How to - Top law firm

Inactive User

1 1

Posted Nov 25, 2014 17:56

My dream has always been to work at a top law firm, I didn't get into one after law school in Canada. I'm currently working at a small firm making peanuts and not liking what I do. My first year of law school I had horrible grades but I ended up graduating with honors. Now I want to get into a top law firms in NYC (or elsewhere), and I feel that I need a top LLM to do so with top grades to do so. This being said, which school is best for top law firms? I am really considering Columbia, but was wondering if NUY, Duke, Chicago, Cornell, Stanford would be as good?

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AnnaLLM

16 32

Posted Nov 26, 2014 10:40

I don't want to burst your bubble, but I don't think any LLM will get you into a top law firm. You will most likely need a(n American) JD for that. While some law firms will only take graduates from particular schools, e.g. Harvard, top law firms usually recruit from T14 schools. However, it might be easier (but still incredibly hard) getting an LLM from a top UK school and trying to get a job at an overseas branch of a big US law firm in hopes of relocating to the Big Apple.

In reality though, I think your best shot is to find a job at a smaller US firm, built up your resume and then try to move up in the world. Learning Mandarin might help too ;-)

Good luck!

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law01

190 360

Posted Nov 26, 2014 11:15

I don't want to burst your bubble, but I don't think any LLM will get you into a top law firm. You will most likely need a(n American) JD for that. While some law firms will only take graduates from particular schools, e.g. Harvard, top law firms usually recruit from T14 schools. However, it might be easier (but still incredibly hard) getting an LLM from a top UK school and trying to get a job at an overseas branch of a big US law firm in hopes of relocating to the Big Apple.

In reality though, I think your best shot is to find a job at a smaller US firm, built up your resume and then try to move up in the world. Learning Mandarin might help too ;-)

Good luck!

Anna i think you are watching too much suits :p there is no such thing as 'we only get Harvard graduates', + Columbia, NYU and Standford are all world renowned universities so why would you discourage anyone who wants to go there? Furthermore, i seems that you have never studied in the UK, top UK universities only look for top top grades, nothing else, while US universities look for intellectual ability, diversity etc.

So now answering the OP's question, an LLM would not really add much BUT it would make you eligible for the california bar, you are already eligible for the New York Bar exam, and it would demonstrate both intellectual ability + will to improve. The fact that you have work experience already makes you a bery strong candidate for a job

<blockquote>I don't want to burst your bubble, but I don't think any LLM will get you into a top law firm. You will most likely need a(n American) JD for that. While some law firms will only take graduates from particular schools, e.g. Harvard, top law firms usually recruit from T14 schools. However, it might be easier (but still incredibly hard) getting an LLM from a top UK school and trying to get a job at an overseas branch of a big US law firm in hopes of relocating to the Big Apple.

In reality though, I think your best shot is to find a job at a smaller US firm, built up your resume and then try to move up in the world. Learning Mandarin might help too ;-)

Good luck!

</blockquote>

Anna i think you are watching too much suits :p there is no such thing as 'we only get Harvard graduates', + Columbia, NYU and Standford are all world renowned universities so why would you discourage anyone who wants to go there? Furthermore, i seems that you have never studied in the UK, top UK universities only look for top top grades, nothing else, while US universities look for intellectual ability, diversity etc.

So now answering the OP's question, an LLM would not really add much BUT it would make you eligible for the california bar, you are already eligible for the New York Bar exam, and it would demonstrate both intellectual ability + will to improve. The fact that you have work experience already makes you a bery strong candidate for a job

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