YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is now officially over!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just got my OFFICIAL offer from the firm in Philadelphia!!!!!!! I have a start date of September 28th!!!!! my personal fucking hell is now OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Waiting Game, Re-Do

Just got back from my weekend trip to Hawaii for my interview. I think it went really well (not the first time I've left with that feeling though). So, now it's back to the waiting game. Of course, this wait has to be shortlived, as the decision on registering for the Bar there has to be made shortly. So, I wait.....

This weekend's rejectors?

DLA Piper (San Diego, CA)
Verrill Dana (Portland, ME)
Messner & Reeves (Denver, CO)
Skadden Arps (Paris, France)
Cook County State's Attorney (Chicago, IL)
Laner Muchin Dombrow Becker Levin & Tominberg (Chicago, IL)
Fredrikson & Byron (Minneapolis, MN)
Fogg & Powers (Minneapolis, MN)
Tonkon Torp (Portland, OR)
Miller Nash (Portland, OR)
Skadden Arps (Palo Alto, CA)
Stinson Morrison Hecker (Kansas City, MO)
Ogletree Deakins (Atlanta, GA)
Law Weathers & Richardson (Grand Rapids, MI)
Faegre & Benson (Minneapolis, MN)
Hogan & Hartson (Baltimore, MD)
Dykema (Detroit, MI)
Hennessy & Roach (Chicago, IL)
McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff (Chicago, IL)

End of the Road

It's my last week of law school. Only a couple more days in fact. My last grasp at hope? I have an interview in Honolulu on Monday. I'm praying non-stop that it works out. It's a great firm and I'd consider myself the luckiest person in the world at this point if it works out.

This weekend's rejectors?

Skadden Arps (Houston, TX)
Jones Day (San Diego, CA)
Stoel Rives (Seattle, WA)
Kirkland & Ellis (San Francisco, CA)
Andrews Kurth (Dallas, TX)
Thompson & Knight (Houston, TX)
Wilmer Hale (Palo Alto, CA)
Duckor Spradling Metzger & Wynne (San Diego, CA)
Rhoades McKee (Grand Rapids, MI)
Alston & Bird (Atlanta, GA)
Pierce Atwood (Portland, ME)
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner (Palo Alto, CA)
K&L Gates (Pittsburgh, PA)
Dorsey & Whitney (Seattle, WA)
Arnall Golden Gregory (Atlanta, GA)
Seyfarth Shaw (Boston, MA)
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings (Birmingham, AL)
Dann Pecar Newman & Kleiman (Indianapolis, IN)
Dykema (Chicago, IL)
Querrey & Harrow (Chicago, IL)
DLA Piper (New York, NY)
Buchalter Nemer (Los Angeles, CA)
Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold (Chicago, IL)
DLA Piper (Washington, DC)
Baum Sigman Auerbach & Neuman (Chicago, IL)
Melli Law (Madison, WI)
Ogletree Deakins (Kansas City, MO)
Latham & Watkins (Washington, DC)
Day Pitney (Morristown, NJ)
Rosen Bien & Galvan (San Francisco, CA)

Thanks School Admin!

So, I was having a discussion with a classmate of mine yesterday regarding graduation. I told her I wasn't going to be attending the ceremony, maining because the thought of anyone in Admin getting up and speaking about the "bright legal futures" of the graduates would infuriate me. Not that I'm blaming my school for the horrible economy. But they seem (1) in complete denial about it and (2) are doing NOTHING to assist the unluckiest graduating class to date. Well, and then I saw the new US World & News Report rankings of law schools. My school, Loyola Chicago, is now TIED with DePaul. TIED! When I first applied, it wasn't even close. We were actually ahead of Chicago-Kent. All further evidence of my school's do-nothing attitude about assisting it's students find a job. I want to be happy right now. I want to be looking forward to graduating and moving on to a great career. I've loved my professors and my classmates. But instead, I'm pissed off and regretful.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Troutman Sanders (Chicago, IL)
Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth (Chicago, IL)
Eimer Stahl Klevorn & Solberg (Chicago, IL)
DLA Piper (Atlanta, GA)
Bullivant Houser Bailey (San Francisco, CA)
Whiteman Osterman & Hanna (Albany, NY)
Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff (Cleveland, OH)
Godfrey & Kahn (Madison, WI)

It's Almost Over

I'm about one week away from being done with law school. I couldn't be more disappointed about it. I'm seeing NOTHING of use from my Career Center (I'm guessing they've cashed it in for the year). The postings I'm seeing on their job board include Teaching English As A Foreign Language in China. "Thanks for the $100K, now go earn pennies in China NOT practicing law". I'm seeing NOTHING helpful from my school at all (unlike what I'm seeing other law school's doing to help graduates during this incredibly horrible economy). And I'm getting more rejections than ever before in the mail.
I started this blog over 8 months ago thinking it would be way to voice my frustrations with the "process" for a little while until the "good news" arrived. No good news to be heard though.

The past weekend's rejectors?

Fox O'Neill & Shannon (Milwaukee, WI)
Petrie & Stocking (Milwaukee, WI)
Lawton & Cates (Madison, WI)
Greenberg Traurig (Dallas, TX)
Husch Blackwell Sanders (St. Louis, MO)
Trenam Kemker (Tampa, FL)
Scott Douglass & McConnico (Austin, TX)
Porter Wright Morris & Arthur (Columbus, OH)
Crowe & Dunlevy (Oklahoma City, OK)
Shipman & Goodwin (Hartford, CT)
Garvey Schubert Barer (Portland, OR)
Fenwick & West (Seattle, WA)
Kamer Zucker Abbott (Las Vegas, NV)
Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios (Portland, ME)
Perkins Thompson (Portland, ME)
Sheridan Ross (Denver, CO)
Fish & Richardson (Boston, MA)
Perkins Coie (Portland, OR)
Hall Estill (Tulsa, OK)
Gable Gotwals (Tulsa, OK)
McGinnis Lochridge & Kilgore (Austin, TX)
Morgan Lewis & Bockius (Pittsburgh, PA)
Kelley Drye & Warren (Chicago, IL)
Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon (Chicago, IL)
Miller Canfield (Detroit, MI)
Hall Prangle & Schoonveld (Chicago, IL)
Saul Ewing (Philadelphia, PA)
Paul Hastings (Atlanta, GA)
Weil Gotshal & Manges (Houston, TX)
Cox Smith (San Antonio, TX)
Hirschler Fleischer (Richmond, VA)
Best & Flanagan (Minneapolis, MN)
McGlinchey Stafford (New Orleans, LA)
McKenna Long & Aldridge (Atlanta, GA)
Norris McLaughlin & Marcus (Bridgewater, NJ)
Bracewell & Giuliani (Austin, TX)
Foster Swift Collins & Smith (Lansing, MI)
Baker Botts (Dallas, TX)
Stoel Rives (Portland, OR)
Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel (Honolulu, HI)
Baker Botts (Palo Alto, CA)
Nyemaster Goode (Des Moines, IA)
McDermott Will & Emery (Boston, MA)
Sullivan & Worcester (Boston, MA)
Davis Wright Tremaine (Portland, OR)
Kelley Drye & Warren (Parsippany, NJ)
Schiff Hardin (Chicago, IL)
Gordon Derr (Seattle, WA)
Pepper Hamilton (Princeton, NJ)
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (Chicago, IL)
Astigarraga Davis (Miami, FL)
Kopon Airdo (Chicago, IL)

Another Less-Than-Great Weekend

Well, this past weekend was pretty crappy. First, I finally decided that indeed I'm not going to be attending my graduation ceremony. I'm finding it very difficult to find anything about my impending graduation worth celebrating. The thought of any one of my Deans speaking about our "bright" futures and prosperity makes me angry beyond words. And I certainly know none of them will talk about the bleakness that faces most of us.
Second, I saw an article about Northwestern University helping to defer the student loans of its graduates until they're able to obtain employment. I forwarded the article to my school's admin to see if Loyola would be doing anything similar to assist the soon-to-be graduates. I'm doubting I'll get a reply.
And then, of course, I received a flood of rejections.

The rejectors?

Updike Kelly & Spellacy (Hartford, CT)
Cabaniss Johnston (Birmingham, AL)
Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody (Austin, TX)
Paul Hastings (Palo Alto, CA)
Paul Hastings (Washington, DC)
Gordon Silver (Las Vegas, NV)
DLA Piper (Baltimore, MD)
Faegre & Benson (Des Moines, IA)
Reed Smith (Chicago, IL)
Goodwin Procter (Boston, MA)
Dechert (Princeton, NJ)
Foley Hoag (Boston, MA)
Sirote & Permutt (Birmingham, AL)
Ballard Spahr (Baltimore, MD)
McKenna Long & Aldridge (Atlanta, GA)
Fennemore Craig (Phoenix, AZ)
Greensfelder Hemker & Gale (St. Louis, MO)
Bryan Cave (St. Louis, MO)
Stinson Morrison Hecker (St. Louis, MO)
Belin Lamson McCormick Zumbach Flynn (Des Moines, IA)
Holland & Knight (Chicago, IL)
Downs Rachlin Martin (Burlington, VT)
Vorys (Columbus, OH)
Lewis and Roca (Phoenix, AZ)
McGuireWoods (Richmond, VA)
Morris Manning & Martin (Atlanta, GA)
Shook Hardy & Bacon (Kansas City, MO)
Jackson Walker (Dallas, TX)
Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers (Atlanta, GA)
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (Boston, MA)
Roetzel & Andress (Akron, OH)

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Of course, I was completely wrong about my "impending offer". The reality is, there "might" be a job for me in Philadelphia, AFTER I take the bar, etc.
So, what do I do? Register for the PA bar and study for that (on my own, mind you) with the "hope" that a job will be waiting for me? Add to all of this that it'll require selling my condo in Chicago, moving to Philly, and my fiance moving as well.
OR, do I just take the IL, with zero prospects, and hope something comes along after the bar, when I'm then competing with the hundreds of recently laid-off attorneys?

Both options suck. And sadly the clock on decision-making is almost at zero.

Yesterday's rejectors?

DLA Piper (Chicago, IL)
Perkins Coie (Chicago, IL)
Morgan Lewis & Bockius (Chicago, IL)
Bodman (Detroit, MI)
Frost Brown Todd (Cincinnati, OH)
Hill Ward Henderson (Tampa, FL)
Mills Meyers Swartling (Seattle, WA)
Holland & Knight (Boston, MA)
Bryan Cave (Phoenix, AZ)
Dickinson Wright (Detroit, MI)
Gordon Feinblatt (Baltimore, MD)
Ice Miller (Indianapolis, IN)
Sidley Austin (Chicago, IL)
Squire Sanders & Dempsey (Phoenix, AZ)

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looks like I'm about to get an offer!!!! From the firm I interviewed with in Philadelphia back in December! I am SO ready to put this associate position search behind me. It's been 9 months of non-stop resume sending, interviews, and constant rejection. Once I get this offer letter in my hands, my heart will finally be able to slow down a bit.

Yesterday's rejectors?

Sherrard & Roe (Nashville, TN)
Pepper Hamilton (Detroit, MI)
Osborn Maledon (Phoenix, AZ)
King & Spalding (Atlanta, GA)
McDonald Carano Wilson (Las Vegas, NV)
Jones Day (Atlanta, GA)
Baker & Daniels (Indianapolis, IN)
Holland & Knight (Tampa, FL)
Holland & Knight (Atlanta, GA)
Bracewell & Giuliani (San Antonio, TX)
Bracewell & Giuliani (Washington, DC)
Steptoe & Johnson (Phoenix, AZ)
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner (Atlanta, GA)

Depressing Weekend

April, so far, hasn't brought a spring-like feeling to me. I was really hoping for miracles and new feelings of hope. Instead, I'm filled with fear and anger. Five years ago when I made the decision it was time for me to go to law school, what's happening to me now was never in my mind. Had it been at all, I know I wouldn't have taken the LSAT and applied. Now, I'm stuck. Facing enormous loan debt and a degree that's increasingly seeming worthless.

This weekend's rejectors?

McKenna Long & Adlridge (Los Angeles, CA)
Gallagher & Kennedy (Phoenix, AZ)
Carlton Fields (Tampa, FL)
Jones Day (Cleveland, OH)
Bays Deaver Lung Rose Holma (Honolulu, HI)
Foulston Siefkin (Wichita, KS)
Bryan Cave (Kansas City, MO)
Adams and Reese (New Orleans, LA)
Davis Wright Tremaine (Seattle, WA)
Baker Donelson (Brimingham, AL)
Fulbright & Jaworski (Houston, TX)
Troutman Sanders (Atlanta, GA)
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft (New York, NY)
Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard (Raleigh, NC)
Jones Day (San Francisco, CA)
Schwartz Junell Greenberg & Oathout (Houston, TX)
Taft, Stettinius & Hollister (Indianapolis, IN)

Praying for Just ONE Good Week

Another week has gone by without any good/promising job news. Lots of layoffs though! :-(

Yesterday's rejectors?

Polsinelli Shughart (Phoenix, AZ)
Briggs & Morgan (Minneapolis, MN)
Gibbs & Bruns (Houston, TX)
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (Washington, DC)
Brouse McDowell (Cleveland, OH)
Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi (Atlanta, GA)
Lowndes Drosdick Doster Kantor & Reed (Orlando, FL)
Holland & Knight (Orlando, FL)
Perkins Coie (Boise, ID)
King & Spalding (Houston, TX)

Alternatives?

I've been spending a lot of the time the past couple days trying to think of ways to find a job. Do I invest a bunch of money and place a big ad in the newspaper, essentially tell the world anyone can have me? Do I make a sign and stand outside the Metra station with a stack of resumes? Do I just give up?

I've spent well longer than a full year now networking like crazy, hitting up any and all legal contacts I have, sending out cold emails with my resume to everyone else. Nothing is working.

I'm also really thinking now of things outside the legal field. Can I mail back my JD to Loyola and ask for a refund? Does the JD come with a warranty? because my is looking defective.

Yesterday's rejectors?

McGuireWoods (Richmond, VA)
Davis Kuelthau (Milwaukee, WI)
Warden Grier (Kansas City, MO)
Lewis Rice & Fingersh (Kansas City, MO)
Polsinelli Shugart (Kansas City, MO)
DLA Piper (Seattle, WA)
Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman (Seattle, WA)
Lane Powell (Seattle, WA)

Last Month

It's not officially the last month I have in law school. I'm praying that April is THE month that things finally turn around for me in my search for a position after graduation. I'm really hoping...

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)