Is it impossible to find work as an attorney right now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, giving you this link in case you want to apply:

http://www.nhmc.org/jobs/nhmc-policy-counsel-washington-dc/

Also, have you contacted a recruiter? When we hire associates, we generally go through an agency.

Recruiters typically don't work with recent graduates and especially not 2016 graduates who have been unemployed since graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia is a huge state, and outside of NOVA it isn't as saturated with overcrdentialed people. Try Richmond at least.

Richmond is extremely insular. Very good ol' boys and they don't view "come heres" with anything other than suspicion. I went to U of R law and was top of my class and law review and had offers from DC Biglaw (took one) and was more or less frozen out of the Richmond market because I seemed too northern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - Thank you again for all the responses. There were about 450 of us so I will divulge that I went to GW. My class rank was between top-half and top-40%, I was just short of Thurgood Marshall scholar and I was devastated. I understand that some of the responses here may be the harsh truth, but I am committed to finding a job in the DMV at least until May - one year from graduation. Thank you to those who suggested taking whatever I could find as I need a push to accept an unpaid offer. I think that working for a judge could be beneficial to my career so that is my top choice at the moment.

I have a lot of friends who graduated from GW over the years and it seems weird to me that you weren't able to secure a job with a 2016 GW JD and those grades. GW top 40% will generally all get "good" jobs; as in, big law (might have to go to NYC for those, though), entry level government, etc. The next chunk of the class is going to get "fine" jobs: local prosecutors, small firms, backroom fed jobs with no advancement. I'm surprised you didn't get traction in that latter group of jobs. Did you aim too high at first and not bother applying for that second chunk of jobs? Because it seems by aiming too high, you stayed unemployed too long, and now probably aren't a viable candidate for the second chunk of jobs either. In all seriousness, what have you been doing since July 25, 2016? Because you need something that's going to "refresh" your resume at this point. Certification. Volunteer/industry work. Etc.

Unfortunately, top 40% at GW doesn't "generally" land you any good jobs anymore even outside DC/NY/Chicago/LA when we're talking about traditional job-seeking methods. For GW grads to land these "good jobs" (we're talking Big law only) if you didn't get a 2L summer associate position and you're not ranked in the top 20%, the name of the game nowadays I'd say is an interplay of like 60% intern experience and network as they go hand-in-hand and 40% luck....

I'm an AU grad and I so happen got that 40% luck through my internship and am happily employed at a gov agency doing work transferable to the private sector.

Never got the appeal of attending any DC school - AU, GW, or Georgetown - too many lawyers in a small city, so you go to a factory producing more lawyers? And these schools aren't particularly good in terms of ranking either.

I disagree, our firm interviews at Georgetown, it is top 10 or 15ish. GW is borderline for me, but I don't see why anyone goes to AU or GMU or Catholic. Waste of money.

[Anonymous]

^GMU used to be really cheap back when I was applying to law school around '06. I think it was around $12K per year.

[Anonymous]

OP - Wow! Thanks for the responses, everyone. This is such an active community with a lot of great advice.

A lot of you asked what I have been up to since graduation. From May through the end of July I studied for the VA bar full time and really hit the pavement with job applications as soon as that was over. With the exception of some travel during the holidays my life has revolved around networking, applying to jobs, and interviewing. I did a freelance web design project in January. For a while I was trying to find pro bono cases, but I was turned away by the DC Bar's Pro Bono Program and that sort of crushed my morale.

I'm lucky to have great parents who have agreed to help me out financially if I take the law clerk position as long as I keep applying to paid positions, so I will likely commit to that opportunity.

Some posters thought I may have aimed too high at first. While that may be true, there's no going back to OCI so I try not to dwell on it. My goal was to work at a large firm and obviously that did not work out. I am just hoping that I can turn my "clerkship" into something that will provide opportunities to grow my legal career.

[Anonymous]

That's the spirit, OP! And be very grateful to your parents/support system.

You may never know, not starting out in biglaw might be a blessing in disguise. But iff getting into biglaw and becoming partner is in fact your endgame, there is not much anecdotal evidence in your favor. However, I do know of one person who started out unemployed and hung his own shingle, got the short end of his stick by his partner/mentor, somehow clawed his way and became very successful in his field (M&A), got into Jones Day as a partner mid-career with his book of business, and his now a managing partner at a V50. He always boasts to his mentees how he walks down the office corridor and see plaques of his associates who are graduated from Harvard and the likes while he was just from a lowly T50.

I know these stories are rare, but keep your head up and as long as you keep on soaking up experience or knowledge, you'll be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cousin has graduated from a similarly tiered law school in DMV at a similar ranking, could not find anything for a while.
Was eventually hired as an Assistant DA in a remote county of a flyover state, where her BF family lived.
At least her 50 K salary allows to live there somewhat OK.

I do this type of work in a small Rust Belt city. I live very comfortably and I really, really love my job. I would not leave it for biglaw or a large firm for all the money in the world. Be open to new places and new ideas. I am very fulfilled and happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - Wow! Thanks for the responses, everyone. This is such an active community with a lot of great advice.

A lot of you asked what I have been up to since graduation. From May through the end of July I studied for the VA bar full time and really hit the pavement with job applications as soon as that was over. With the exception of some travel during the holidays my life has revolved around networking, applying to jobs, and interviewing. I did a freelance web design project in January. For a while I was trying to find pro bono cases, but I was turned away by the DC Bar's Pro Bono Program and that sort of crushed my morale.

I'm lucky to have great parents who have agreed to help me out financially if I take the law clerk position as long as I keep applying to paid positions, so I will likely commit to that opportunity.

Some posters thought I may have aimed too high at first. While that may be true, there's no going back to OCI so I try not to dwell on it. My goal was to work at a large firm and obviously that did not work out. I am just hoping that I can turn my "clerkship" into something that will provide opportunities to grow my legal career.

I just wanted to post in solidarity with you. The legal field is ridiculously oversaturated when you can't give your services away! (I worked for 8 years then SAH for 10, and thought to do some pro bono work to ease back into the workforce-DC bar also turned me down!)

I think the law clerk position will open some doors for you-you will meet a lot of attorneys and get some experience, and you will be a more attractive hire because you have connections with the judge etc. Good luck!