Calling all Chicago lawyers

nickg1532 · #1 07-22-2007, 02:05 AM

(Mods, you can move this if you think there's a better place for it.)

To anyone who practices law in Chi-town:

I'll be starting my 2L year in August, and you know what that means--interviewing time. Chicago is one of the cities on which I'm focusing my job search, and luckily several good Chicago firms will be coming to my school for OCI. There are probably too many to bother listing names, so I'll just leave this question open ended. Tell me anything you know about Chicago firms. Any that I should 100% try to work for if I get the chance? Any that I should avoid at all costs? Let me know.

(I realize that factors like what type of practice area I'm interested in--and other stuff you don't know about me--can affect whether a firm is a good fit. I'm not looking for perfect advice; rather, I'm just trying to get a general feel for what's out there, beyond the info I can get off The Vault, NALP, etc.)

Iplayragstoo · #2 07-22-2007, 03:19 AM

My wife works for Chapman & Cutler, and really likes it, shes been there 15 years. One of my Best friends was a partner there until he moved to another firm, he seemed to enjoy it as well. GL with where ever you end up.

chisness · #3 07-22-2007, 04:31 AM

www.autoadmit.com

John Spartan · #4 07-22-2007, 07:07 AM

what school do you attend?

JackInDaCrak · #5 07-22-2007, 11:47 AM

You're pretty unlikely to get a job through OCI unless you're top 10% in your class. Even then, it's a bit of a crap shoot.

Pepper the area with resumes at any firm where you might like to work. Don't count on your school's career office; they likely don't give a [censored] about you and in the end it's all up to you.

nickg1532 · #6 07-22-2007, 03:07 PM

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You're pretty unlikely to get a job through OCI unless you're top 10% in your class. Even then, it's a bit of a crap shoot.

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I'm in the top 10% of my class at a pretty good school (20-25 range). I also made law review. You don't think I have a decent chance at getting a job?

slickpoppa · #7 07-22-2007, 03:18 PM

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You're pretty unlikely to get a job through OCI unless you're top 10% in your class. Even then, it's a bit of a crap shoot.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm in the top 10% of my class at a pretty good school (20-25 range). I also made law review. You don't think I have a decent chance at getting a job?

[/ QUOTE ]

I had pretty much the same credentials as you (law review at a top 20-25 school) and got offers at many very good NYC law firms. You'll definitely get plenty of offers as long as you're not a total weirdo, and probably some even if you are a weirdo.

Don't stress too much about which law firms to apply to. Unless you are really interested in one narrow area of the law, they are all very generic. Just apply to the top Chicago firms (be wary of applying to nationally prestigious law firms that only have small offices in Chicago) and test the waters in the initial screening interview.

nickg1532 · #8 07-22-2007, 04:05 PM

slickpoppa,

it's nice to hear that, with similar numbers, you had no shortage of offers. i was suprised to hear the comment above that it was tough to get jobs through OCI. it was my understanding that many students (at least at my school) get jobs through OCI. (this is not to say that i think getting a job through OCI is easy, just that it is no tougher than just sending your own letters.)

edit: this, of course, does not mean that sending out letters is not a good supplement to OCI, and it is something i have considered doing.

i would think that regardless of the firm i end up at, my happiness will largely depend on the specific people i'm surrounded by (i.e. which department i end up in, and which partners will be supervising me). so i agree with your statement that the firm will matter only to an extent. i'm sure it's easy to find great departments/partners at otherwise lousy firms (from a happiness perspective), and lousy departments/partners at otherwise great firms. then again, you obviously maximize the chances of being surrounded by good people if the firm's culture is good.

also, can i ask why i should be wary of working in a small office of an otherwise large firm?

nickg1532 · #9 07-22-2007, 04:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You're pretty unlikely to get a job through OCI unless you're top 10% in your class. Even then, it's a bit of a crap shoot.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm in the top 10% of my class at a pretty good school (20-25 range). I also made law review. You don't think I have a decent chance at getting a job?

[/ QUOTE ]
i just realized that this came off sort of conceited--i didn't mean it like that. i was genuinely asking whether it was that difficult to get good jobs through OCI

slickpoppa · #10 07-22-2007, 04:48 PM

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also, can i ask why i should be wary of working in a small office of an otherwise large firm?

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Wary probably wasn't the right word. What I meant was that to the extent you care about prestige and being a part of big deals and cases, the "satellite" offices of nationally prestigious law firms might not be working on those big deals and cases. Many of the top nationally ranked firms are based in NYC, but only have smaller offices in other cities. And in those other cities, there are other firms that may not have the same national recognition, but handle much bigger cases and deals in that city. For example, I had a friend who worked at the NYC office of Ropes & Gray, which is considered the best law firm in Boston. She enjoyed working there, but was kind of disappointed at how everything at the firm seem to revolve around what happened in the Boston office. So if you want to work at the "best" law firm, look at the Chicago rankings, not the national ones.

All that being said, don't put too much stock into the rankings because they obviously don't necessarily correlate to your happiness or job satisfaction.