A Bad Day

Yesterday was a really bad day. Got into an altercation with a drunken woman who was threatening my fiance in front of our house. Realized BarBri wants me to sign up now and shell out the $. And got another large amount of rejections. It's the last day of March and I'm scared to see what April has in store for me. I'm still hoping for some good luck though.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw & Ferrario (Las Vegas, NV)
Bingham McHale (Indianapolis, IN)
DLA Piper (Tampa, FL)
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (Washington, DC)
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (San Francisco, CA)
Alston & Bird (New York, NY)
Archer & Greiner (Haddonfield, NJ)

One Month And Counting

One month from today I'll be done with law school. One Month. I have one month to find a job before feeling like a complete failure. And of course, the legal market COULD NOT be any worse. I've exhausted every possible legal connection I have. I've sent out thousands of resumes & cover letters. I am praying for a miracle at this point.

This weekend's rejectors?

Kutak Rock (Denver, CO)
Troutman Sanders (Richmond, VA)
Godfrey & Kahn (Milwaukee, WI)

Depressed

The reality of the situation is really hitting me now. I'm in for a VERY difficult post-graduate time. All I read about are firms laying off attorneys and staff (Dechert canned over 100 today). All I get in my mailbox and email are rejections. I spend so much time looking for positions and applying for positions and it's all seemingly pointless.

I remember very well two years ago thinking about how happy I was going to be at this point. How I'd have an offer from a great firm and I'd be coasting through my final semester of classes with a great feeling about my future.

Now, I have no idea what my future holds.

Yesterday's rejector?

Leonard, Street & Deinard (Minneapolis, MN)

Just spent a great weekend in Montreal. It helped to take my mind of the horrific job search to this point. Of course, I then came home to news of Wolf Block dissolving and a mailbox jammed with rejections.

The rejectors?

Faegre & Benson (Denver, CO)
Vinson & Elkins (Dallas, TX)
Skadden Arps (Los Angeles, CA)
Kolesar & Leatham (Las Vegas, NV)
Squire Sanders & Dempsey (Washington, DC)
Hogan & Hartson (Washington, DC)
Meissner Tierney Fisher & Nichols (Milwaukee, WI)
Santoro Driggs Walch Kearney Holley & Thompson (Las Vegas, NV)
Greenberg Traurig (Las Vegas, NV)
Gunderson Dettmer (Redwood City, CA)
Ballard Spahr (Denver, CO)
Dechert (Newport Beach, CA)
Otten Johnson Robinson Neff & Ragonetti (Denver, CO)
US Food & Drug Administration (Rockville, MD)

Constant Bad News

When is it going to end? Yesterday, I read about Jenner and Katten laying people off. I then listened to people in my class last night crying about their start dates being pushed back to January or February of 2010. And of course, my mailbox had some "presents" for me. It's been so long since I've heard or seen something positive on the legal job front. And now I'm just about down to my final month of law school. Will things improve in the next month before I have to a breakdown? We'll see...

Yesterday's rejectors?

DLA Piper (San Francisco, CA)
Moore & Van Allen (Charlotte, NC)
Hughes Hubbard & Reed (Los Angeles, CA)

St. Patrick's Day, Not So Lucky Of A Day

I was really hoping I might get some sort of good news yesterday with it being St. Patrick's Day and all. Of course, it wasn't to be. It was simply another Tuesday of rejections and a silent phone.

Yesterday's rejector?

Dow Lohnes (Atlanta, GA)

Emotions

My emotions are now all over the place. From anger to depression to panic. I spent this past weekend with my future in-laws and was asked at least 4 times what I'll be doing for work when I'm done with school. Answer: I have no fucking clue. No one is hiring (or least hiring me). I'm willing to move anywhere for a good job, but can't find one. I want to feel excited about graduating law school but I don't. I'm more pissed off than anything else at this point.

This weekend's rejectors?

Stoel Rives (Seattle, WA)
Stoel Rives (Salt Lake City, UT)
Kirkland & Ellis (Chicago, IL)
Kirkland & Ellis (Los Angeles, CA)
Drinker Biddle & Reath (Philadelphia, PA)
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft (Charlotte, NC)
Winston & Strawn (Charlotte, NC)
Katten Muchin Rosenman (Charlotte, NC)
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein (Charlotte, NC)
Blank Rome (Washington, DC)

Quiet & Depressing

It's gotten spookingly quiet now on the job news, good or bad. I'm getting less rejections each day (which I can only attribute to the fact that I've probably now gotten one from everyone I've sent my resume to).
On another note, my firm brought in some temp help yesterday for a document review we're doing. All of the temps were licensed attorneys who passed the bar last fall. All came from good schools. We're paying them $25 an hour. They're doing document review. I can't let that happen to me.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Akerman Senterfitt (Miami,FL)
Fisher & Phillips (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Paul Hastings (Palo Alto, CA)
Winston & Strawn (San Francisco, CA)

Running Out Of Time

We're almost half-way through March now and still no offers. No other interviews either. It's looking REALLY grim now. I'm scared to death of entering April (the final month of my law school career) with nothing.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Schottenstein Zox & Dunn (Columbus, OH)
Shutts & Bowen (Miami, FL)
Weil, Gotshal & Manges (Miami, FL)
Lathrop & Gage (Kansas City, MO)
Chuhak & Tecson (Chicago, IL)

Constant Bad News

Can't there just be one good day with no bad job news? This morning I see an article how firms are now cutting the pay of 1st year's. Of course, this doesn't impact me at this point, as I don't even have an offer for someone to roll back. This has to change...

Yesterday's rejectors?

Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads (Philadelphia, PA)
Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell (Dallas, TX)
Calfee Halter & Griswold (Cleveland, OH)
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton (Los Angeles, CA)
Alston & Bird (Charlotte, NC)

New Week, New Hope

Well, another week is about to start. I'm hoping and praying I get some good news this week. Last week was a disappointing one, as the rejections continued to pile up.

This weekend's rejectors?

Bonne Bridges Mueller O'Keefe & Nichols (Los Angeles, CA)
Patton Boggs (Washington, DC)
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton (Washington, DC)
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton (New York, NY)
Dow Lohnes (Washington, DC)
King & Spalding (Charlotte, NC)
Latham & Watkins (Los Angeles, CA)
Greenberg Traurig (Miami, FL)
Perkins Coie (Menlo Park, CA)
Klarquist Sparkman (Portland, OR)
Alston & Bird (Raleigh, NC)
Dechert (Philadelphia, PA)
Baker & Hostetler (New York, NY)
Holland & Knight (Los Angeles, CA)

Celebration?

Everyday, I keep hoping that the next posting I put on here will be about how I finally received an offer from someone. And, obviously, that still hasn't happened. I keep having people ask me if I'm going to be attending my graduation ceremony or throwing a party when I'm done with school. Honestly, without a job, I don't see what there is to celebrate? Should I celebrate the waste of 4 years? The waste of $100K? I don't see myself "celebrating" either of those things.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Sheppard Mullin (San Francisco, CA)
Altshuler Berzon (San Francisco, CA)
Folger Levin & Kahn (San Francisco, CA)
Hanson Bridgett (San Francisco, CA)
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (Palo Alto, CA)
Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease (Columbus, OH)
Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe (Denver, CO)

Begging?

I keep seeing these people (aka. job-seekers) on the news at night, literally begging for a job. Has it worked? I'm at the point where I'll do it if it'll lead to me getting in with a firm.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Bilzin Sumberg (Miami, FL)
Bricker & Eckler (Columbus, OH)

My favorite rejection letters are the ones I get that say how they aren't hiring at this time, but based on my resume they're positive I'll have no problems finding a great job with another firm. That's just hilarious to me. I thought that would be the case. But 9 months of constant rejections is changing my mind.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Sidley Austin (Washington, DC)
Jones Day (Los Angeles, CA)
Barnes Richardson & Colburn (Chicago, IL)
O'Melveny & Myers (Los Angeles, CA)

Not A Good Start

March isn't starting out well at all.  Firms apparently aren't hiring anywhere.  Firms that pay more than $30K a year that is.  It's really seeming like law school is going to have turned out to be an enormous waste of time & money.  I gave up a good career and now it'll even be hard, if not impossible, to go back to that.  

Today's rejectors?

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe (Los Angeles, CA)

Hogan & Hartson (Miami, FL)

Irell & Manella (Los Angeles, CA)

Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis (Philadelphia, PA)

Spiegel & McDiarmid (Washington, DC)

Best & Flanagan (Minneapolis, MN)

Stoel Rives (Minneapolis, MN)

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro (Los Angeles, CA)

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison (Washington, DC)

Quinn Emanuel (Los Angeles, CA)

New Month = New Hope???

It's now March. Definitely the end of the line, in my opinion, to finding a GOOD job for after graduation. No other interviews are lined up. I'm waiting on word from the firm in Sacramento, the firm in Philadelphia, and a job here in Chicago that I will absolutely NOT be happy with if it's what I'm left with. I'm praying for a miracle and hoping March turns out to be "the" month for me.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Reed Smith (Los Angeles, CA)
DLA Piper (Baltimore, MD)
Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll (Philadelphia, PA)
O'Melveny & Myers (Washington, DC)
Spencer Fane Britt & Browne (Kansas City, MO)