Hiya recruits!

I saw a comment this week that I would bet a lot of you are sitting on right now, and I wanted to take a moment to address it:

Should you be reaching out to partners directly when networking, especially this early?

Short answer: probably not yet (but with a lot of caveats). Let's explore why!

*I'll caveat this by saying that plenty of people have different perspectives on how to approach this, and reasonable minds can absolutely differ. Make sure to follow your own gut when approaching your own strategy.

First, partners are famously busy, pretty much across the board. Not just "I have a lot of meetings" busy, but genuinely hard to reach, inbox-flooded, billing-pressure busy. Cold outreach from a law student they've never heard of is easy to deprioritize, and most of the time it just gets ignored. That's not a knock on you. It's just the reality of how their days work.

The arguably more strategic move is to start with associates, particularly midlevels and seniors, get their buy in, and then target a partner if you still want. A few things make this the higher-ROI path:

First, associates are just generally more likely to respond cold. Cold outreach to an associate usually has a dramatically better response rate than the same email sent to a partner. Especially younger associates tend to remember what it was like to be in your position, and many of them may genuinely want to help.

Second, they have more influence than you'd think. Associates are often in the room when candidates come up in recruiting discussions and they're the ones often conducting interviews. A midlevel saying to a partner "I talked to this person, they're sharp, you should meet them" carries real weight. That kind of internal endorsement changes how a partner looks at your outreach — you go from unsolicited email to someone worth a conversation. (It's called 'social proof' or 'social validation' and is a actual psychology concept that's a pretty interesting idea).

This makes partner outreach land differently. You have context, you have a name to reference, and you're not starting from zero, so you go from a cold contact to a warm one.

The sequence that I found tends to work:

1. Reach out to associates. Talk with them at least once or twice to build real relationships first.
2. Stay in touch and show genuine interest in the group. (This is why networking early matters because it gives you this buffer time).
3. End your calls/emails after building that relationship with a open question, "who else should I be talking to to learn more about X?" A question like that open doors to partners and leadership more organically than if you're asking for something that feels transactional.
4. Once they say "Oh, X partner/person is great to talk to," then in your email to that person, you say "So-and-so recommended I reach out to you to learn more about X." This validates that you have done your diligence and makes them more likely to respond (they won't always, but it'll help).

Of course, there are exceptions where going straight to partners makes sense: tiny offices, super niche practice groups with few othr attorneys, a shared hyper-specific connection (like family or friends), or situations where a partner told you directly to stay in touch at an event, etc. Same goes for when an associate explicitly tells you to reach out to someone specific above them.

But as a default? Associate-first networking is probably the play — especially right now, before the recruiting cycle is fully underway.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

Hiya recruits!

New updates for Insider Info just arrived!

First things first, the latest updates to the database!

*If you want more details about the screenshots below, check the tracker for live updates. You can also chat with all the super awesome folks joining the Discord server.

**If you’d like to see Insider Info posts earlier, you can support us on Substack!

***If you want to contribute your cycle data to the tracker (no pressure to use it), just let me know in the DM’s. The more students who contribute, the more useful it is.

https://preview.redd.it/3slmdr75m52h1.png?width=2940&format=png&auto=webp&s=af8e57f4ddc4cf8c976e6ca722a4a09bf5246641

Second, a quick update in some summer offers we're seeing

Some students have reached out to us to share that, in some dual-summer offers, they've started to see some GPA contingency language that looks like this:

"This offer is contingent upon… submission of law school transcripts demonstrating a record of strong academic achievement (a minimum overall GPA equivalent to B+)… to return for the 2027 summer program, successful completion of the 2026 summer program…"

This language comes from Perkins Coie according to two different students (both at a T70 and T20)

The question this leads students to reasonably ask is: if I dip below B+ after 1L spring, does one bad semester kill the offer — or do I get to bring it up during 2L?

Our read on the language

So first, the answer is, we don't really know yet. And I'll caveat everything here to say that this is really just our best guess so take it all with a grain of salt since we're really just reading the tea leaves like anyone else here.

But here are our thoughts generally:

First, the language seems purposefully vague, and we've seen some other contract language changes before, but this one is notably different.

Second, I find it odd that the firm listed a grade (not a GPA or class ranking range) minimum, since every school can grade quite a bit differently. I'm not sure what this means just yet.

Third, the key word I feel like stands out is overall. The offer says "minimum overall GPA equivalent to B+" — not semester-by-semester. That likely means your cumulative GPA at the time you submit transcripts is what matters — not any individual semester's grades (typically either a) before the summer program starts or at the time of your final review before getting your final offer or b) when you submit your GPA before starting as a first year). A rough 1L spring semester, I would guess, wouldn't automatically void the offer as long as your cumulative can recover.

A few things to keep in mind:

1. When exactly do firms pull transcripts? Firms typically collect your official transcript before the 2L summer starts and/or during 3L before you start as a first year — not after every semester. So you generally might have 2L fall grades to help your cumulative if spring 1L hurt you.

2. This is likely standard contingency language, not a trap. Again, we've seen some "comparable" GPA language before, and firms have said that the intent is to weed out significant academic issues, not to penalize one rough semester in a brutal 1L curve.

3. "Evidence of strong academic achievement" is subjective language. Note that the offer says "demonstrating a record of strong academic achievement" with the B+ equivalent as the minimum — this gives firms some discretion. One semester under B+ in a cumulative that's otherwise solid is a very different conversation than a consistent downward trend.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

Hiya recruits!

This question is popping up on the sub a good bit recently so let's take a question to address how 3L recruiting (or re-recruiting) looks. I know I posted something similar a few months ago, but I figured another guide can't hurt for those still asking questions.

And as a quick aside, remember that there are multiple 3L recruiting guides in the 3L recruiting section of the megathread pinned to the sub.

To start, remember that 3L recruiting is not OCI. There is no coordinated start date, no mass application window, and no synchronized callback weekend like you would have with 1L and 2L recruiting in OCI. Firms hire 3Ls when they need someone, and that need is almost always reactive (which makes sense. It's filling a usually immediate post-grad need that they didn't expect when recruiting 1L and 2L candidates).

Understanding that one fact will save you a lot of confusion and wasted energy.

Why firms hire 3Ls

BigLaw firms don't just wake up in June and decide to run a 3L recruiting season. Openings appear because something specific happened: a summer class came in smaller than planned, too many summers declined offers, a practice group got busy, a particular office suddenly has demand, early recruiting created fit and mismatch problems the firm is now correcting, or something else unexpected happened.

That last few in that list (at least in my hypothesis in talking to recruiters/attorneys) matter more than people realize. Early recruiting forces 2Ls to make career decisions before they've taken most of their upper-level classes. Firms know this. Some 3L hiring exists precisely because the system produces mismatches, and both candidates and firms sometimes want a reset.

When to start watching

For Class of 2027, the likely answer is June or July. After that, expect sporadic postings through August, fall semester, quiet into the holidays, and back into some postings popping back up into spring and bar study season. Last cycle, there were candidates were interviewing in August, getting callbacks in September, and firms were still posting selective openings later in the year.

There is no single moment where 3L recruiting "opens." Watch continuously, not periodically.

What the 3L market actually looks like (generally)

Small. Need-based. Office- and practice-specific.

Most 3L openings are not broad "we need more first years" postings. A firm isn't staffing a class. They need one person in their Houston energy group, or two people in their DC regulatory practice. If you don't match that specific need/interest i.e., you want litigation only but they're hiring for corporate tax, then the opening likely doesn't exist for you regardless of your credentials.

Keeping expectations calibrated here isn't pessimism. It's the difference between a search strategy that works and one that burns you out.

What to do if you're in the market

• Keep your networks warm and monitor firm websites directly (or use some platform that collects job postings--if it helps, we're building out the 3L recruiting side of the Scout database, so feel free to ask questions or submit feature requests. Community requests are literally how I'm building it so I hope it helps). Many postings go up quietly and disappear fast, and job boards often lag behind. Your career office can help, but direct monitoring is non-negotiable.
• Use your career office aggressively anyway (even if they're not the best historically). They have firm relationships and sometimes know about openings before they're posted publicly.
• Get to alumni and recruiter connections early. A warm introduction to a hiring contact at a firm with a quiet opening moves faster than a cold application.
• Be geographically flexible if your situation allows it. A specific office has demand, not the firm generally. Flexibility on location expands the pool of openings that actually apply to you.
• If you already have a return offer, use it. Candidates with existing BigLaw offers are in a materially stronger position than those entering the market without one. The return offer signals you cleared a high bar. Lead with it.

A note on re-recruiting

If you have a BigLaw offer and are thinking about re-recruiting because you want a different practice area, office, or firm culture, that is more common than it looks from the outside. The 3L re-recruiting market is still small, but it appears to be growing slowly this year as firms recognize there are strong candidates looking for a better fit rather than a first shot. (TBD on how large this market will be in the next few years, but we are seeing a bit more action this year than we have seen previously).

Otherwise, the same advice applies as when you were 2L recruiting: be specific about what you're looking for, be honest about why you're looking, and don't burn your current offer until you have something concrete on the other side.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

Hiya recruits!

(There is a great post from a few years ago on this topic in another sub, but it's been a few years, so I wanted to make an updated/big law recruiting sub specific version for the incoming 1L's here, similar to the post we did last year like this.)

So every year right before fall semester, this question floods the law student related subs:

"What's the actual strategy for doing well in 1L?"

Not which supplements to buy. Not what color highlighter to use. Not whether to brief every case.

Just: what actually moves the needle for grades and BigLaw outcomes in 2026?

The people who struggle most in 1L are not usually just the least capable (like, you all are smart and got into law school). Rather, they can often be the ones grinding 14-hour days on work that doesn't matter for their grade. Law school grading is predictable once you understand what the game actually is. So here's everything you need to know.

The exam is almost everything

This is the hardest mental shift from undergrad, and many 1Ls never fully get it.

In most doctrinal 1L classes:

• Your final exam is your entire grade
• Class participation doesn't move it
• Effort doesn't move it
• Sounding smart during cold calls doesn't move it
• Reading every footnote of every case doesn't move it

The exam does.

So every decision you make this semester has one test: will this help me perform better on the final (specifically usually law school specific exams, meaning the classic "issue spotter")?

Internalize this early and you're already ahead of most of your section.

Hard work and effective studying are not the same thing

The classic 1L traps all look like productivity from the outside. They're not.

What most 1Ls do (that doesn't help):

• Spending 4 hours briefing a single case
• Rewriting notes in prettier formats
• Building an outline that reads like a law review article
• Highlighting entire textbooks
• Sitting in the library for 10 hours to feel productive
• Obsessing over supplements before understanding what the professor actually tests

What students near the top of the curve actually do:

• Understand the black letter law clearly
• Know how their specific professors test
• Practice applying rules to new facts under time pressure
• Do lots of practice exams and hypos
• Build usable, practical outlines
• Stay consistent across the whole semester

That's the list. It's not glamorous. But for a lot of people it works.

Practice exams do more than reading does

If one thing from this post sticks, make it this.

Reading teaches you the material. Practice exams teach you something different:

• Issue spotting
• Timing
• Organization under pressure
• Rule application to new facts
• What your professor actually rewards in an answer

Those are different skills, and it is extremely difficult to develop them passively. You learn law school exams by doing them badly at first, then improving.

The students who improve fastest are almost always the ones who start doing practice exams earlier than feels comfortable. The discomfort of doing them badly in October is much cheaper than doing them badly in December when it counts.

A few practical notes on practice exams:

• Get your professor's old exams first — they're the most predictive
• Do them timed, under real conditions, not as a reading exercise
• Write out full answers, not just outlines of what you'd say
• Compare your answers against model answers or bring them to office hours
• Start earlier than you think you need (Halloween is usually a good guide for starting your outlining, and starting practice exams soon after that would give you enough time to really nail down any issues that are cropping up).

Your outline is a tool, not a trophy

Your outline's only job is to help you write faster on exam day. Not to be 1000% comprehensive. Not to impress anyone. Not to cover every edge case in every casebook chapter.

Good outlines are:

• Shorter than you think they need to be (I love an attack outline)
• Rule-heavy and organized around how issues appear on exams
• Built around how your specific professor teaches and tests
• Practical enough to navigate quickly under time pressure

The best outlines usually come from:

1. Your own class notes
2. Old outlines from students who did well in the same class with the same professor
3. Practice exams — which show you what actually gets tested
4. Professor emphasis — what they keep coming back to in class

Don't fall behind in the first eight weeks

Weeks 5 through 8 are where 1L goes sideways for a lot of people. Here's what happens:

• Reading accumulates faster than people expect
• Legal writing assignments ramp up
• Sleep starts disappearing
• Memo season hits at the exact moment everyone is already exhausted
• People stop outlining and tell themselves they'll catch up later

You don't need to study 14 hours a day. You need to stay caught up, understand each week before moving to the next, and build your outline gradually rather than in a panic the week before finals.

The formula that works for many people:

• Stay caught up on reading — even if your briefs aren't perfect (or if you have to, use something like Quimbee to keep things moving along)
• Understand each topic before you move on
• Add to your outline weekly, not all at once
• Do at least one practice problem per major topic as you go
• Avoid catastrophic burnout before December

Law school is a marathon, and people who sprint early usually hit a wall right when they can least afford to.

Protect your sleep and health

This sounds obvious until week 9 when you haven't slept properly in a month.

Sleep deprivation costs you:

• Reading comprehension
• Writing clarity
• Memory retention
• Stress tolerance
• Exam performance

You will outperform the constantly-panicked, sleep-deprived student who worked twice as many hours if you:

• Sleep enough consistently
• Exercise even occasionally
• Eat reasonably well
• Maintain some version of a normal human routine

A lot of people self-sabotage by treating law school as a misery competition. The ones who crash hardest before finals are usually the ones who went hardest in September. Sustainable beats extreme, every time.

Comparison will wreck your brain

Every 1L section has the same cast of characters:

• The gunner who answers every question and seems to know everything
• The person pretending not to study who's secretly in the library at midnight
• The person with color-coded supplements and a 40-tab system
• The person who says they "barely read" and somehow got CALIs
• The person having a visible breakdown by October

Ignore all of it. You genuinely have no idea:

• How well anyone actually understands the material
• How hard they're really working
• How good they are at taking exams specifically
• Whether anything they're telling you is accurate

Focus on your own process. The only curve that matters is the one your professor sets, not the one you're imagining based on how confident your classmates seem in class.

The recruiting piece (because this is r/biglawrecruiting)

This is where 1L grades connect directly to BigLaw outcomes, and it's worth being direct about.

Why 1L grades matter more here than people admit:

• Pre-OCI timelines have accelerated significantly — firms are moving earlier every cycle
• Your first semester grades are often what gets your resume a second look before OCI opens
• Journal eligibility at many schools can incorporate 1L grades (i.e., instead of "writing on" to a journal, those with top grades can "grade on"
• Clerkship positioning starts earlier than most people expect
• Strong grades expand your options at every stage: pre-OCI, OCI, laterals, and clerkships

What strong 1L grades actually open:

• Easier pre-OCI outcomes at competitive firms
• More flexibility during OCI — more callbacks, more options
• Access to litigation boutiques and specialized practices that screen harder
• Better clerkship positioning if that's the direction you want
• Easier lateral movement later in your career

What to keep in mind:

• Not being in the top 10% does not end your BigLaw prospects
• Plenty of people land strong outcomes from the middle of the curve
• Grades are one signal — networking, geography, practice area interest, and interview performance all matter too
• Your goal isn't perfection — it's maximizing what's available to you

The curve is going to feel disorienting — that's normal

Almost everyone feels lost in 1L. You're in a room full of people who were near the top of their class before this. The adjustment is real and it's supposed to be hard.

A few things worth knowing:

• Feeling confused in September doesn't mean you're behind
• One bad cold call doesn't signal anything about your trajectory
• One rough class doesn't end anything
• The Socratic method is a teaching tool, not an assessment
• Most people feel more lost than they let on

The students who tend to land near the top of the curve are calm, they adapt, they keep doing the reps, and they don't spiral when something goes wrong. That's more predictive than raw intelligence or how much time you logged in the library.

Practical things that actually help

A few concrete recommendations that are easy to skip and worth not skipping:

• Go to office hours — not to impress your professor, but to understand exactly how they think about exam answers. This is the most underused resource in 1L.
• Find 1-3 good study partners — not a 12-person group that becomes a social event. A small group that actually works problems together is worth a lot.
• Get old exams and outlines — most schools have a repository. Use it. Old exams from your specific professor are more valuable than any commercial supplement.
• Learn IRAC early and practice it constantly — it feels mechanical at first. That's fine. Get the structure automatic so you can focus on the substance on exam day.
• Learn your professor's preferences — some want more rule recitation, some want more policy, some care deeply about structure, some don't. Find out before December.
• Start practice exams earlier than than you might thinl — week 6 or 7 is not too early if you want to explore what issue spotters look like.
• Don't obsess over being the smartest person in the room — it's not a useful goal and it's not what the exam rewards.
• Remember that plenty of successful BigLaw associates were median students — grades are a door opener, not the whole story.

Law school rewards disciplined consistency far more than occasional heroic effort. The students who figure that out in September have a real advantage over the ones who figure it out in November.

You'll be stressed. That's unavoidable. But you'll be fine.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

Hiya recruits!

I noticed this question on the sub and wanted to take a moment to write an explainer for those of you who have a similar question:

Once you start applying to firms, should you focus applications on your law school's primary market or the city you're actually from, assuming they're different?

The short answer is strategically, it can be both. But based on your specific facts, there's a priority order for most people I would recommend, just to maximize your chances at landing a big law job.

First, generally, start with your school's market

Your school's primary market is usually a pretty safe bet. Firms already know your school places there. Alumni networks run deeper, career services has stronger firm relationships, and interviewers aren't going to spend the first five minutes of your callback wondering whether you'll bolt after two years because you committed to law school there.

And for the record, that last part matters more than people realize. "Flight risk" is a real concern firms weigh, even if they rarely say it directly. Applying to markets where your school has an established track record removes that friction before the conversation even starts.

Your home market can absolutely work (just might take more hustle depending on a few factors)

Real ties help a lot. Being from a city, having family there, a partner or spouse who's already there, prior work experience in that market — any of these give you a credible story to say that you want to work in another city that isn't in your school's region. Firms want confidence you'll stay. If you can give them that (and I recommend giving them that up front), the home market is fair game.

The question to answer honestly: can you explain in one or two sentences why you want to be in that city long-term, and does it sound genuine to the person listening?

Market size changes the math

A good rule of thumb is that, if your home market is small and your school feeds heavily into a large one, prioritize the larger market and take targeted shots at home. Small secondary markets have fewer spots, and firms there are often more relationship-driven. A cold application from someone outside the regional pipeline is a harder sell.

If your home market is large and your school has at least some placement there, apply aggressively. Big markets tend to have more firms willing to look outside the exact regional pipeline (i.e. NYC doesn't require a ton of work to prove you want to be there forever), especially when the candidate's connection to the city is genuine.

The farther the market, the more work it takes

Outside of schools with true national reach (i.e., traditional T14's), breaking into a market far from your school's region usually requires more hustle. (Not that it's impossible, but just take a little extra effort). That means more networking, more targeted applications, a sharper "why this market" answer, more alumni outreach, and more follow-through than you'd need in your school's backyard.

What firms actually care about

It's not where you're from. It's whether your story makes sense. Anywhere you can show a reasonable, believable connection and credibly argue you're not a flight risk is worth applying. The story has to hold up across a 20-minute interview, not just sound good in a cover letter.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

Hiya recruits!

I wanted to take a moment to address a part of this process that a lot of people gloss over (and very reasonably, because they're tired of recruiting and over all the energy that goes into it).

However, I wanted to make a brief argument for the post-offer networking game (if you have the energy for it, and it's 100% okay if you don't). I do think it's something that can have a surprising payoff down the line, so I wanted to flag it for those of you who want to add this to your long term career strategies.

So let's get into it!

To start, a lot of people treat networking like a one-way transaction: grind calls, send cold emails, get the offer, bada bing, bada boom, done, vanish.

I want to argue that this is leaving possible chips on the table.

If you've spent weeks or months building relationships with associates, partners, recruiters, and fellow summer associates, I think it's worth at least closing the loop once you land somewhere.

It doesn't need to be elaborate. A short note saying you appreciated their time, insight, and letting them know where you're headed is enough. But that small step is what separates people who just "used" networking from people others actually want to help again (meaning they built an actual relationship, not bolted after a one time transaction).

Here's why I argue this strategy can pay off:

BigLaw is a small world. It feels enormous when you're applying. But it a lot of ways, it isn't. Attorneys lateral between firms, recruiters move around, practice groups stay tight-knit, and the same names can come up over and over. Being the person who followed up instead of disappearing, leaves a a much friendlier and memorable impression than you'd expect.

Your future self may need this network again. There's a very real chance you (like many many others) will lateral in two to four years (iirc something like 20% of people lateral in year 1 in big law and 80% by year 5). When that happens, you don't want to be starting from scratch. The people you spoke with during recruiting may be at firms you're targeting, or know people who are. Reaching back out to someone you've kept warm is a very different conversation from reappearing out of nowhere asking for a favor when you need it.

It converts networking into actual relationships. Most people approach networking as purely transactional because that's how recruiting makes it feel unfortunately. But the people who get long-term value out of it are the ones who convert those interactions into real, low-maintenance relationships. Following up after you accept is the first step.

It's an underrated form of professional etiquette. People took time out of their day to talk to you, give advice, and sometimes go to bat for you internally. Closing the loop is arguably just a nice thing to do to pay it back (honestly, a lot of folks who talk to students take time out of their billable day to do this because we actually care to know where you go and if you're happy with your path). And a surprising number of people don't do it. For attorneys, sometimes it's just nice to know what happens at the end of the movie, you know?

One point worth highlighting: even if you didn't choose their firm, reach out anyway. You're not offending anyone by going elsewhere — people understand how this process works. Handling that update professionally tends to make a strong impression precisely because most candidates don't bother.

What this actually looks like:

• Send a quick update once you accept: where you're going and a genuine thank you
• If someone went out of their way for you — a referral, multiple calls, internal advocacy — you can be a bit more personal
• For people you genuinely clicked with, keep the door open ("hope to stay in touch")
• You don't need constant contact. This is one point of contact that can keep your networks warm for a surprisingly long time.

An email template for this

Subject: Recruiting update and thank you

Hi [Name],

Hope you're well! I wanted to take a moment to reach out now that recruiting has wrapped up. I accepted an offer at [Firm] and will be joining [Practice Group] in [City].

I also wanted to say a more personal thank you. You went out of your way for me [briefly name what they did: made an introduction, talked me through the process, put in a good word, etc.] and that made such a difference in how I approached the process and my success here.

I hope to stay in touch. If there is ever anything I can do to return the favor, please let me know.

Thanks again for everything!

Best,

[Your name]

In sum

Remember that recruiting makes networking feel like a short-term game. But it doesn't have to be. The people you meet now can matter for clerkships, laterals, business referrals, or even just sanity checks on career decisions years from now. Closing the loop takes almost no time, but it keeps doors open that you'll probably want later.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

Hiya recruits!

Let's talk about how big law hiring in law school works and, for those of you who are very new to the system, what Pre-OCI/OCI/and post-OCI mean for you.

First, what is OCI?

OCI stands for On Campus Interviewing. Also sometimes called EIW. It is the structured recruiting program law schools run each summer where BigLaw firms come to campus (or log on virtually) to interview 2L students for summer associate positions in a condensed week or so ish timeline. Traditionally, this took place in your summer of 1L around July, but many schools have pushed up OCI to as early as January to be competitive with the pre-OCI timeline.

So then, what is Pre-OCI?

Pre-OCI means applying directly to firms, outside your school's system, before OCI begins. (Literally going to the firms website, clicking the career portal, and applying there). This traditionally happened in your second semester of 1L, but now, firms have started opening applications as early as October of 1L, both for 1L and 2L summer positions.

Applications start opening as early as October/November (yes, before grades are out, and yes you should apply then), interviews pick up in December/January and offers peak somewhere between January-March. By the time traditional OCI runs at many schools (which hold them in March or later), many, many, many spots are gone, meaning if you apply late, even with great grades and a great school, it can be an extremely uphill battle to nail one of these jobs.

This compression is uncomfortable for people who want to wait for a full picture before applying. You won't have a full picture. Neither will anyone else. The students who do well in pre-OCI apply early anyway, with imperfect information, and adjust as they go (i.e., you update with your transcript when you get grades later in Jan.).

Why the timeline shifted and why we're all now in this special circle of recruiting hell

Firms started moving earlier because, originally, there was a rule saying they couldn't recruit early. TLDR: that rule was nixed, and firms felt they were losing candidates to competitors who moved first. Once one firm starts making offers June, then May, then March, then January, etc., everyone else faced a choice: move earlier or lose talent. The result is an arms race that has pushed the window earlier every cycle. This shift started and was covered around back in 2024 and it has only accelerated since.

This creates real pressure on applicants. Exploding offers are still common. You'll sometimes get 24-48 hours to decide on an offer before you've heard back from half your list. There's no clean way around this. You ask for extensions where you can, you ask firms you prefer to expedite where you can, and sometimes you decide with incomplete information.

What to do right now

Build your list wide; it's a numbers game. When we say blanket the AmLaw 200, we mean blanket.

1. Ideally, target your schools target markets (or NYC), or markets you have a strong tie to, mostly because your school will have the most sway there, or it'll be the market where there are the most seats available to compete for.

Firms known to hire early are worth prioritizing early in your application cycle (and you can tell which do this using the sub database if you need help). But the bigger mistake most people make is over-filtering before they have any traction. Apply broadly first, nail an offer, then get picky and refine later.

2. Get your materials ready before apps open, not after. An exact list of what you need can be found here. Generally it's cover letter, resume, and a short list of networking contacts at target firms. Networking won't override weak credentials, but it pulls your application into the review pile faster, which matters when firms are moving quickly.

If pre-OCI doesn't work out

OCI still exists. Fewer seats, but it's real. Some firms also hire into the summer after OCI closes (usually more like midlaw and regional firms which run on later timelines, but many are following similar big law timelines as well, so don't sleep on these).

Worst case, if you don't get an offer in OCI either, there is the post-OCI process.

This post should help in that scenario: What to do if you didn't get an offer in OCI (and are maybe freaking out a bit 😨)

All in all, the fundamentals haven't changed. Apply early. Apply broadly. Move fast when things are moving. The recruiting window is shorter than it used to be, which means the cost of hesitating is higher than it used to be.

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you've got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!

Hiya recruits!

I wanted to take a second to address a common question that follows the recruiting season nowadays. This post is probably still on the early side, but I figure it can't hurt to write since I know I've seen folks asking about this in the discord and sub.

So let's get into it!

Is Law Review Still Worth It After You Have a 2L Job?

The Short Answer

It depends (I know, I'm sorry), but the calculus can sometimes be more nuanced than "you already have a job, so skip it," at least depending on your career goals. Law review can still open doors down the line, and passing on it can quietly close some. The question is which doors matter to you.

Skipping write on isn't a question of right or wrong, just what's right for you.

So, What Law Review Actually Does For You

Before deciding, let's take an honest about what law review is and isn't.

What it is: a credential that signals academic seriousness, a pipeline especially for federal clerkships and academia, a writing and editing experience that (ostensibly) makes you a better litigator, and a community of often high-achieving peers useful for networking, referrals, maybe even co-authorship down the road.

What it isn't: a requirement for BigLaw (you already have the job), a guarantee of a clerkship (though for many judges it helps significantly and may even be a quiet requirement), or something most clients or partners will ever ask about.

Reasons to Do Write-On

1. You want to clerk — especially federally.

This is arguably the biggest reason to do write-on after securing a BigLaw offer. Federal clerkships, particularly at the circuit level and above, are intensely credential-driven. Judges often screen heavily on GPA, law review membership (and ideally a published note), and school prestige. If you want a shot at a Article III clerkship, not being on law review can be a real obstacle at many schools. For district court clerkships the calculus can be sometimes softer, but law review still helps.

If clerking is even a maybe for you, arguably then, do write-on. You cannot go back and join law review later. You can always decide not to apply for clerkships.

2. You're interested in academia.

Law professors almost universally clerked and published. If there's any chance you want to teach, then a law review membership is often seen as a requirement. A published note and later publications is a meaningful credential when going on the teaching market.

3. You want the credential optionality.

You don't know what your career will look like in ten years. Having it costs you time (and the extra work of being on a journal) now. But not having it might cost you options you may want to reconsider later, and you can't reverse that decision.

Reasons to Skip Write-On

1. You're burned out and grades are slipping.

Recruiting is exhausting. If catching up on classwork would materially improve your GPA — and you care about GPA for your goals, then a higher GPA may outperform law review membership on the credential checklist. Transcript generally will outweigh most everything else.

2. You have no interest in clerking or academia.

If your plan is firm-track (or just not clerking/academica) all the way, law review will have little impact on your career after 2L hiring. Partners care about your work product, client relationships, and business development. Not whether you were on law review in law school.

3. The time cost is real.

Journals (and law review especially) is a genuine commitment, especially in 2L year. If you have competing obligations like family, health, or financial pressures requiring outside work, I would argue that it is completely legitimate to protect your bandwidth.

The Clerking Case, Specifically

If clerking is on your radar at all, then there is a strong argument to do write-on.

If you do write-on and make law review, you keep the clerkship door open, and you can still decide later not to apply. If you skip write-on, the door closes in many cases. At most schools there is no other path onto law review beyond write on before 2L.

Additionally, clerkship applications happen in 2L and 3L year. You may not know yet whether you want to clerk. The job you have now might not pan out the way you expect. Whatever. A clerkship might become more appealing after a year of firm work, or after you find a judge you love.

You may not want to make an irreversible decision based on how you feel at the end of just the recruiting season.

How to Think Through Your Decision

Ask yourself these questions honestly:

• Is there any world in which I want to clerk? If yes — even a small yes — do write-on.
• Do I have a specific practice area where a note on a journal would serve me better?
• Am I too burned out to make a clear-headed decision right now? (If so, give yourself a few days before deciding to do it either way.)

That's all for now!

As always, if you're new here, make sure to check out the welcome megathread here for some more helpful guides!

In the meantime, if you’ve got info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.

Good luck!

P.S. If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.

Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.

Good luck out there recruits!