Law School and Entitlement February 8, 2010
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: Bad idea, Good idea, Jobs, Interviews
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The PILC fair clued me into a current I hadn’t really felt before.
Most of us law students live in a relatively isolated world that comprises the space between our apartment, and our classroom. It’s rare for one of us here in New York to have occasion to run into someone from another school. Take NYU for example, we have Cardozo which is like 8 blocks away, and yet I never meet anyone from there. The only real contact the average NYU student has is with a school like Columbia, and they tend to have problems with mice.
So when the PILC fair came to NYU, I got a good taste of the pretentiousness. Here are some examples of things I overheard:
- “A guy from Yale is here? Why? Do they even need to bother interviewing.”
- “I was worried about my interview, but I realized I was up against people from St. John’s.”
- “Our only competition is Columbia, and they hate Public Interest.”
This is why I imagine people at other schools don’t like us. These type of attitudes definitely exist, even though normally you’d get a dirty look from people if you said them. The PILC fair seemed to bring out the worst in people.
Word of advice to those of you who go to ‘good’ law schools: drop the feeling of superiority, because when you’re interviewing at a firm you’ll make an off-handed comment that a person will take to heart. A second list follows:
- I’m from New Jersey, but I couldn’t go to Seton Hall, I had to go somewhere good and outside of Jersey. [Turns out your interviewer was the Editor of Seton Hall Law Review]
- Yeah, my grades are kind of low, but I’m at Chicago, so you know, that’s like an A at Georgetown. [Something about law students in New York and taking cracks at Georgetown for no real reason. I blame them for not getting me a job in DC.]
- You go to Brooklyn Law school? Is that actually a law school? [The person honestly didn't know when they said it.]
- [Referencing the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law. I don't know who goes there, but they graduate enough people that you have to offend someone.]
On second thought, it’s probably best never to mention anything particular about law schools in an interview, or around law firm partners while you’re drinking EVER.
In re PILC Fair February 6, 2010
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: Interviews, Jobs, Library, NYC
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I doubt I’ll have even half of the eloquence of my compadre idwsj in explaining the wonders of the PILC Fair, however I will recount my own experience.
Several things to note. First, I’m one of those people who came in knowing what they wanted to do, and have had all my preconceived notions dashed against the hard stone of the LAW. Right now (if I were to observe myself objectively), I’d figure the big fancy NYC life is not a permanent thing for me. I’ve applied to jobs mostly in NJ, and I’ve not had an interview with any organization based soley in the City.
However, this is not a complaint, it’s merely self-selection.
So, I go in for interviews. These were not my first interviews, but they were the first where my grades had come in. (Sidebar: This implies my grades were rather ho-hum) So, since I figure everyone likes lists, I’m going to give pointers on interviewing:
- Project. I can’t really explain this concept a lot, but when I interview I find it’s best to take up a lot of space, physically and socially. You kind of need to get in the interviewers face, and make it a conversation. A lot of interviewers want to talk AT you rather than with you.
- Research. I am meticulous with research, but I didn’t do it with the last organization I interviewed with. I don’t know why honestly. If you seem an expert on the topic you’ve passed the first test. Exempli gratia, I was talking to a Legal Services organization and made a joke about not liking criminal law. The interviewers laughed too…. but it was because they had to end several interviews that day because people thought Legal Services= Public Defenders.
- Know your Resume. I put ‘writes short stories’ on my resume. I do certainly write short stories, but most of them are so racially charged, or inherently bothering (I prefer to write down my nightmares, rather than good dreams) that I had serious trouble explaining what any stories were about. Hower, putting down that I’m a certified SCUBA diver ALWAYS gets a remark or two.
- Be Modest. This is more for afterwards. I take the code of silence very seriously, and will only break it RARELY if the news is unfortunate. The saying is ‘Jealousy is a motherf—er” for a reason. It’s a definite breach of etiquette (believe me, law students have etiquette) to complain about not knowing what job offer to take to all your friends. Some things we must keep to ourselves.
And that’s it for now.
Coming up next time: What does your law school say about your sense of entitlement?
Interesting Search Terms February 3, 2010
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: Career, Good idea, Jobs, Politriks, Summer
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Here’s a good search term that led someone to my blog “Prestigious 1L Summer.”
That’s a good question. I didn’t apply to any ‘prestigious’ jobs, so let me put out what I think law students are ’supposed’ to think is prestigious (and I just like making lists):
- Department of Justice: People seem to find being a federal prosecutor extremely prestigious. If you work there as a 1L, it’s believed that it might put you on track to the honors program (or something like that). The way I see it, it’s working as a municipal prosecutors but with an almost unlimited budget which you can drop like depleted uranium bombs on fools.
- Judicial Internship: If you end up working with a federal judge, that’s huge. If you end up working for a federal judge on the DC Circuit, or Southern District of New York that’s even huger. Getting to see some of the big trials conducted seems fairly invaluable.
- Summer Associate at BigLaw: I don’t really see the difference in firms, short of the bonus. A lot of prestige is attached to some of the larger firms, but at the end of the day just about every big firm is gonna pay you 3k a week. That speaks for itself.
- ‘Elite’ Public Defender Offices: DC, Seattle and New Orleans seem to be the more noted public defender offices. I don’t know why, but very smart motivated NYU grads seem to gravitate here, so I thought I’d mention it.
- Anything to do with Africa: I DEFINITELY have no idea why, but for some reason law students working in Africa is all the rage.
Well those are my thoughts. None of those really describe the places I applied to. Anyone else have thoughts on prestigious 1L jobs?
(NOTE: MSNBC just had the headline ‘Iran fires rocket full of animals into space.”)
A Brief Foray into Politics January 27, 2010
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: Bad idea, Politriks
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There are moments in law school when you realize you’re going to be up a good deal later than you had originally intended. Now is one of those moments, I got sucked into the State of the Union address.
The big buzz word with people who are so judicially inclined is Citizens United v. FEC. I’m going to spare you all the gory details of what I think about it, a Professor at NYU wrote a good article on the topic in Slate.
The thing I will note was a disturbing implication which President Obama noted. Many corporations are not controlled by Americans, say what you want about corporations running everything, I can almost live with that assuming most of them were domestic. The problem is when we have foreign nations directing how our elections work that I start to get worried.
Anyhow, I’m going back to work.
Liberal Bias January 25, 2010
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: 1L Hell, Good idea, Rants
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Chances are that being at NYU Law means you’re a liberal.
Just keep in mind that not all liberals are created equal. Some are liberal in name, so actually want to make things better. Just don’t lose faith too quickly, your dreams will keep you a lot warmed than the Law ever could.
Talk like a Law Student January 19, 2010
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: 1L Hell, Language
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When talking about your area of study, don’t say “I’m studying law.” Speaking in this manner denigrates the importance of your area of study, and comes across much the same as if you say “I’m studying molecular biology” or “I’m studying business.” This completely undervalues the importance, and superiority of your chosen area of study. Instead use this:
“I’m studying the Law.” When said you need to put a hard emphasis on ‘the’ and additionally sort of hiss the words ‘Law.’ This way you stress how important you are, and make your subject sounds like a big Obelisk.
Pub. L. 1337 January 14, 2010
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: 1L Hell, Bad idea, Class, Jobs
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This semester for me is almost entirely the study of public law. It’s a big change, leads one to think more about history and government, as opposed to topics in abstraction.
I also got a job interview, unfortunately in another region of the country. Will I travel far away for a job I might not get? You bet your ass I would!
Anonymity January 4, 2010
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: Bad idea
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It’s times like this where I wish I didn’t maintain this veil of pseudo-secrecy.
I’m having a wonderful time near the end of winter break, and seem to have had a law school related epiphany. Law students rarely get a chance to speak to each other outside of the confines of the traditional law school semester, yet we all have serious insight which we can add to each other’s perspectives.
Being at a great school with great people, ie NYU, also helps.
Update: End of the Semester December 30, 2009
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: Good idea
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I’m either a functional insomniac, or a dysfunctional narcoleptic I can’t really decide which.
When I’m old, and teetering on the verge of the abyss, I will recall certain moments in my life in a manner similar to the Colonel in 100 Years of Solitude. One of those moments will be the night I finished my 1L finals, at least what I remember of them. I felt something that wasn’t quite melancholia or happiness, but I didn’t have time to get too introspective because after multiple rounds of shots, rum and coke started to just taste like coke.
I’ve essentially spent the last two weeks recovering, and bullshitting. I have a project of sorts that will give me some actual legal experience during the last week of break, so between then and now (like 4 days), I need to really clear the path for this summer job search garbage. Like most things in life, I’m going to wait halfway until it’s too late, and then start.
It never ends.
An ‘A’ for ‘Substantial Performance’ December 15, 2009
Posted by invisiblemannakedcity in Uncategorized.Tags: 1L Finals, 1L Hell, Bad idea, Race bait, Rants
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Yeah,
At this point, I just want it to be over. I have two more days of studying in front of me before my last final, and I have so much to learn, but I’m beyond fear. I just feel burnt out. I feel like the school has smoked me to the filter, and won’t be content until they’ve sucked the fumes from the last bit of caffeine addled body.
It’s amazing what law school does to your thought process. I feel like 1L year is shocking barren of anything resembling ideology, and it’s painful. I remember one of my professor’s at one point gave us a case where it was OBVIOUS there was serious issues of race at play (it was akin to predatory lending). Honestly, I think I wasn’t alone among the people of color in not wanting to speak up about the perceived injustice.
It was funny though, because had it been a year earlier and I was sitting in a college class you know I would have brought it up. Damn you law college.
