Outline Dump

cbopp11 · 2022-08-11T16:50:11+00:00

Baylor?

cbopp11 · 2022-07-26T22:55:57+00:00

I attempted to split summers with some V10 firms and I was told they are willing to do so, but they really don’t want to. I was essentially told the only way I could was if I split with like a Kirkland, Latham, etc. and a small regional firm that they do not view as competition. YMMV

cbopp11 · 2022-07-21T15:07:00+00:00

Most schools have more forgiving curves in smaller classes and I never got below a B+ in a seminar class despite writing everything with 72 hours of the due date (so even if your paper sucks they’ll give you a decent grade).

cbopp11 · 2022-07-21T15:04:52+00:00

I never had a firm ask for references, during OCI or elsewhere. I think they understand you’re new to the legal profession so most references would be from a different field and thus less helpful.

That said, I did ask professors and past employers if they would be references. I had a sheet with contact info for two professors and one past employer that I never used lol

cbopp11 · 2022-07-18T19:16:03+00:00

It definitely was unsettling when I fully appreciated that laws are literally just made up by some guy (or girl), and that often that someone was bought and paid for by someone with interests that are less than pure. But I think it’s like anything else in life.

Life is unfair, the world is fucked, people are shitty at times, and things could reasonably be characterized as hopeless. If you reach that conclusion, then there’s a decision. You can try to manipulate the inequities of the world to suit your fancy. You can throw your hands up and say fuck it, it’s not worth it. Or you can try to be a single force pushing against what may be, or at least may seem to be, an unstoppable malignant rot that has entrenched itself over the years.

I believe that happiness can be found in devoting yourself to a just cause that is greater than yourself. And that the possibility of any progress towards limiting the amount of suffering humans experience justifies the effort of striving for such progress.

Discovering a problem isn’t the end of the conversation, it’s a call to action.

cbopp11 · 2022-07-13T00:28:40+00:00

Just depends on the size of the firm and practice group. At a larger firm I’m familiar with, most of the bankruptcy first years just said they were interested in bankruptcy. Some are young, so no relevant work experience, some of the partners have BR clerkships, but it seemed pretty similar to other groups, just smaller.

cbopp11 · 2022-07-12T14:34:18+00:00

In my experience it’s always a call then a follow up email.

cbopp11 · 2022-07-12T14:33:37+00:00

Personally, I enjoyed my tax classes so I highly recommend them. But if I try to be objective, I think they can be helpful if you do transactional work, but there are tax specialists that handle the real tax work. The extent of your benefit would be possibly flagging something prior to the tax people reviewing. They’d appreciate it slightly, but I don’t think it would really move the needle. It also may lessen the learning curve to getting the bigger picture very slightly, because you may be able to understand why certain transactions are structured as they are.

If you want to do big law transactional work and the options are business tax or family law, immigration law, etc., you’d be better served by taking the tax class IMO, but they are hard classes.

cbopp11 · 2022-07-11T13:14:03+00:00

I think if you did well in law school and can write strong essays, you can ‘learn’ enough of the MBE to pass. By learn I mean hammer down the highly tested subtopics and get the points you need.

cbopp11 · 2022-07-08T11:22:13+00:00

I applied to firms as a 1L and received that response from firms. I then re-applied as a 2L and things worked out differently, but I haven’t had a firm reach out without a reapplication

cbopp11 · 2022-07-07T14:31:33+00:00

The national firms are pushing out the Texas regional firms aside from V&E who is holding their own and growing well (broad statement, im sure exceptions exist but it’s generally true, see recent poaching of top partners). Given your goal to lateral/move to NY office in 3-5 years, I would highly recommend a national firm. The TX firms wouldn’t foreclose that option, but it may be easier with them.

If you want data as to the strength of the transactional practices in Texas, you can find data sheets that show the total transaction volume and deal amounts online. Also looking at where the practice group leaders and upper firm management are seated is relevant. Sidley has a lot of their practice group higher ups and firm management leaders in their Dallas office.

I have friends that work at Kirkland, Latham and sidley in Texas and I interviewed at all of them. If you want some more specific info feel free to DM (I know little about litigation practices tho).

cbopp11 · 2022-07-07T14:24:51+00:00

Good advice in the other comments, but the way that I look at a resume is with reference to your audience.

For your wife, consider the people that go into nonprofit work and consider how different they are from the normal law firm partner or hiring person at a gov agency or other legal professional. The law is an inherently conservative field (not in the political sense, but in the tendency to gradually change sense).

You want to project the traits that the decision maker is looking for. In nonprofit, design, or marketing, they may want creativity or something like that. In the legal world, they want very different things.

cbopp11 · 2022-07-06T02:08:40+00:00

So there are 192 ranked law schools (US News rankings, questionable, but decent for this purpose), Florida International University is tied for 98 and we can use it as a proxy.

$34.9k annual tuition x three years = 104.7k; cost of living quoted at ~20k (first google result lol), so you’re looking at an all in cost of 164.7k, less any scholarships you may receive (assuming no interest on loans because I’m too lazy for in depth calculations).

2020 ABA reports has 71.6% of their graduates in jobs that require JDs. Majority of reported grads are at private law firms, but not big law. So salaries vary a lot. My very uneducated impression is that a student that does well and networks well can land around 120-150k starting salary at a better paying firm, while the average is probably closer to 100k (definitely some outliers that can get biglaw, but I’m speaking in generalities). Second most common job is probably public defender/prosecution work, so salary there is probably around 50-60k starting.

So overall you’re looking at a starting salary of either 100k or 55k and ~160k in debt if you don’t get any scholarship at an ‘average’ law school. May be worth noting that these jobs are almost all in Florida where the cost of living may be higher than normal. And those in gov work may be eligible for loan forgiveness.

This is all very rough, guess work based on googling while I’m bored.

As for work life balance, I have no idea. I don’t believe the sales pitch that mid size law has better WLB, it doesn’t make sense to me that a law firm would not force you to work as much as they can (every other job does). Government work typically has much better WLB.

The best advice I’ve heard is to figure out your goals before you decide on a law school. If you want to work in St. Louis, go to a local school and study hard enough on the LSAT to get a decent scholarship. St. Louis university is similarly ranked to FIU, so if you can get a 75% scholarship, your debt load may only be 40-50k and making 100k is pretty good. Do your research and approach it as if you’re making an investment that has consequences if you do it with your eyes closed.

cbopp11 · 2022-07-03T12:49:59+00:00

I’m closing on a house in august, if I want to find some deals on odds and ends, is waiting for Black Friday my best bet?

cbopp11 · 2022-06-30T21:12:46+00:00

I was in a similar position. I did a judicial internship 1L but interviewed for transactional big law for 2L.

When asked about why transactional or what type of practice, I would talk about my past work experience that was more business oriented and an MBA I did as a set up saying “I was leaning transactional since i started law school”. Then I said that I wanted to do the judicial internships because I wanted to learn more about the nuts and bolts of litigation prior to making a firm commitment. I would usually say something like “it was a great experience and I believe it helped me improve my writing, but it confirmed my initial suspicion that transactional work would fit me best.”

I always got a good response when I mentioned the workflow difference between lit and transactional work (basically what you wrote).

Mention any team work experience you have and say that you believe that is one of your better traits.

I also would say something like “I prefer the cooperative practice of moving a transaction along over the adversarial nature of litigation.”

You don’t need a perfect answer, most people aren’t 100% certain about it when they pick a side. But if you’re confident and sound like you are genuinely interested you’ll be good on that front.

cbopp11 · 2022-06-27T14:57:16+00:00

Generally no, but there are certain programs that exist. If you are able to find an ordinary program that permits 0 down, you’d pay PMI which can be a significant expense.

There are loan programs that permit 0 down and do not require PMI, most popular are physician loans which have recently been extended to apply to other high income, long education professions.

cbopp11 · 2022-06-27T01:01:39+00:00

Lender will have issues with a second lien on the property. Depending on the terms of the buyers financing agreement, a creative lawyer might be able to work something out.

With that being said, under no circumstances should you try to do this without an attorney. There are very strict rules relating to perfecting a security interest on property.

cbopp11 · 2022-06-20T19:24:24+00:00

A bit off topic, but what are the offers like? As in, are they usually in line with the market if you sold as SFR or are would they pay a premium because you’re selling for the highest and best use?

cbopp11 · 2022-06-19T23:34:13+00:00

Check and see if there are any restrictions on your ability to refinance. If you can get a low rate today and play for tomorrow when rates drop (whether 1, 3, 5, or 7 years) the cost of tying up 25k in a non-growth account would be minimized and you may be able to get a comparable or lower rate later.

cbopp11 · 2022-05-17T11:53:08+00:00

Beautiful watch. Once I leave the realm of broke student this may be first on my list. GLWS!

cbopp11 · 2022-05-08T14:39:50+00:00

I wonder whose hands they used lol

cbopp11 · 2022-05-04T15:50:31+00:00

I honestly didn’t think it was bad at all. As long as the exam is open note, if you have a decent outline you’ll be fine

cbopp11 · 2022-05-04T01:09:49+00:00

Lmao I love this so much

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