With the right lateral moves and professional affiliations, has anyone made it from below a 3.5 law school GPA to big law?

like
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Lmao what? I had like a 3.2 at a t14 and started at a V20

like

Lol 😂 I had under a 3.5 from a T5000000 and still worked for two big law firms AmLaw 30.

like

3 years. I took the advice early and focused on a niche practice. My first firm was a small general service firm. Then second was a small boutique in that practice area. Then I was recruited by a NYC big law (AmLaw 50) from the boutique. Then ended up at the top 30 firm after that just by talking to a recruiter. My only networking was the boutique firm. The big law firms were recruiters.

Yes. Lots of people

like

Happens ALL the time. If you’re from a T14 getting into biglaw with a 3.2+ is doable. The exception I think is the DC market, usually need a higher gpa there because high demand and small summer classes

like

It’s a lot easier to lateral into biglaw after getting some work experience. The law school OCI process makes it seem like if you struck out during OCI, then it’s all over. But that’s definitely not true. Biglaw is way easier to get into as a lateral, grades matter less at that point.

like

Third tier law school… barely cracked 3.0. And… started in-house. Now I am in V100 firm. As others said, it is not too hard to lateral into biglaw. But surviving biglaw may be tough since partners do have higher expectations from their lateral associates.

like

It’s definitely more about the company rather than being an in-house counsel in general. In my company, I have seen promotions being sent out based more on office politics than actual work that you do. The lack of career growth really sucked.

Another issue was that in-house counsels could be more vulnerable to layoffs when the company is not doing well. This really sucked for folks who are in their 50s who get laid off and couldn’t find other jobs. It may be a bad time to move in-house now due to the impending recession.

The two factors were really stressing me out, and I just had to make a jump to private practice.

I had a V100 offer (NYC) from a T30 school for 2L summer outside of OCI with a 3.0. Upgraded to a V25 (California) my 3L year with a 3.4.

I networked aggressively, though, and also had the luck of being in a good labor market.

like

I had a gpa below that and got 10 offers at OCI

like

If you want it bad enough, it will happen. May take some time though. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Related Posts

Experienced hire. At D for 10 months. Strong and consistent performance feedback. Utilization and PRD boxes checked. SM suggested early promotion. Is this a real possibility? Or a ploy to...

like

Anyone have experience working for the NGA as a civilian? Saw a cool job post but hesitate to consider non-contractor roles in a new organization (mostly due to salary/benefits constraints)

like

does BCG do any PE DD work? how common is it and do you have to do a rotation or anything similar to Bain's PEG?

like

Hello Everyone
I'm working as a BA in MT. Want to switch to Product Management. Can someone provide any insights on this , on how to start with?

like
like

Hi all - I am a Sr. IT Internal Audit Consultant at a medium-size firm and I'm exploring Sales Engineer roles as a potential exit opportunity. I'm wondering if anyone else in this bowl has an IT Audit background and would be able to offer me advice on how to make the career switch.

Thanks for any advice/guidance you can provide!

like

Is there anyone who doesn't have a good start in IT even if he/she had skills. And due to dirty office politics and pathetic culture, Fed up of IT lifestyle and wants to leave it desperately.

I think I have become one.

like

Partners will you promote an Analyst after one year? If his/her performance has been good but the general practice on the team is to wait for two years.

Hi Fishes,

I got offer from legato and Altimatirk. Can you please help me decide which is better wrt to career growth, work life balance and hike perspective.
Skill: java Microservices

I have a BS in Kinesiology and an MBA in Healthcare Administration and have worked in neuro clinical testing for 17 years. I’m looking for a direction to be pointed in for a career change, ideally something that can be done remotely and doesn’t require a ton of other specialized training. Coming up short on my own searches. Any suggestions?

like

Does anyone specialize in pharmacy or PBMs? What helped you grow in this area? Any helpful resources? Any and all advice welcome! This is a new area for me, and I am struggling!

like

Partners / MDS - Have any of you stayed with the same firm from analyst to Partner/MD? If so, what made you stay despite probably receiving offers for more compensation? Also, what benefits are there to staying in consulting your entire career?

like

I’ve been a data analyst for a little over a year for my current employer. I manage databases, input new information, solve issues utilizing root-cause analysis, and I maintain reports on a daily basis. The only thing I don’t do is work with coding such a SQL. I’m currently enrolled in Coursera Google Data Analytics Certification to learn more about SQL.
I want to get a job in data analytics that uses SQL. How do I show that I know SQL without having direct SQL related work experience?

like

How many folks here have gone from data science into ML? And how many folks here have gone from data science into product management, or want to? Would love to hear some views here about career paths for data science people.

like

Is it worth jumping from Lincoln to a EB/BB if my goal is to break into PE or even growth equity? I’ve been looking at LinkedIn and while exits exist they aren’t as ubiquitous as those from EB/BBs.

I recently git a Canadian PR can i switch projects from KPMG India Location to KPMG Canada Location and how easy would this any challenges i would face. Lastky if i cant switch i have to leave and go to Canada and search for Job thaz what i planned. Please advise

like

How do you get into toxicology work if you don’t have a PHD I have a masters but I’m struggling to find someone who will train me further for the role any advice?

like

What are the exit opportunities for an HCM Oracle Cloud consultant with 8 years of experience? What additional skills of experience should I look into to make it easier to leave consulting?

likehelpful

Hey, what is typically another company someone moves onto from Oracle after being a consultant?

like

More Posts

How do you actually find a decent person to date when you’re working 80+ consulting hours? Like seriously...everyone I know who recently got engaged or married had been long term dating since high school or college. What has worked for people?

like

For Kyndryl, is offer letter and joining letter different? I have offer letter but their is no mention of band/level

Hi coders,

I'm looking for a job change as a Dot Net Developer with 4 years of experience.

like

Can I apply for onsite job within the company? If I say that I already have a spouse visa.

like
like

Love SF and the agencies there, but how do you people make it work? So expensive!

like

Hello folks,

I am working in a project with react technology which is new to me.Now manager of other project is asking me to work in another project also parallely.I am somehow trying my best to work in current project but then how will I be able to do work in that other project parallely? Can I deny that person that i don't have the bandwidth to work on that project. Can i do so? My yoe is 2.5 yrs
Plz suggest

funny

Litigation attorneys, what does your day-to-day look like? What's one skill you use the most or you feel is the most important to be successful as a litigator?

like

This bowl is WELL quiet

Wondering how I can be a better bowl leader lol

What made you join this bowl in the first place? What do we want to see being talked about?

like

Dear all,

Non IT
what would be the salary slab for Band 5 Manager role in Natwest?

like

I got Senior Analyst role of rank 44 and my CTC is 11LPA is that fine? Or it should be better?

like

Please message if you are looking fro IT Audit/ ITGC roles at KPMG. will refer.

like

Have an offer in hand for PEPI, what is a realistic bonus range for SA? and how many hours would you say you work on average?

I want to go for masters in fall 2023 and do job there for 5 years and want to comeback to india around 2028, I have 1 year experience my age is 21 will there be enough job opportunities for USA returns with a MS degree(2) and 3 years of experience in USA company ? What will be the Salary I can expect.

like

Autodesk makes their software available for free to schools. Such a great opportunity for our students!

like

Anyone know of any Media Ops Manager, Senior Manager or AD level roles out there? Helping a friend of mine! Any leads welcome!

like

Considering Senior Manager analytics role at D. Any advice to hit the ground running?

Hi, I am looking for an opportunity in Dubai for a Senior Java Developer. Please share if you know about any such opportunity.

like

Additional Posts in Law

Have any of you read Marcus Aurelius where he writes that our path in life as humans is work? Eff. It’s like he was channeling his inner law firm partner.

likefunny

What’s your firm’s bonus policy? My firm pays bonuses on the Cravath scale but requires us to hit 2,000 billables (which can include 100 pro bono hours) to get it.

like

Notice etiquete question. If you give your 2 weeks’ notice on a Monday, is your last day a Monday (2 weeks later) or can it be the previous Friday? Does your answer change depending on the time (morning/ afternoon) notice is given?

If I don’t want to potentially burn any bridges, should I just have my notice period end on a Monday and just take that day out of my scheduled vacation before starting my next job?

First time giving notice - would be interested in hearing what others have done.

like

Hi! Can someone please tell me what would be the base salary for a legal counsel at Equinix? 5 years of working experience related to the position.

like

What is the average annual salary increase for a first year associate starting at $125k at a busy midsized firm in New York? What would be reasonable to ask for (assuming a $300 billable rate and 1800 billable requirement)?

like

And now begins the waiting game to hear back from a firm after an interview. Pretty sure it went terrible so please put me out of my misery.

like

For those of you whose firms don’t have free market work allocation, what kind of system do you have in place (particularly for more junior attorneys)? Does it work?

like

Should an employment lawyer consider getting a PHR/SPHR certificate? Is it worthwhile?
A lot of in house opportunities seem to be looking for them

like

My boss asked me how much time I need off for the bar exam (second juristiction). I told him I'd like to start really hammering down beginning of July. He was fine with that, but as far as being "gone" no one has said anything about me taking time off. The firm has unlimited vacation. Are they still going to pay me? Lol. I know this is very specific, but I'm curious what has been the case for others at firms with similar vacation rules.

like

What salary does insurance defense max out at? And at what level of experience?

I dont have much confidence in bringing in business. 4th yr associate. NJ/NYC/PA tristate practice

like

Is it normal for contract attorneys to have the same billable requirements but half the compensation, or does the lower salary come with lower reqs?

like

Me: casually applying to in-house jobs. See this screen: "A cover letter is required." Me: guess I'm here forever

likefunny

Anyone know of good small/mid law firms in the dc area that have decent work life balance? First year from a T20 with sterling academics, willing to do pretty much anything that let's me have a life and doesn't actively do evil to the world.

likefunny

I constantly need to remind my partner of the stuff she needs to review/send out. This is very tiring/frustrating for me and not good for our clients as we often end up missing deadlines. Any tips?

like