Finishing up Biglaw summer associate position right now in NY. Happy to answer any questions if helpful.

context: finished 1L top 10% at CLS, on law review. but, struck out during regular recruiting cycle despite 9 CBs.

have a few interviews coming up and i of course really don’t want to screw them up as well.

ive done a few mock interviews with my schools career office. the feedback i’ve gotten from firms that rejected me was that there was a lack of confidence/enthusiasm.

anyone have any advice? what are some major and common errors candidates make? what are some things i should focus in on?

any advice would be greatly appreciated. like i said, i really dont wanna mess up this opportunity again. thanks in advance for any help!

is it getting less and less prestigious? in 15 years will it be even less prestigious?

Hello,

I accepted a SA offer for next summer five months ago. I wasn’t able to visit the firm in-person (recruiting and offer all occurred virtually).

I would like to visit the firm, but I understand that it’s been almost half a year and I have already accepted the offer. Would it be odd to ask if I can come by for an office tour? (if so, would it be completely out of the picture to ask for a partial comp for flights?)

Hi recruits!

Sharing this week's 0L Megathread here for the incoming law students who have questions. You can see the last megathread here.

Who this thread is for

This is for the folks who are:

• Starting law school in the fall,
• You've heard the word "BigLaw" approximately 400 times,
• And you're not sure where to begin.

This thread is for you.

Ask whatever you want. No question is too basic. The difference between 0Ls who figure this stuff out early and those who scramble second semester of 1L is usually just access to information — so ask.

What this thread is for

Anything you'd feel weird posting as a standalone thread. Questions like:

• "What even is OCI and when does it happen?"
• "I'm going to a T20 school, do I have a shot at BigLaw?"
• "What should I be doing this summer before 1L starts?"
• "Does undergrad major matter? GPA? Work experience?"
• "What's the difference between a summer associate and a first-year associate?"
• "I got into [School A] with a scholarship vs. [School B] with no money — help"

All of it is fair game.

A few common things worth knowing before you post

Grades are the thing. At most schools now, because of just the timing of hiring, firms primarily screen on 1L Fall GPA. Everything else — networking, cover letters, connections — matters, but matters at the margins. The 1L year is short and the curve is real. Take it seriously before you take anything else seriously.

The funnel is narrow at the top and wide in the middle. V10 firms go to schools to recruit a specific profile. V100 firms at regional law schools may recruit a completely different profile. Same goes for the AmLaw200. All paths exist. The advice that applies to one firm or school doesn't always apply to the other. When you ask a question, include your school (or at least region/tier) and what you're aiming for — you'll get better answers.

We really recommend checking out the posts on the Welcome Megathread and those pinned to the wiki in the right side of the sub. It'll answer many, if not most, of your questions about this process.

That's all for now!

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!

I always struggle with the question “tell me about a time you worked in a team/group”. What are the firms looking to hear? Any guidance?

Summer winding down, terrified I’ll be losing my return offer because GPA went from 3.29 to 3.19, but I got almost all Bs during 2L.

I’ve gotten excellent reviews this summer but have convinced myself they will think I’m too stupid to bring back.

Will good work product, enthusiasm, and networking throughout the summer override this?

Just wondering

What are the common signs of being no offered? Also, in the final week will they let you know you’re not getting an offer or just say nothing and the position ends?

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to get a reality check from people currently in the trenches or any recruiters lurking here. Is anyone actually getting interviews and offers right now in July/August, or is the "summer slowdown" hitting hard?

I’m still applying daily but feeling like applications are just disappearing into a void. Are teams just completely checked out on PTO right now, or is it worth grinding through the next few weeks? Would love to hear if anyone has landed anything recently

I have my summer associate job next year but am also part of the wedding party. In July. Do I just ask for that time off? Advice needed!

genuinely curious bc I read a thread of ppl getting laid off, plus only one person from my entire school is going next year (while there are 10+ going to each other v10 firm)

Hi everyone! Posting this here because I am not sure it belongs in r/LawSchool

Incoming 1L thinking about Big Law, and wondering if anyone who has used the Legal Scout database/paid subscription found it to be worthwhile? Thinking about how to organize applications and determine what I am really looking for in a firm. Any thoughts?

Hi everyone!

Another office hours session will take place on Thursday, July 9!

This session will once again focus on resume and cover letter reviews. Whether you're getting ready for pre-OCI applications, polishing your materials before interviews, or simply looking for feedback, we're happy to take a look!

If you'd like your materials reviewed, please email them to admin@legalscout.org by Tuesday, July 7. Submitting in advance will help us review as many resumes and cover letters as possible. Based on how many people submit, we’ll likely only be able to get through a few of these reviews, but if folks are interested, we can always do another review session in a few weeks. You will be notified if your materials are chosen for the review session!

The office hours will be hosted on the sub Discord, under the “office-hours” channel.

Looking forward to meeting some of you and helping you prepare for recruiting season!

Heads up: This post is for total beginners who want a clear calendar breakdown of 1L with minimal fluff. It won't include a ton of detail, just a high-level overview of timing.

**We wanted to repost this since we have been receiving a ton of questions about what incoming 1Ls can do to prepare for 1L and upcoming interviews! 

Hi recruits!

With a new year of law school around the corner and a fresh wave of incoming 1Ls joining the sub, here's an updated breakdown of the 1L timeline for anyone aiming at BigLaw.

Last cycle was another reminder that waiting is the wrong strategy. Firms opened 1L apps earlier than ever, some filled positions before grades dropped, and students who treated July OCI as their primary plan often found a very thin market by the time they got there. The trend is not reversing.

This post is for people who, like me, had no idea how the timeline worked going in. I also have a longer monthly guide with templates, deadlines, and trackers if you want more depth. DM and I'll send it over.

Remember, there are a ton of guides, referenced here and generally, pinned to the sub here, and you can learn more from the community by asking questions here or on the Discord.

And finally—you don’t have to do everything. Not everyone should. You know yourself best. But if you’re someone who likes to prep early and reduce stress later, I hope this helps.

So let's get to it.

TL;DR: Big picture changes in early hiring, including pre-OCI

On the 1L side: general summer associate and diversity apps opened as early as October 1 last cycle at firms like Davis Polk, Quinn Emanuel, Reed Smith, Wilson Sonsini, and King & Spalding. Several ran screeners and callbacks before grades came out, with offers landing in December and early January, some conditional on grades. Federal and judicial roles (DOJ, SEC, Federal Reserve) opened as early as September and some closed by late November.

On the 2L side: dozens of firms now open direct 2L apps even earlier, with major markets like New York leading. Several schools moved OCI earlier, to May or June, but many didn't, and students at schools like Fordham saw fewer than 30 firms show up to their July OCI, most of which were already close to full.

Do not depend solely on career services to tell you when to move. Use them. They can be genuinely helpful. But their timelines are often behind what's actually happening in the market. Apply early, do your own research, and don't wait for permission. There's an entire megathread on bad advice career services gave students if you want to see how often this goes wrong.

The 1L BigLaw timeline

July (before school starts)

• Read the 0L prep guide if you haven't.
• If you want a head start, draft your resume and cover letter now. Neither will change significantly by the time you're applying, and having them done removes one thing to worry about when school starts.
  • DM if you need templates.

August (orientation and weeks one and two)

• ✅ Outlines: Collect past outlines for each class (you'll be able to find one for every class except legal writing, which won't have one).
  • Best places to find these are from upper classmen and clubs! Just ask for their outline banks.
• ✅ Reading: Read with exams in mind.
  • Personally, I thought A Guide to Law School Exams by Alex Schimel was the most helpful of the bunch.
• ✅ Know Your Goal: If BigLaw is your target, read up on practice areas and markets.
  • If you don't know what you want to do generally, see this post: A list of popular legal jobs for the 1L's going to law school but who don't know what they want to do (Updated Repost)
  • GULC has a nice list of practice areas and the firms that have practices in them, with short descriptions, so that should help you have a quick reference point on anything you might want to explore further. Note, this guide is for firms from 2022 and limited to NYC but it still gives a good general sense of what's out there and it's a solid starting point.

September

• 🔹 Academics First: Grades are still king on whether landing a big law job is easy or hard. So stay focused.
• 🔹 Professor Relationships: Go to office hours early and often. You’ll need references soon when you start applications.
• 🔹 Career Launchpad- if you haven't already:
  • Start your legal resume.
  • Build a cover letter template.
  • Go to some career panels, firm reception, and have a few networking conversations. (Some firms track attendance at these events to see who is actually interested and spent time getting to know them, so attending is an excellent way to be able to name drop events/people in your cover letters.)
  • Again, DM if you want resume/cover letter templates—happy to share.
• 🔹 Talk to people:
  • Start talking to 2Ls about what they did their 1L summer. It doesn't even need to be about anything specific--it can just help just to hear about how people approached their process.

October

• ✅ Apply Early:
  • Some BigLaw apps for 1L AND 2L (either separately or together) open this month; apply to both 1L and 2L apps that stand alone if you see them, and the 1L + 2L jumbo apps if you see those - if you need a list of all the firm direct application links and their opening deadlines, feel free to DM.
  • Some federal internships (e.g., SEC, USAO) and even some state/local internships (i.e., State AG's, some DA's offices like DANY) also begin opening now, and some close as early as November or December, so submit your app ASAP once you see any of these open.
• ✅ Start Applying: Have your materials for applications ready.
  • Everything you'll need will include:
    • Resume: A quick "what NOT to do" post can be found here.
    • Cover letter: A quick m/tip can be found here.
    • Writing sample (you will want to use your first memo in legal writing in the vast majority of cases) and cover page
    • Reference list (DM if you need a template)
    • If applicable, Diversity/Additional Personal statement if you're applying to a diversity position (assuming they still exist in a few months--though many firms are just renaming them as something like "community" or "merit" or whatever applications, they are substantively the same). You can reuse your diversity statement/essay when applying to law school if you like. More details on what a Diversity Summer is here and how to write a diversity statement here.
• ✅ Outlines & Exam Prep:
  • Create an outlining plan & set deadlines (here's a post if you need one on this).
• ✅ Memo Season: Go to office hours. Understand your professor’s quirks.
  • Legal writing can be SUPER professor specific, so the more time you can get understanding what your specific professor wants to see, the better.

November (There's a November timeline specific post here)

• ✅ Game On:
  • This mostly echos Oct. but now things will start to pick up for the next few months.
    • Apply to 1L BigLaw diversity and 1L general programs — some open early Nov. Again, if you need a list as opposed to trying to gather which firms are open when yourself, feel free to DM
    • Apply to Gov’t & Judicial Internships—many close in late Nov/early Dec. A bit more detail on the judicial internship process is here.
• ✅ MANY MORE BIG LAW FIRMS OPEN APPS THIS MONTH FOR 1L AND 2L APPLICATIONS * Yes, I know, it's actually nuts. But see below for some of the firms that opened early last year.
• ✅ 2L Recruiting Ramps Up:
  • Yes, it is ridiculously early now. I hear you. Tons of firms opened direct 2L summer apps early last year, and we expect even more to follow the trend this year.
  • Start applying in waves now—do NOT wait for OCI in March (or even May/June). These two posts should help understand the process a bit.
    • Pre-OCI, Explained (for those of you prepping for March/April hiring!)
    • Should I Apply in Pre-OCI Now or Wait Until OCI (Even If My OCI Is "Early")? 🤔

https://preview.redd.it/pspgptx4kvah1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=2c8909bd10b5c0c8d2b646d0902ccd399d7f7c78

• ✅ Practice Exams: Begin weekly practice if possible.
  • Not everyone practices the same way, but just think about your approach to practice exams. A guide can be found here.
• ✅ Memo Due Turn it in (don't leave it until the last minute--your future self will thank you). Then back to finals prep.

December

• ✅ Exams First: Study smarter.
  • Practice exams are generally more important than rereading material. Go to office hours. It doesn't matter what you actually do as long as you do what works for you.

https://preview.redd.it/t9er8h8plvah1.png?width=2048&format=png&auto=webp&s=cfeb192dd2eec073914a91ef18e7b8824430f298

• ✅ Keep Applying: Many more 1L AND 2L apps (BigLaw and public interest) open now.
  • KEY INFORMATION: Apply now EVEN IF you think you can't/won't get it. We saw a ton of firms just roll applicants right into early callbacks for 2L applications if they didn't quite make the cut for 1L because of grades/school/whatever, so think of these applications as playing the long game--even if 1L summer associate gigs might not work out for you.
  • ✅ Keep in mind you may start interviewing in Dec: This year, December had a ton of interviews kicking off (many also happen in January, but December was busy too as). Many folks will even get their 1L big law offers/answers in early Jan (with many getting results through Jan-March; see screenshot for examples of students in the database from this 1L cycle).
• ✅ Rest After Finals:
  • If you already have your job lined up, AMAZING. In that case, winter break is for recovery… and regrouping and getting ready for 2L applications.
  • If you don't, that's also okay and totally normal. A ton of folks don't get their jobs until Jan, Feb, or later. You just ideally don't want to be job hunting for your 1L summer in the spring when you'll ALSO be hunting for your 2L summer. So the earlier you can knock it out, the better.
  • Note, it doesn't actually really matter what you do for your 1L summer as long as it's something legal. Check out these two posts if you need:
    • Where Do I Find 1L Summer Jobs? An Aggregated Guide For 1L’s
    • A Guide To The 1L Summer Job Timeline: The When, Where, and How of Applying Once Exams Are Done
• ✅ Post-Finals Plan:
  • Update your resume and applications.
  • Update your resume/applications with grades once you get them back.

January

• ✅ 2L Recruiting Ramps Up More:
  • Do NOT wait for OCI in March (or even May/June) to apply.
  • Keep sending 2L direct applications.
• ✅ Submit Updated Apps: Many firms and other applications will ask for grades. Send them once you have them.
• ✅ Start/Continue Interviewing: Assuming you don't already have something locked down, you might start to see a lot of interviews popping up in Jan. Many folks will even get their 1L big law offers/answers in early Jan (with many getting results through Jan-March; see screenshot for examples of students in the database from this 1L cycle)

February

• ✅ Interviewing May Continue: Some screeners and callbacks may still be going out but most offers will be out and wrapping up this month and March.
  • Also, remember, part of why we want to apply to 1L positions is that a) many firms have 1L+2L applications and offers in one, or b) you might get rolled right into early interviews for 2L positions (which is something we saw happen last year and the year before)
• ✅ Networking 2.0: Reconnect with attorneys you met earlier. Cold email new ones.
  • Remember that networking is a MUSCLE. It is very difficult to get someone you only talked to once to advocate for you, but if you have multiple touchpoints with them, it's a lot easier.
• ✅ Journal Info Sessions: Schools around now start to have a few talks about how journals work. You won't actually participate in the write on competition until after Spring exams, but it's good to just learn if it’s worth it for your goals.
• ✅ Begin OCI Prep:
  • Your school might be one of the schools that is starting their OCI early now (around March). If so, you'll want to make a draft of your bid list. This post may help: How To Make An OCI Bid List for Big Law: Tactical and Actionable Tips *Updated for 2L 2026 Recruiting*

March

• ✅ Spring Outlining Begins
• ✅ Spring Break = A Real Break and a Network Break: Take time to breathe and relax where you can, but it's also an excellent time to schedule a couple coffee chats so you're not crammed trying to network at the end of the recruiting season.
  • It's also a great time just to do a couple practice interviews. Remember, interviewing is a muscle and you'll be doing SO many of these (honestly to the point where they all just blur together) so you'll want to make sure you have that muscle tuned up so it's super sharp.
• ✅ Keep sending 2L pre-OCI direct applications if you haven't locked anything yet: This is a numbers game. Remember that some folks apply to literally 100+ before they get 1 offer, so don't stop swinging until you hit something. See 📨 How Many Firms Should You Apply to? Let’s Talk Strategy (Spoiler: A Lot).

April

• ✅ Lock in Your 1L Summer Job: Really, whatever it is, just pick so you can put something on your resume for 2L applications.
• ✅ Keep sending 2L pre-OCI direct applications: Yup, keep going till you get something (or if you were lucky and already got one, then you're done! Yay!)
  • Also, this post may help: "Should I Take the Offer I Have Now or Wait for Another Firm?" A Strategy Guide for Pre-OCI Madness

May

• ✅ Keep sending 2L direct applications
• ✅ Traditional OCI's begin: Some schools still keep OCI until this late in the process. If so, this is your last major chance at big law summers; after this, it all slows down significantly and we start to enter the post-OCI phase (which can be an extremely uphill battle). See The Differences Between 2L and 3L Law Firm Hiring: A Guide for Law Students Entering the Post-OCI Process (Updated Repost)

June

• ✅ Keep sending 2L direct applications
• ✅ If you didn't get an offer yet: See What to do if you didn't get an offer in OCI (and are maybe freaking out a bit 😨)
• ✅ If you got your offer, say thank you (and gracefully decline others). See How to Decline a Offer Without Burning Bridges: Plus an Email Template.

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 monthly version of this guide with checklists or 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!

Hi All,

I recognize that the r/biglaw thread has become a pretty rough place for you to pose your questions now. in light of that, i'd be happy to share any and all insights that I could provide about trying to get a biglaw job from a target, or even non-target school.

Context: i am a junior associate at a v5 that graduated from a regional T130 last May. To the extent that i can answer anything that you would be hesitant to post, please feel free to PM me.

I'm a current summer and am considering switching firms if possible. I have found a few firms in my desired market (nearby but not the same as my current market) which are hiring for 3L. I do not have a return offer yet for my current firm.

Given this, is it wise to begin submitting 3L applications at this point?

While I understand that the return offers are almost guaranteed provided no major missteps, there's some anxiety about being no-offered. I am also concerned that if I begin applying to these other firms, the legal community being as small as it is, my current firm might find out and no-offer me because of it.

I would like to keep as many options on the table as possible. I'm also aware of how important it is to apply early, so I'm looking for advice about how to balance these considerations.