Unemployed Baltimore law grad with 120k in debt - options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HYS turn out plenty of aspie spacecases who can't tie their shoes (but can give full case cites from memory), but i have a hard time believing that grads from those schools are blacklisted anywhere. this is a common myth. just not true.

agencies have a good mix of TTT grads and elite grads, but IME the toileteers landed their gigs years ago. it isn't like that anymore, because each opening gets so many applications. i really do not buy that the hiring attorney at an agency is going to compare the resumes of a T14 grad with a clerkship and biglaw and a recent graduate from a TTT fresh out of school and decide to hire the toilet grad.

Who talks like this? Are you a student?

[Anonymous]

no, biglawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no, biglawyer.

Uh, ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no, biglawyer.

Uh, ok.

good point.

OP, just network and "hustle" and you will land a really good job. nobody cares about where you went to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no, biglawyer.

If you are working at a firm, how do you know about federal agency hiring? You can guess all you like, but working for the feds is a completely different world than biglaw. I am a TTT grad working for a federal agency. Almost all the attorneys in my office are TTT grads. We have been hiring recently, and we are receiving hundreds of applications for GS12/13 positions. Some of the applicants are from T14 schools, but most are not. Where someone went to school is meaningless. We also don't really care if you previously worked for some elite law firm. We really just want attorneys that can demonstrate knowledge and desire for our practice area. Our last hire went to some law school in Ohio I've never heard of before.

My advice to any new grad is try to get some experience. Even if you have to volunteer, you will make connections and gain skills while you are volunteering. Students should intern while they are in school to try to make connections. Relying on the OCI process at lower-tier schools is not going to result to employment for most students from those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no, biglawyer.

If you are working at a firm, how do you know about federal agency hiring? You can guess all you like, but working for the feds is a completely different world than biglaw. I am a TTT grad working for a federal agency. Almost all the attorneys in my office are TTT grads. We have been hiring recently, and we are receiving hundreds of applications for GS12/13 positions. Some of the applicants are from T14 schools, but most are not. Where someone went to school is meaningless. We also don't really care if you previously worked for some elite law firm. We really just want attorneys that can demonstrate knowledge and desire for our practice area. Our last hire went to some law school in Ohio I've never heard of before.

My advice to any new grad is try to get some experience. Even if you have to volunteer, you will make connections and gain skills while you are volunteering. Students should intern while they are in school to try to make connections. Relying on the OCI process at lower-tier schools is not going to result to employment for most students from those schools.

i have friends who are feds, and i summered with two separate agencies. i don't disagree that the lower-ranked grad with relevant experience or some kind of demonstrated commitment to the agency's mission is (in most cases) going to get the job over the T14 biglaw litigator who burned out and probably spent his/her few years of practice writing memos. in this way, government is different from the private sector. a firm will often hire the elite grad on that basis alone, forget about ability.

however, some of the posts in this thread have gone off the reservation and seem to be suggesting that, all things being equal, the TTT grad has an equal, or even better, shot at being hired than someone with elite credentials. i am calling bullshit on that. having said that, it's a moot point, because i doubt either the TTT grad or the biglaw washout with no relevant experience will have his/her resume even hit the hiring attorney's desk.

honestly, my advice to OP is to consider switching careers. the legal job market is absolute shit and doesn't seem to be getting better anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

Doc review/contract review/compliance are good ideas. I'm not in DC but work in the energy industry and the company loves to recruit law school students and recent grads for all sorts of positions here. Many many analysts, advisors, negotiators, etc etc with law degrees here, it's a good background to have. The pay might not be Big Law but it's definitely 6 figures+ for most, if not all of those jobs.

[Anonymous]

agree with the compliance angle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps look into government financial industry regularoty agency? I'm thinking Securities Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, etc.

Another direction to explore might be international development work through places like World Bank and IFC which often list prior financial sector background and law degree as a requirement for some of the technical positions.

Getting a law job for an agency like the SEC is next to impossible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps look into government financial industry regularoty agency? I'm thinking Securities Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, etc.

Another direction to explore might be international development work through places like World Bank and IFC which often list prior financial sector background and law degree as a requirement for some of the technical positions.

Getting a law job for an agency like the SEC is next to impossible

according to some posters, the best way to get hired as a trial attorney for the SEC is to graduate from a fourth tier school with mediocre grades and have no demonstrated experience. the agency will jump at that over the "egghead" who went to stanford, clerked on the 9th circuit, then spent a few years at skadden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no, biglawyer.

Uh, ok.

good point.

OP, just network and "hustle" and you will land a really good job. nobody cares about where you went to school.

You clearly are not a lawyer

[Anonymous]

Just hang a shingle - your license is gold, you just need to cultivate it

[Anonymous]

I was a TTT grad who doubled down and went and got a ll.m. 10 years of BigLaw in the bank and now a partner. scary gamble though.

[Anonymous]

I work in the Contracts field as a Contracts Administrator/Analyst and I work with two folks who are fresh out of law school. I am a little closer to one than the other and she is making about $85k. They both came in with no experience. Maybe that can be a foot in the door for you?

Try companies like General Dynamics, SAIC, Lockheed Martin, etc. They are always hiring for Contracts positions. As a lawyer, I think you are at an advantage more than a person who just has a Bachelors and a couple of years experience.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I work in the Contracts field as a Contracts Administrator/Analyst and I work with two folks who are fresh out of law school. I am a little closer to one than the other and she is making about $85k. They both came in with no experience. Maybe that can be a foot in the door for you?

Try companies like General Dynamics, SAIC, Lockheed Martin, etc. They are always hiring for Contracts positions. As a lawyer, I think you are at an advantage more than a person who just has a Bachelors and a couple of years experience.

Good luck!

I think this is a great suggestion - once you get some experience, you may be able to use it to leverage into a government contracts attorney position at an agency (maybe not with the most prestigious agency, but does that really matter?). I knew someone who did that.