into law school was to the best grades possible so I could have the most options. Big law was my preference, but not the only end game. Good grades and big law provide the most open doors in the future.
Appreciate this.
No problem. Everything concerning law school, grades, hiring is so opaque...I'm happy to, hopefully, shine some light on things for you guys.
Thanks for this, really appreciate it.
How's your social life and mental health? (I know that big law can be very taxing on someones mental and physical health) Are you the type of person to stay at the office late everyday? Or do you go home, have dinner or whatever, and then log on from home to make sure you're billing enough?
Do you like to spread out your work 7 days a week? Or do you like to work hard M-F so that your weekends are less stressful?
Lots of questions
thank you again.
Both social life and mental health are excellent, as is physical health. Making time for the gym in the morning has proven valuable b/c it's super crowded in the evenings and I can get in later more often then leave earlier.
I work when I have to work, but I generally leave here around 6:30. I log back on somewhat frequently to do substantive work after I get home and I check email frequently throughout the evening, it can just pile up too much if I don't, especially when I have a deal closing.
As a 1st year I have essentially no control over my workflow. I do the work when it's given to me on the timeline that is dictated to me. I can't spread anything out for the most part. I see the senior associate or partner giving me work as my client. As such, I try to turn things as quickly as possible regardless of timeline so the assigning lawyer as a much time possible to review. That makes their lives easier and make it more likely they will give me work in the future, which is the goal.
Do you wish you had joined another firm?
How long do you see yourself with your current firm?
It's so motivating to see that you have an excellent social life and equally excellent state of health while in big law. I've worked with many laterals who come from big law to medium law and have a lot of negative things to say. (like it drained their social life, missed birthdays/funerals) etc.
I've always been a gunner and big law is something that I would love to be a part of, if I worked hard enough to be achieve it that is. Thanks for the time, I hope it continues to be a great experience for you! Cheers
Not even close.
The expectation at my firm is that associates will become partners, so I expect that will be the path I follow. It's difficult to see a scenario where I leave, although it's admittedly early in my career and lots of things could happen.
This is so firm, office and, especially, partner dependent. There are partners in my firm that have very little respect for personal time/boundaries, but, luckily, they are not a part of my workflow. I consider my situation to be the exception and not the rule. Just want to keep things in perspective.
Thanks for this! What are some of the significant big law assumptions that turned out to be more mythical?
Hmm, I'm not sure. Give me some assumptions you have and I will tell you if they're true or myth in my experience so far.
This great as someone who is going to be in a similar position.
What kind of work did you have duding 1L summer?
Prior to law school did you have any professional experience?
Out of all the people you saw getting interviews and landing BL jobs could you give a rough estimate of how many where involved in groups like law review, moot court..ect?
Thanks again!
I split between a firm (not my current firm) and a non-profit 1L summer. Split between my firm and another BL firm my 2L summer.
I worked in real estate for a while between undergrad and law school. I HIGHLY recommend getting work experience prior to starting law school. It would be one of the first pieces of advice I would give someone thinking about enrolling.
100% of the people getting the interviews were on a journal of some kind. A much smaller percent were on moot court, but that's just a function of fewer moot court spots.
No problem, I'm seriously happy to do it.
Are you in College Station? We (2 of us) are meeting to study later this week.
@speightj2004 Big Law ruining relationships due to the workload involved is one assumption I tend to hear often.
You certainly need an understanding partner who doesn't expect for you to come home by 5:30 and never check your phone again. That kind of relationship/expectation is doomed to fail. I make it work by coming home and trying to punch out (with the exception of periodic email checking) for a couple of hours for dinner, etc. then logging back on after she goes to bed. This works for us for now.