STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

Lawyers - how did you get your jobs?

blubirde · Chanel

I worked a few different jobs during the summer and I parlayed that experience into my current job. They liked my experience (and me) and there you have it. I work for the government doing criminal work and that's what I tailored my law school experience and work experience towards/around. In retrospect I might have tried my hand at a few more non-profit jobs since I'd consider those types of jobs as well but oh well. I'm not a firm person and I never wanted to be one, so I tried to guide my classes and jobs with that in mind.

Lots of people I graduated with didn't have a job after law school, including me. Most of us got jobs within a few months of taking the bar though. For those that didn't, what really seemed to work was interning and volunteering. A lot of firms/jobs will make exceptions for someone who doesn't expect to get paid. And then they usually get offered a job or find one in the process of meeting people and doing unpaid work. It sucks to not get paid but it's better than working in a bookstore for a year.

I'm not sure but can't you extend the grace period on student loans if you don't have a job? I think my loans have emergency contingencies like that. They should give it a try.

As for your advice, I think it's spot on. I went to a top-tier law school, so my perspective is a little skewed, I'm sure. But I really think if you don't manage to follow the traditional pattern of big firm, you have to work your tail off make your own way. Law schools are definitely geared toward one path and if that doesn't work out for you (by choice or not), you have to try, try, and try again. And network. And do unconventional things to make a name for yourself.

Have any of your friends thought about taking court appointments? If they can get on a list, they can probably find a case in their field of interest and at least make a little money. I'd also suggest a volunteer legal services type of thing. If they want to do wills and estates, start taking volunteer estate cases to get experience. (Same for family law, criminal, real estate, whatever.)

I don't think graduating from a top-tier law school makes that much difference, to be honest. Big firms in Texas have just as many top-tier graduates as not. Anyone who thinks their degree is worth more because of their law school is setting themselves up for disappointment, imo.

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

About the loans, that's an interesting little cautionary tale. Apparently, you can take an unemployment grace period for one year. Once. And my school told all my classmates to take it right away when they graduate, while they're looking for something else, because, presumably, that will be the only time they're unemployed and it is longer than the six-months grace period you get automatically and that way they won't lose it. So everyone did and now they're running out of time and grace periods.

You can get an economic hardship stop on your payments if you can't afford it and you can prove your income, but interest accrues. So either they work a low-level job to keep the interest down/just make the payments, or they keep digging a bigger hole, hoping they will be able to pay it off someday. Most people moved back home with their parents, make the regular payment, and do either a mcjob or contract work.

kittenheels · Coach

I think the way law schools handle OCI stinks. I went to a top 20 school and found a job with an Am Law 100 firm. So, I was really lucky - I was a summer associate and worked for 2.5 years with the firm. But, when I wanted to leave my firm, I realized how many legal jobs were out there that I didn't know existed - I now work as a labor and employment lawyer for a great government office. I wish I had been better informed about all my choices, not just firms.