Summer clerkships (3 Viewers)

[= Jennifer =]

Hey! What rotations is everyone doing? Can anyone recommend particular rotations? Also its been over 2 weeks since I sent my contract in...but I have not been contacted by HR at all since then! Should I be worried?

I do not mean to sound rude or jealous and I am not targeting you in particular. But I am going to put my two cents in, in this situation.

I understand that the summer clerkship scheme allows you to test the waters and see what areas you are interested in. However, I find it quite annoying that there are people out there who have no idea what the hell they want to do they are just there for the sake of a clerkship. That really pisses me off.

/end rant.

 

[Frigid]

However, I find it quite annoying that there are people out there who have no idea what the hell they want to do they are just there for the sake of a clerkship.

you mean those who don't know what practice groups they want to be in, or those who aren't sure whether they want to work in a big law firm or not, or what?

 

[M@C D@DDY]

Large firms have a lot of practice groups and maybe someone has 3-4 in mind but are only allowed to do 2 of them. There's no shame in getting advice about that, and doesn't show the person is confused about what they might want to do.

Your problem may be the one I had with the person who went to 12 interviews. Isn't that potentially worse?

 

[= Jennifer =]

you mean those who don't know what practice groups they want to be in, or those who aren't sure whether they want to work in a big law firm or not, or what?

People who do not know what practice groups they want to work in.

Your problem may be the one I had with the person who went to 12 interviews. Isn't that potentially worse?

yeh i had a problem with that big time yes it is potentially worse! you are right in that regard

 

[travelfish]

People who do not know what practice groups they want to work in.

I don't think this is a valid criticism.

Your view assumes that people will know what working in a certain practice area will truly be like before they've worked in it (which I don't believe is knowledge that any law student who has not worked in a big law firm before can possess).

For example, anyone who says "I really want to work in litigation" is basing their desire on an idea of what they think that working in litigation will be like. That may not in any way connect with their actual experience if they then start working in the litigation practice group - they may instead find they hate it. Of course, people are still required to express a preference for a practice group prior to starting a clerkship, and will generally base that preference on more than purely random selection - but a principal reason for making people rotate through various groups is to address those points.

For those reasons, I don't think there is any validity to asserting that there is some inherent value, or praiseworthiness, in someone who expresses a strong desire to work in a particular practice area, or that someone who does not express such a desire is less praiseworthy or deserving of the opportunity.

 

[patricia888]

I do not mean to sound rude or jealous and I am not targeting you in particular. But I am going to put my two cents in, in this situation.

I understand that the summer clerkship scheme allows you to test the waters and see what areas you are interested in. However, I find it quite annoying that there are people out there who have no idea what the hell they want to do they are just there for the sake of a clerkship. That really pisses me off.
.

Thanks to those who responded to this for me. Its my turn to put "my 2 cents"

Firstly Jennifer ... I know that you said you are not "targeting me" but lets face it....you are. I have made a total of FIVE posts in this entire forum (5 POSTS!!)...so I think its really ridiculous that you suddenly believe that you are the expert of my inner thoughts/ feelings and long term ambitions. Do you really you are qualified to judge me as "having no idea of what the hell I wanna do and am just doing the clerkship for the sake of the clerkship" from that one sentence? Quite ridiculous don't you think? So chill.... perhaps find an alternative way to deal with your personal clerkship related problems as opposed to hating this years clerkships recruits.

Asking people for their advice/experiences in particular rotation groups is a perfectly valid question in this forum. Isn't that one of the whole POINTS of this forum!!? Everyone here asks for advice on choosing degrees, majors, unis etc.!

SO please if anyone wants to share their experiences in the rotations they joined...please share! I'm particularly interested in IP, Corporate, Banking/financial and possibly litigation. But I can only choose 2.

ON another note: Whats up with the hate to the hypothetical " 12 interview student"? Who ever that person is... he/she must be awesome! He/she deserves the clerkship because they must have worked really hard to get whatever marks they have and to have amazing extra-curricular activities. I think he/she deserves a big pad on the back...as opposed to all this negativity! And if you are trying for clerkships again some other time jennifer, maybe you get their advice as opposed to hating on them...cause thats not gonna get you anywhere and just makes you sound "rude and jealous" frankly...

 

[subdued123]

Let's face it,

There are jealous/envious people here.

If you have a clerkship, don't worry about the haters. You have done extremely well in a very tough climate. People can criticise all they want- you're the ones going to have a great summer and start your careers in a very, very good fashion.

That's not to say that you can't do well if you don't get a clerkship - I know many who have.

I am sick of the petty negativity going on in this forum.

 

[Rorix]

That's law students for ya

 

[Marmalade.]

• We're always told to tailor our covering letter to the firm, but I'm not sure exactly how to do that. I was thinking of going to the firm's website and choosing which of their practice areas are most interesting to me and mentioning that in my cover letter, and maybe also mentioning that I agree with one of their values or some nonsense. I mean, they all have the same values (teamwork, excellence, integrity and so on).

• Does anyone know how cvmail calculates the WAM that the firms get? Because what if you've done part of your law degree at one uni, and part at another, where the credit points are different. Are they going to calculate based on the relative weight of each subject? And you can't separate the two law degree universities either.