Singing Loudly

Orin Kerr, a wonderful contributer at the Volokh Conspiracy, has another excellent post. This one is for law students who are wondering about what their grades mean. It is especially relevant for first year law students.

My advice about first year grades, from what I have found to be true, is that they are very useful in getting a job at a BIGLAW firm. It is the easiest way for those firms to differentiate between the thousands of applicants they get for the very limited amounts of positions. They will help you get an on campus interview (OCI) in the Spring of your first year (if you are allowed to participate) and certainly the fall of your 2nd year. The higher your GPA and the higher the law journal tend to relate to higher amounts of interviews.

My first year grades were marginal at best. I received a few interviews almost entirely on the fact that I have had plays produced. I know this is true because I had no prior job experience to interest anyone after my first year. I also didn't have clinical experience at that point. Each of the interviewers, at one point or another, wanted to talk to me about playwriting. Who knows why.

During my second and third year of law school there has been a significant upwards trend in my grades. I'm not sure how helpful this is in my job hunting experience, but I know it doesn't hurt. However, I think what is more important (when you're looking for a job outside of BIGLAW) is your personality, intern experience, clinical work, moot court or mock trial, and work history, and writing sample. Grades are less important in these situations because many employers are more interested in seeing that you can do the job.

My point is simply that if you are upset with your grades then you shouldn't thrown in the towel. If you're determined you will come out fine. It might take a little more work to find a job, but I think a little work goes a long ways in finding something that will really fit your desires for long term work.