tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post4111364046573502436..comments2024-02-10T05:49:43.712-03:00Comments on Scammed Hard!: Carrot on a stick for 3LsScammed Hard!http://www.blogger.com/profile/01044898077026675015noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-51931839894396953202010-07-27T17:23:35.069-03:002010-07-27T17:23:35.069-03:00That may be true, but ITE many people who fell vic...That may be true, but ITE many people who fell victim to biglaw's summer program cuts are trying to get clerkships as 3Ls, and then hoping to leverage that position into a biglaw associateship once the clerkship is over. I'd say this is a pretty common plan for most people who didn't get a biglaw offer, but still have the grades to be in the running for any kind of federal clerkship.<br /><br />That being said, the vast majority of law students never have a chance at federal clerkships, so it doesn't make any difference to them.Scammed Hard!https://www.blogger.com/profile/01044898077026675015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-84162478400368093422010-07-27T10:29:09.305-03:002010-07-27T10:29:09.305-03:00"Never mind the fact that federal clerkships ..."Never mind the fact that federal clerkships have always been the last resort for T14 grads who missed out on biglaw, and the application process is going to be flooded by thousands of extra first tier students who were deferred, no-offered, or just came up short at OCI."<br /><br />Where do you get this from? I did a clerkship in the DC area back when they hired Federal clerks at the beginning of 2L year. I'd say the Federal clerkship ranks are full of people with a BigLaw offer in their pocket.Last Resort?noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-10748064635783809782010-07-19T11:21:32.765-03:002010-07-19T11:21:32.765-03:00I got bites for some state court clerkships, but t...I got bites for some state court clerkships, but they were only as far as an inquiry. an administrator would email me simply asking if I was still interested in a position. My reply would always be "yes" and her reply would always be "we'll keep you posted when something opens up."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-79913865178191297702010-07-19T09:03:48.164-03:002010-07-19T09:03:48.164-03:002:43 - I know you know this already, but don't...2:43 - I know you know this already, but don't go back to Texas Wesleyan. I used to live in Dallas and graduated from an upper 1st tier northern school. I was on doc review with lots of Wesleyan grads - even a woman who was 2nd in her class and they were on DOC REVIEW. And that was a couple of years ago, when you could still GET doc review. No law school is worth going to now - not Wesleyan, not even 1st tier. I wish I'd been smart like you and dropped out after 1st year, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-69672920664728086742010-07-18T02:43:24.730-03:002010-07-18T02:43:24.730-03:00I attended a 4th tier law school in 2003. After fi...I attended a 4th tier law school in 2003. After first semester grades were posted I found myself firmly in the middle of the pack. I wasn't in the top 10% but certainly was near the bottom.<br /><br />After 1L orientation the Dean quit and I spent most of that first semester questioning my decision to pay $30k a year for a degree from a school ranked so low. <br /><br />I decided to drop out and told myself that I would go back to law school when a less expensive local law school opened in the future(There were rumors that a nearby public law school would open within a year or two but that never happened. Well not within a few years anyway. That school is scheduled to open in 2012) . <br /><br />After dropping out of law school I got engaged and soon after married. I started working as a Recruiter in the financial services industry. I knew it was the right decision to leave that law school but I knew it had disappointed my family members. Most people (myself included at one time) have NO IDEA that law school doesn't guarantee a decent paying job and that many students end up jobless and $100,000+ in debt after graduation. <br /><br />I talked to my wife and told her that I was considering returning to law school in the summer of 2009. She was okay with it and suggested I reach out to friends I had made during that first sem (I made several friends and now chat with them on facebook). Most of those friends graduated in 2006 and 2007. Out of the 12 people I know who graduated from Texas Wesleyan, TWO are working as lawyers. One of the two got a job as an assistant da in some small west Texas town and the other works at a firm she hates for $40,000 a year. The rest are working in non-law jobs that they could have gotten without a JD. A few were unemployed or working low paying retail type jobs.<br /><br />I used to be jealous of my friends that stayed and graduated. Now I think many of them wished they left when I did. <br /><br />Thanks to seeing the poor state of my friends legal careers and many blogs like this one, I have decided against returning to law school.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-81953997593313098992010-07-18T02:20:14.534-03:002010-07-18T02:20:14.534-03:00Nando, I agree I feel like throwing up most nights...Nando, I agree I feel like throwing up most nights. I don't sleep and I don't eat (good thing I really can't afford to ) I am a recent JD graduate who is thankful that the job I had before law school thought enough of me to give me work for the next couple of months in order to pay bills. I am over 30 so I shouldn't be calling my parents for help paying my car insurance or asking them to live with them. I should have been putting money into retirement. I should have a home and most of all I shouldn't go to sleep every night with huge knot in my stomach wondering whether I am going to end up asking for food stamps. <br /><br />I had a job before it didn't pay a whole lot, but I was solvent and I was on my own. I don't know how to make people understand how shitty shit can get, but I can always hope that at least somebody might decide not to take this path. And yes I scream at anybody who I love most days. I have nobody else to take my frustration out. I think my frustration level rose to an all new level when career services told me I should get a job out of state. Which I guess means I should randomly take a bar exam for some random state maybe move there and hope someone hires me. Thanks Maybe I should take the 5K (taking bar and moving costs), which I don't have and put it in the lottery. I have always hated people buying lottery tickets at gas stations now I know why they were doing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-21989951309944750252010-07-17T11:21:15.295-03:002010-07-17T11:21:15.295-03:00The fitness requirements for JAG are pretty low. Y...The fitness requirements for JAG are pretty low. You don't go through bootcamp and having early morning drills like enlisted men. You start by going through officer candidate school, which is more learning military rules and protocol than physical training.<br /><br />There are however other drawbacks to JAG.<br /><br />(1) 4 year commitment. You can't just hang out in JAG for a year or two waiting for the economy to recover. You're in it for four years, and that's a long time. But, that commitment isn't job security; you're still at at will employee and can be canned if they don't need you.<br /><br />(2) Not the experience you're looking for. Junior JAG officers spend most of their time writing wills and prosecuting DUIs and drug possession. From what I've heard, you do get a world class education in these areas, so JAG would be perfect for someone who either wants to be a prosecutor or plans to work in a small town general practice firm. But, you probably won't be able to transfer into a big or midsize firm's corporate department.<br /><br />(3) You have absolutely no choice in where you live. A buddy of mine is stationed in Oklahoma and it's so awful there that he looks forward to being sent on trips to Montgomery, AL.<br /><br />And, like you said, JAG is extremely difficult to get in to. It's not too tough if you did ROTC and all that and are already an officer. But, getting in from the civilian world is like trying to transfer from shit law to big law.<br /><br />Career counselors simply don't understand how competitive these alternative career paths are. They might as well suggest running for political office (oh...that's right, some of them actually do).BL1Yhttp://bl1y.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-60607180287376573502010-07-17T01:12:02.438-03:002010-07-17T01:12:02.438-03:00Most law students didn't sign up to sling friv...Most law students didn't sign up to sling frivolous divorce motions or argue on behalf of their clients in a $300 damaged fish tank case. This may be 90% of the kind of law that "most" lawyers practice, but it's definitely shitty and not what most starry-eyed 0Ls dream of when they send in their tuition deposits. Law schools know this and make a big deal out of pushing biglaw securities law and federal practice dreams on their students, while minimizing the spilled-hot-coffee-in-lap complaint or insurance defense mills that employ so many lawyers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-89846155065948599172010-07-17T00:44:43.707-03:002010-07-17T00:44:43.707-03:00Why do you call the type of law that 90% of lawyer...Why do you call the type of law that 90% of lawyers practice "shitlaw"? <br /><br />The top 10% of lawyers who constitute BigLaw can looked down on the rest.<br /><br />You, unfortunately, can not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-73611248038162029322010-07-16T22:39:36.105-03:002010-07-16T22:39:36.105-03:00Watching third year law students scrambling for AN...Watching third year law students scrambling for ANY kind of work is sickening. I remember being in that boat. It is one of the worst feelings in the world. <br /><br />The constant self-doubt, anger, anxiety, depression, frustration, soul-searching, ad infinitum. It wears on your emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. You end up taking your anger out on your friends and loved ones, when you really ought to drop kick the dean of your toilet SQUARE in the nads - and follow that up with a right cross to his or her beak. Any of these pre-law douche bags who tells you differently is a charlatan and a cockroach - as they have not been through this rigorous, draining process.<br /><br />Many of the students in the class before mine ended up returning to their previous career/line of work. What the hell was the point of pissing away three years of their life - plus HUGE SUMS of borrowed money?!?!<br /><br />Do the industry apologist cockroaches think these people are happy/grateful for the "intellectual pursuit?"Nandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06423524039657355134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-71727210880926951112010-07-16T21:40:51.919-03:002010-07-16T21:40:51.919-03:00Absolutely, 7:21. I should have seen the writing o...Absolutely, 7:21. I should have seen the writing on the wall and dropped out after 2L OCI yielded nothing. I would have saved every penny of 2L tuition, too. <br /><br />Ever since, I've felt like an idiot for not doing so.Scammed Hard!https://www.blogger.com/profile/01044898077026675015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-77318670451331436782010-07-16T19:21:32.116-03:002010-07-16T19:21:32.116-03:00The luckiest and wisest ones reading this warning ...The luckiest and wisest ones reading this warning are the 2Ls who strike out at OCI (a given) and cut their losses before racking up two more years of school debt.<br /><br />To said nervous 2Ls reading this: making that decision to drop out now means that you are smarter, hands down, than 90% of your classmates. Guaranteed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-2482527413422200802010-07-16T18:27:33.341-03:002010-07-16T18:27:33.341-03:00"3L OCI! This is a golden unicorn that shits ..."3L OCI! This is a golden unicorn that shits rainbows if there ever was one. "<br /><br />I remember getting an interview early my 3L year and the interviewer being really excited about me and my resume. After we talked for a long while, we got down to "OK, here is our program for 2L students...". At which point, the inevitable, stomach-churning point has to be raised, i.e. "Oh, that sounds fantastic! How does this work for students who are graduating?"<br /><br />Things got real quiet, real quick. End scene.<br /><br />I'm happy for the patent guys above. I must have gone to a real TTT, becuase I couldn't make any headway with that(yes, I'm way eligible, but without connections it doesn't matter much, apparently).dupednontraditionalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04170022654810216357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2534881846878881386.post-45649670231743983482010-07-16T17:12:49.364-03:002010-07-16T17:12:49.364-03:00I was patent bar eligible, and took a position at ...I was patent bar eligible, and took a position at a firm as the result of 3L OCI (despite an offer from the firm I'd summered with). I honestly can't think of anyone I spoke to regularly who wasn't also patent eligible who got a position, even kids one law review. I know my firm and the firm I summered with are no longer going to 3L OCI programs. If they don't pick up 2Ls they like or people at Loyola, they're only taking laterals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com