Everyone keeps talking about the doomsday economy were are currently in and how terrible OCIs (on-campus interviews) have been going. I hear all these law students say that they haven’t received any call-backs on their interviews, or summer associates not getting offered positions at their firms whereas in previous years that particular firm always hired all of their students, or even lawyers who were laid off from their firms detailing their experiences and how they might perceive that their law degree is now worthless (or not worth the money put into its acquisition). Even students attending schools like U of Chicago (and perhaps even Harvard) report less than optimistic viewpoints regarding their chances of landing the kind of employment they were looking for in going to law school or the kind of employment options that might have been available for someone in their position just a couple years ago.

In my case, I try to take control of as many variables as I can. That is, I try to leave nothing to chance. Even my pre-law advisor referred to me as a very “calculating” individual (I’m not sure if that was meant as a compliment). I suppose she is kind of right as I “calculated” my way to one of the best law schools in the country in taking a course load I thought I could successfully manage (i.e. get good grades during any particular term), applying to and accepting employment or volunteer roles I could put on my resume to make myself more marketable for schools (and perhaps firms later down the road), and studying my butt off for the LSAT, thank goodness I only took it once because I absolutely hated that dreadful test. Similarly, I plan to calculate my way toward a successful career. To me that means I need a combination of good grades from a reputable institution while establishing a strong network of contacts within, and even outside of, the legal industry. After all, as they say, it’s not what you know, but who you know (as an aside, I HATE it when people say that. It seems like something uneducated people say to reassure themselves. That and, “It’s not how hard you work, but how smart you work.”). Essentially, I figure I can at worst make decent grades with my work ethic. If I don’t make Law Review, no big deal, as long as I have this network of contacts to help me secure some career options. One of my friends who will be a 3L this year at UChicago even told me that the only reason she got the job she had this past summer was because she knew someone or had a friend of a friend or something in the firm.

Anyway, as of now, my contact list includes: fraternity brothers who are either lawyers or in law school, other contacts I have through my fraternity who are lawyers (friends of friends, people I have met at conventions, etc.), even one fraternity brother not affiliated within the legal arena (he’s a businessman) but who is WAY too smart and will most likely become much too powerful to not include on the list, family and friends of family who are lawyers, a few local attorneys and friends’ parents who are lawyers, lawyers in firms and offices in which I formerly worked (or the ones that might remember me), incoming 1Ls I have met at Admitted Students Weekends, and even the lawyer who interviewed me as a part of my Northwestern application.

Hopefully with some decently hard work put forth in studying and in adding to this list of people who might be able to help me secure employment, even if the economy is in as bad a shape as it currently is when it comes time for me to find work, I will be set to go.

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