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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]no, biglawyer. [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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