I just spent 2 days at the DE Pre-Admission Conference. It was good to find out that a few more of the friends that I graduated with have found attorney positions that they seem to be happy with. On the other hand, there are some guys from law review/top of the class that are still looking, and I heard that some of the local firms are offering salaries in the mid 60s and expecting 2200-2300 billable hours/year, which is pretty depressing. So far the people in the best position have been the ones who, like me, worked as paralegals during the day and went to law school at night, and then caught on with our firms.

So just got back the practice midterm we took which was just 1 question and the prof graded it as if it were a real exam question. Wasn't real satisfied with my score (it wasn't on a curve but just a letter grade unfortunately) but it felt good to score better or the same as just about all the "in-class all stars," one of which has ripped on me to a friend in another section for "having problems speaking in front of people." Whatever, keep spending hours briefing those cases all-star....see ya in January.

Got my LSAT score back today too.

170!!

Well done sir. Congrats.

Good job Geddy Lee. Good luck on your apps

That's awesome man, congrats!

I can't believe it's been over a year since my whole LSAT process came to an end. I can still feel the residual stress.

nh Geddy

also in case ppl havent seen it yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMvARy0lBLE

so, so, so so sooo perfect. its like... a conversation btwn someone who just registered on TLS and someone who has read every single topic there.

Just got an interesting call from a law firm I sort of applied to a couple months ago. They had posted a job ad for an entry level bankruptcy associate. I have a strong background in that area of law but the pay was too low ($30,000-$40,000) for me to work there. So I sent them a letter explaining I would be interested in doing contract work for them. That was a couple months ago and I just heard from them today.

The guy basically offered me the same job for the same pay today. He sounded impressed with my resume and said they were interested in meeting with me. I replied that I'm starting my own firm, have already invested my resources into doing that, and so unless he could make me an offer I can't refuse I can't work for them full time. Obviously I was hoping for a higher offer right there but he said he'd check with his partner and get back to me. He suggested we could meet later this week. I told him I'm looking forward to hearing from them.

To an extent, I'm kind of regretting not being more amenable to working full time for them. I saw they posted a job ad today on my school's job site (not sure if this was before or after the phone call) and so I know that they'll be getting a bunch of apps sent in. The thing is that salary is just way too low ($40,000 is less than $20/hour). I know that firm is aware of the market conditions and so is trying to take advantage of that.

Thoughts?

I'd guess you can get a little more from them. I think you took a great line with "I'm starting out on my own."

Ideally, I'd like to do contract work for them at a reasonable rate and still have my own thing going on the side. If that doesn't work out, then I could work full time but only for more $$. Idk, I guess I'll just wait them out for a couple days then call them if I haven't heard back.

tell them you'd rather work at starbucks because the pay is the same, you get deals on coffee, and you have better benefits.

There's a saying around here that "you can't bid against stupid," i.e. if someone wants to take the firm up on their terms then the firm has no incentive to take your deal, as reasonable as it may sound. So I wouldn't be holding my breath waiting for a contract arrangement or an impressive counteroffer. I think you did the right thing, provided that you were pleasant and really are looking to get your own gig going.

Which student orgs will help me fight for online poker?
We have ACLU, ACS, fed society, and tech law.

Nice saying. That offer was just insulting. I didn't go to a top 10 or anything but my school does well regionally both salary and placement wise. Plus, although I only graduated in the top half, I have a strong resume.

I did hang out my own shingle, have been doing the things that new lawyers doing that do, and already have a couple cases.

It's interesting, though, because I got an email from another firm that I sent a resume to a while back offering to do contract work (I guess the small firms waited until bar results were out?). The paralegal acknowledged that it had been a while and said they hoped nobody had "scooped me up." Seems promising. I'm gonna call tomorrow and hopefully that goes well.

/blog (but hopefully this might help other job seekers know what/what not to do)

Also, as discussed a month ago or so in this thread, if you're willing to take on some other work (criminal defense), you could make twice what they're offering you in the first year. Assuming you don't generate enough private business.

Good luck with your own firm. What type of law do you practice? I want to start my own as well, but am having a hard time coming up with ways to get clients.

I don't think you should be insulted. ITE ITE ITE they would pay what they can like most businesses would.

We just had an IRS Agent come speak to my tax class. He brought his guitar and sang about taxation of charities. It was horrible.

This is a pretty darn good way to go about it. Criminal defense is one of the easiest ways to get paid, and perhaps more importantly, it gets you in the courtroom. That's going to be a benefit for you regardless of whether you join a firm or continue on your own.

If you have an interview with them, sell it as a win-win. If you set up your own office, they won't have to take on that expense, they can save employment taxes, etc... Just make sure to have a plan on how they can be comfortable knowing that you would be there to do their work.

With fax machines and remote access to their computers you can be tied into everything they do just the same as if you were in the office next to them.

If they are worried about you ignoring their work to do your law practice work, I would tell them that you would be insane to mess up a $40,000 base while starting your own practice and that they would be your highest priority client.

Bankruptcy is going to be my bread and butter but I'll also take other cases I feel I can do a good job on. At least at first, I think having something you can focus on is key. I've been calling up lawyers trying to drum up K work and, to a man, their ears perk up when I mention that I'm doing bankruptcy cases and they say they get those from time to time and will send 'em my way; whereas when I'm asking for work in general, they aren't nearly as receptive. I assume that any field which requires specialized knowledge would be the same.

Thanks for the tips all. As for criminal defense work, do you have any suggestions on how to get those cases?

Hang out with a lot of criminals. The local casino should be a good start.

I am a 2L, am married, and currently have 900,000 VPPs. Is anyone else this crazy?

1L, married, kids, busto, and [not] studying at 1am.