2L!

Classes have just started at HLS, and I'm very excited for the semester. 1L year at Harvard is (semi) fun, but I think the upper level years is when the true benefits of going to a large and diverse law school really become apparent. There is a specific sub-field of law that I am particularly interested in, and the wonderful thing about HLS is that not only is there a wonderful and well-known legal expert in that field at the school - there are many, and therefore there are multiple classes taught in the subject each semester by professors and practitioners with very different professional experiences and perspectives. Additionally, I'm finally able to meet a variety of other people who hope to practice in the same area as myself.

In fact, the real problem I'm having is restraining myself from taking too many courses at one time. The options are so fantastic, and it's the last time I'm going to be in school. However, I'm doing a clinical this semester, so 15 hours of my week are already spoken for. I'm also working as a research assistant, as well as on a law journal (although not THE law journal). And of course, I'd like to save time to ride around my brand new bike (bought with money I made as a part-time RA this summer), enjoy the company of the S.O. and my wonderful friends from 1L , and gripe about the Boston winter.

OCI in Cambridge

We've just finished our own OCI (On Campus Interviewing). I, like most of my classmates, interviewed with about 25 firms in 5 days. In addition to wearing very uncomfortable shoes and a suit that doesn't fit, I spent my time during it saying fairly stupid things. For example, on a day in which I had eight interviews, I interviewed with Firm A from 10-10.20 and Firm B from 10.40-11. During the Firm A interview, I said "I see your firm has worked on X litigation - that's very impressive." As those words were leaving my mouth, I recalled that I actually intended to make that comment to Firm B. Luckily, litigation X was ginormous. Ginormous enough, in fact, that the interviewer from Firm A said "Oh, yes. That was a very important milestone for us."

Anyway, it's all over (thank goodness) although our flyout week is approaching shortly. You can tell where people interviewed by how depressed they look on campus. Interviewing in NYC = relatively cheerful, interviewing in DC = very unhappy, interviewing in California = mentally picturing self as homeless hobo with HLS diploma sticking out of back pocket (I exaggerate, but not that much). I'm sure that almost everyone who wants one will end up with a firm job, but there is a fair amount of panic going around. Still, I think most folks feel the situation is better than what we were expecting (i.e., DOOM). Better yet, classes start tomorrow, so soon we'll have other things to expand our mental energy upon!

On-Campus Interviewing, Post-Hoc

I just finished my last of 19 interviews in our on-campus interviewing week (here at YLS, they're called FIP: fall interview program). I am exhausted, to a degree that doesn't seem directly related to the actual amount of time spent in interviews - no more than 3 hours a day. On the up side, I now have about 12 firm-branded flash drives, a pair of iTunes gift cards, and a re-usable shopping bag courtesy of firms' desire to hand out swag.

With the economy the way it is, everyone went into FIP knowing that things were going to be a little tougher, that summer programs were likely going to be somewhat/much leaner than in the past...but I was astounded by just how many firm representatives proactively brought up the economic situation or metioned how "conservatively-managed [their] firm is." Others straight up told us that callback interviews and offers are going to be much more competitive this year, or that the timeline will be stretched out to make sure that the firm doesn't over-offer and end up flooded with summer associates-to-be. Not particularly encouraging, that's for sure.

Now, some people are already beginning to get callback invitations from firms while others are still waiting. It's kind of an excrutiating process (akin to sorority rush) where everyone is hoping that the firms they liked like them, too. One of our classmates had the brilliant idea to create an anonymous Google spreadsheet to document which offices have already sent positive & negative responses...so we all know (somewhat) where we stand. Some people are already doing callbacks next week, and others are taking the week off, hoping to squeeze one last week out of a too-short summer.

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When the Living is Easy . . .

I'm back home in Cambridge, since the best internship ever has ended. I learned how to blow things up, shoot a gun, and make an arrest . . . and also did some interesting legal work. Only one thing on that list will (at least I hope) be useful for my future career, but I had a great time. Plus, as an added benefit, my nephews and little boy cousins who used to think I was totally uninteresting now think I'm the greatest auntie/older cousin in the world.

However, I'm happy to be home in Cambridge with the SO, who wasn't able to come down to Washington with me. Like SB, the incoming 2L class at HLS is already thinking about internships for next summer. OCI starts the last week of August, and so we have to get ready to do about a gazillion interviews in a week. We submitted our bid lists for the firms we'd like to interview with, and are waiting for the results. The mental atmosphere surrounding those of us who are really committed to working for a firm can best be summed up as "DOOM." I went to see the Career Services Office yesterday and they were much more cheerful (although it was their podcasts who led to the "DOOM" atmosphere in the first place). Like SB, I have to go invest in some new suits and print out copies of my resume in 28-plicite.

Before that happens, I'm planning to spend a bunch of time hiking, swimming and drinking lemonade. I've been foiled at the moment by this bizarre salty fog that has descended upon Boston, but hopefully it will return soon to the ocean from which it came. I hope the rest of your summers are wrapping up well! SB, we have to arrange this trip to New Haven to eat lots of icecream together before the summer ends.

Summer, Months II and III

The past two months have just flown by! My internship was only 8 weeks long, so I barely got settled in and it was time to think about wrapping up projects and packing up luggage. As I mentioned in my previous post, my job was mostly related to transactional work which turned out to be much more interesting than I had expected. I got a lot of responsibility as the summer went on, to the point that I was drafting and editing agreements by myself near the end. Probably the most valuable part of my internship was learning firsthand just how important single words and phrases can be (and also the value of precise language and brevity) - I definitely feel that my time summer work gave me a new appreciation for the "real world" practice of law.

I also had the great fortune of finding a YLS alumna in the city where I was working who was willing to be a great mentor to me, taking me to interesting events and introducing me to both the city's legal market and her own unique career path since becoming a lawyer. I really enjoyed spending time with her, and it was cool to find that even in a "secondary" market, there are alumni excited to connect with current students.

In the past week or so, a lot has happened: my internship finished, I left to go abroad for a quick exotic vacation [picture above], and I had to bid for OCI (on-campus interviewing). While planning and executing all of those tasks was harrowing, the last was probably the one where I was most in the dark and stressed....even though the Career Development Office did a good job of telling us that "the economy isn't great but don't worry you'll be fine," I wasn't sure how many interviews to bid for or whether to concentrate all my bids in once city or expand a bit. Big, well-known firms or smaller boutique places? Firms that haven't laid anybody off (indicating a strong position), or firms that have done layoffs (indicating they've already trimmed the fat)? Too many questions, not enough answers - and not time to think through it all in the midst of everything else.

In the end, I'm quite pleased with the just-under-20 interviews I have scheduled for next week. I have a good selection of geographies, firm type, and practice areas of interest. While I have a couple days where I have five or six interviews, on others I only have one or two. I'm hoping that by Monday afternoon (when my first interviews are), my Sunday international dateline-crossing jetlag will have worn off, and that I'll have something clean & coordinated to wear. Cat, how're you feeling about OCI?

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Summer, Month I

It's been about a month since spring semester ended. After that, I spent a few days visiting my best friends in DC. Then I went on vacation for a couple weeks...I spent a lot of time at the beach. Even though it was the rainy season, there was a good dose of nice weather that gave me ample opportunity to lounge around and finish a book I've been reading and to review a few "you ought to read this article as a part of our ongoing research" assignments from the professor I'm RAing for this summer. I also drank a lot of really cheap beer and saw some beautiful waters and fish just off the coast. Overall, it was a really relaxing vacation, and a great glimpse into another country's culture.

Last week, I spent a few more days in DC (and got to hang out with Cat!) before shipping off for my summer job. I'm working for a mid-size non-profit. I've just finished my first week, and I really couldn't be happier. My supervisors are really great; I get to work very closely with the general counsel and associate general counsel every day. The perks are fantastic: I have employer-provided housing, subsidized meals, a nice gym, free espresso drinks all day, and even my own bike to get around town. Since there are only about a dozen interns here, the HR department and out supervisors have coordinated lots of cool outings for us. My co-interns are all really interesting, and since most of us aren't from the area, we've been exploring the city together.

My work, too, is turning out better than expected. While I'm not sure I was quite prepared to be spending 70-80% of my day working on contracts and agreements (and I'm probably not qualified to do so, given my lackluster attendance in Contracts last fall), I've found the work to be diverse and interesting. I've been dabbling in employment law, trademark law, federal grant regulations, internet content licensing, and banking agreements....and that's just in my first week! I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer and building some level of competency in a few areas of law. Since lots of my work will probably be related to drafting and reviewing contracts, I'll have to be careful to make sure I get the chance to do some longer writing assignments,too - I'll almost certainly need a writing sample to submit to potential 2L summer employers when they come to on-campus interviewing this August, and I'm not particularly happy with any of my written assignments from 1L.

Speaking of OCI, I'm really glad to report that my last spring semester grade was posted last week. YLS professors are notorious for taking FOREVER to grade exams and papers, so I was delightfully surprised to find that all of mine were finished within a month. Even though I'm not stressing much about grades (our system pretty much prevents it, and I'm not gunning for a SCOTUS clerkship or a spot at Wachtell), I'm still happy with how things wrapped up.

One of my other favorite things about this job: having evenings and weekends free to just explore the city, be outside, and relax. I really need to buckle down and finish the next stage of my research for my professor, but he's been pretty lax about deadlines, so I haven't exactly been proceeding at breakneck pace....and may have spent the last four hours watching "LockUp" on MSNBC with my roommates....

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Elephantitis & Epic-itis: Reflections on 1L

Among the selection of TV stations available to me in my overseas hotel room, only two are in English: E! and CNN. CNN keeps showing this horrible preview for an interview with Tarantino about his new movie, and in the soundbite he says something about how he didn't want to submit to "elephantitis...or epic-itis" in doing a movie about something "so big." I guess he was tooting his own horn, claiming to have shown restraint? Not particularly something he's known for, but...eh.

In any case, I obviously don't want to over-state anything about 1L, but it was honestly pretty big in all sorts of ways. I knew that my classmates would be amazingly accomplished and intelligent, but I was (and constantly still am!) incredibly surprised by how nice and interesting they are. I knew that my professors are foremost in their field, but I have been blown away by just how completely they've mastered the content and how compellingly they can make their point...while at the same time being gracious and compassionate. I had heard that YLS was an extremely caring small community, but I never expected to have built relationships with so many staff and administrators or to honestly feel as though everyone is so invested in others' successes.

Of course, that doesn't mean that things weren't overwhelming at times. As a former science student, I'd never been expected to do so much reading - so closely - every night. I'd never before had an assignment that I honestly felt I'd completely blundered. I've never felt so over-committed by everything I had to do, for things both in and out of class.

Given all that, I guess I'll follow in Cat's footsteps and give a few bits of advice:
(1) Don't spend your 0L summer trying to "get ready" for law school - it's not really worth it: it'll be hard to nearly impossible to predict exactly what will be helpful, and you should use the time to relax (read non-law books, travel, hang out with your friends, etc.) because you'll need all your energy for the semester.
(2) Do cultivate some non-law interests. Sign up for an art class, explore your new city-home, volunteer. Just do something that doesn't involve the FRCP or the Constitution or a Restatement.
(3) Similarly, have some non-law school friends: pay attention to your pre-law school friends, and try to make new friends who aren't in law school. When you need a break from the madness, they'll be a great asset.
(4) New school, new city, new classmates = a new chance to "start over," if you want. Feel free to explore new interests, redefine yourself a bit. If you think you've been unfairly typecast before, you can most likely break free from that and try again in a way that suits you.
(5) That said, don't feel compelled to create a new and improved version of yourself...more specifically, don't think that you have to conform yourself to any stereotypes of what kind of student attends your school - if you're not an aspiring academic, don't pretend to fill that mold just to fit in. Do what makes you happy: take classes and join clubs that are fulfilling, not just ones that will look good on a resume. Chances are, you'll do much better in things that you enjoy.
(6) Like Cat said, put effort into making friends - especially people that you wouldn't normally find yourself befriending.
(7) Eat well. Free food at lunch lectures and dinner meetings is great, but there are only so many food pyramid blocks that get repeated again and again.

Okay, back to vacation...as Cat said, we'll be writing periodically over the summer as we feel inspired!

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