law school's over

[Bob]

i had my last class on wednesday. no more classes ever

oh dear. everyone else is all excited but i don't know how i'm supposed to be excited when i don't have a job yet and there aren't any available. i should have just cashed my chips in after college, this sucks

[AceFace]

well congratulations even though you're nervous about it.

[Fern]

that;s awesome, Bob. The storm will pass and then you'll use the law degree. They can't take it away from you

[AceFace]

OH OH OH! i love your signature BOB!

[jabumbo]

eat lots of wheaties, pass the bar exam, and become the new city councilman in your local neighborhood!

[Bob]

eat lots of wheaties, pass the bar exam, and become the new city councilman in your local neighborhood!

i've seen seasons three and four of the wire, i think i can do that

[Dorothy Wood]

(y):eek::(

[checkyourprez]

congrats. even if you dont have a job at the moment, it is still something to be very proud of. it really is quite the accomplishment.


that said, you can do a lot of things with a law degree, as im sure you already know. obviously law degree = lawyer, in most peoples heads right away. but if theres nothing there right now, try something else. going to any company with a law degree on your resume is impressive. they know you can think critically and problem solve quickly. dont short yourself.

good luck.

[Gareth]

don't sweat it
good luck

[Myu-to]

Get laid Bob, this will make everything better.

[Praying Mantis]

what kind of law are you looking to get into? Where have you summered?

[Kid Presentable]

Great news. Congratulations and good luck. (y)

[b i o n i c]

now that didnt hurt too bad, did it?

[Documad]

Congratulations. Don't freak out. I had no job prospects when I graduated either. I eventually got a job that paid next to nothing but got me great experience and eventually led to really interesting things.

It's better to get a law-related job that doesn't pay well --get some experience and hope that it helps you get a better job -- than to take a non law related job. It's okay to take a non law related job for about 6 months if you have to but if you do that for a year or more you will find it difficult to get a law related job. Try to practice law during your first few years. You can always do something else later if you don't like it. But it doesn't work in the other direction. If you go work at a corporation now, you will likely never practice law. Maybe you want to work at a corporation, but try to make choices that will keep your options open and try go to avoid choices that will close your options.

Are there ANY judicial clerkships? It's great experience and a nice stepping stone to a permanent job. I learned so much about what I didn't want to do for a job during my first judicial clerkship.

[Bob]

Congratulations. Don't freak out. I had no job prospects when I graduated either. I eventually got a job that paid next to nothing but got me great experience and eventually led to really interesting things.

It's better to get a law-related job that doesn't pay well --get some experience and hope that it helps you get a better job -- than to take a non law related job. It's okay to take a non law related job for about 6 months if you have to but if you do that for a year or more you will find it difficult to get a law related job. Try to practice law during your first few years. You can always do something else later if you don't like it. But it doesn't work in the other direction. If you go work at a corporation now, you will likely never practice law. Maybe you want to work at a corporation, but try to make choices that will keep your options open and try go to avoid choices that will close your options.

Are there ANY judicial clerkships? It's great experience and a nice stepping stone to a permanent job. I learned so much about what I didn't want to do for a job during my first judicial clerkship.

i missed the deadline for the applications for clerkships but it kind of doesn't matter, i can almost guarantee that i wouldn't have got one. a friend of mine (the girl from the "girl thread" interestingly) also applied to the same clerkships i would have applied to and she didn't get any interviews, and her credentials are exactly the same as mine except that hers are slightly better.

federal clerkships are completely out of the question. my school has no grades and no law review, so i wouldn't even get the attention of a federal judge. my school's career services office had a meeting about clerkships, which i attended, in which they said that students from this school can't really get them because, due to the free online application system, federal judges get hundreds or maybe thousands of applications, which they sort by grade/law review and since i don't have either, i wouldn't even be on their radar.

it's kind of frustrating, because i interned for a state appeals court judge, and i really enjoyed it and i performed really well (though so did the girl from the girl thread and she didn't get shit either) but i can't get one. what can you do i guess

it's really shit that if i can't get a lawyer job in the next 6 months i won't get one ever because oops, recession, there aren't any. all my experience so far has been in state government jobs (and not for lack of trying to get a firm job, it's just that they won't even interview me for the most part) and lol hiring freeze no jobs fuck you

i'm not a lucky person

[checkyourprez]

start your own firm. thats how the second generation jews did it in this country when the "white uppity" firms wouldnt touch litigation, and look at them now.

[Dorothy Wood]

it's cool, I told obama you need a job and he's working on it. said something about environmental law? you know any of that?

[Bob]

nah, i can't compete with the jews

[Bob]

it's cool, I told obama you need a job and he's working on it. said something about environmental law? you know any of that?

sure, i'll rape it for money

[Bob]

and, just to complete the trifecta of offensive posts, i don't care for black people

[Dorothy Wood]

*farts*

[checkyourprez]

nah, i can't compete with the jews

this was more of a complement than a post of offensive nature if you ask me.

[-T-]

good luck man.

[checkyourprez]

Congratulations. Don't freak out. I had no job prospects when I graduated either. I eventually got a job that paid next to nothing but got me great experience and eventually led to really interesting things.

It's better to get a law-related job that doesn't pay well --get some experience and hope that it helps you get a better job -- than to take a non law related job. It's okay to take a non law related job for about 6 months if you have to but if you do that for a year or more you will find it difficult to get a law related job. Try to practice law during your first few years. You can always do something else later if you don't like it. But it doesn't work in the other direction. If you go work at a corporation now, you will likely never practice law. Maybe you want to work at a corporation, but try to make choices that will keep your options open and try go to avoid choices that will close your options.

Are there ANY judicial clerkships? It's great experience and a nice stepping stone to a permanent job. I learned so much about what I didn't want to do for a job during my first judicial clerkship.

who is to say he doesnt find his dream job in such a situation? like practicing law MUST be done because he has a law degree?

fuck it especially with law school loans, and or probably regular school loans. at this point in life you take what you can get. but honestly try and gear it towards something you like/would want to do for 40+ hours a week for the next 30-40 some odd years because in the end its really about enjoying life anyways.

[Nuzzolese]

Congratulations, Bob! I think you should let yourself feel a *little* good about what you have accomplished. LAW SCHOOL is so impressive, just think of how far above all those other college graduates you are this year! You know, those who have liberal arts degrees.

Is there a possibility that you can teach law for a while? Although, I suppose the academic field is pretty frozen right now too. Do lawyers do any research or publications besides doing their court room speeches?

I was wondering, when you decided to become a lawyer, or when you were imagining yourself as a lawyer, was there anyone you had in mind thinking "I'm going to be that person"?



When I was still working two jobs, one part time at the bookstore, there was a lawyer working there for a few months. He couldn't find law-related work, I guess, and he had a family and everything so he worked at the bookstore making just over minimum wage. Now, however, he's working as a lawyer on important cases that are going to affect everybody.

[Documad]

who is to say he doesnt find his dream job in such a situation? like practicing law MUST be done because he has a law degree?

fuck it especially with law school loans, and or probably regular school loans. at this point in life you take what you can get. but honestly try and gear it towards something you like/would want to do for 40+ hours a week for the next 30-40 some odd years because in the end its really about enjoying life anyways.

He should do whatever he wants. My only point is that if you want to actually practice law, you are better off even volunteering at a place where you practice law than taking a job with say a legal publisher. We have a large legal publisher here and the people who work there are sometimes frustrated that they can't get back into the practice of law. If you're sure that you don't want to practice law, then it doesn't matter so much.

Bob: Are ALL the court clerkships on a one-year track where you apply well in advance? Our federal clerkships and appellate clerkships work like that, but our trial court clerkships just open up whenever they open up. I got lucky because someone was quitting his job with a judge the day my resume came in. The judge I worked for also knew some of the people I'd clerked for during school which is probably why she hired me. Once I was at the courthouse, I would get early information on other clerks who were leaving and I wound up getting several friends hired with other judges.

Have you looked at temp places -- where they do document production? I know someone who graduated last year and that's what she's been doing. A lot of people kill time that way. I've also known people who took contract work -- writing appellate briefs by the hour.

I got out of school during a bad economic period too. The unemployment rate was higher than it is now. It's tough to network but it's really how most people get jobs. To network you have to be able to articulate why you want to be a lawyer and what sort of job you're hoping to work your way into.

You also might want to think about moving. A bunch of my friends got their first job an hour or two outside our metro area. Because counties pay a lot less outstate, they tend to hire less experienced attorneys for entry level prosecutor and civil jobs. Quite a few people who work with me now started out in small county offices. It's a painful thing to think about but if you need the experience you have to think about it as though you're doing a two-year internship --as if you're still sort of in school.

[mathcart]

I here Illinois is hiring for a new governor

[Nuzzolese]

Illinois is a mess, don't bother. Obama was just here last week though.

Do you now have to take the Bar Exam, Bob, now that you've finished classes?

Why is it that law school means you have an advanced degree, but you don't have to do a thesis?

What's your suffix now?

I'm proud of you for finishing, it seems like you did it really fast!

Did you get taken out to dinner to celebrate?

[Adam]

fuck practicing law

do law instead. School should of given you enough practice already right?

Can't you randomly sue people you don't like for 'practice' ?

You might win one even.

[Bob]

Illinois is a mess, don't bother. Obama was just here last week though.

Do you now have to take the Bar Exam, Bob, now that you've finished classes?

Why is it that law school means you have an advanced degree, but you don't have to do a thesis?

What's your suffix now?

I'm proud of you for finishing, it seems like you did it really fast!

Did you get taken out to dinner to celebrate?

i take the bar eventually yeah...i still have to look into what all goes into that. i still have an internship left to do until i'm actually "done" with law school, but classes are over. i don't actually graduate until may.

once i pass the bar i get to be an esquire, but apparently it's poor form to attach it to your own name, it's just a sign of respect that you give to other lawyers. you look like a nub if you call yourself esquire

[Knuckles]

other you look like a nub if you call yourself esquire

Or you might just be one half of the greatest rock band in the history of the world.

WYLD STALLYNS!

[Lyman Zerga]

so what comes after law school? kindergarten?
lawl!

hope you will enjoy whatever you do next