Ugh

DEMachina.

Posted to Diary on Sun Aug 31, 2008 at 07:00:41 PM EST. RSS.

I understand why people give up looking for work. After one pass through Monster and CareerBuilder I was already depressed. I did find a diamond in the rough, though.

I'll be graduating from a top-100 law school come December, with the bar exam (assuming I stay in Virginia, which is my ideal) in February. So I've begun the long, slow crawl towards finding a Real Job.

I don't have the grades or extracurriculars to be making six-figures when I graduate, but that's just as well, since none of those jobs are worth it for me. 80-hour-plus weeks working for prima donna partners representing billion-dollar corporations? No thank you.

So far I've found a lot of document review jobs and then one that would be absolutely perfect. Document review has become a serious industry nowadays. Basically, when large companies are involved with a lawsuit, the amount of stuff turned over during discovery can be ridiculous (think hundreds of those ream-sized boxes copy paper comes in). So, law firms hire lawyers on a contract basis to go through them. The pay is decent ($30+/hour, plus overtime), but the work is soul-crushing. Basically your job is reading corporate documents all day every day and figuring out if they're relevant to whatever case you're ostensibly working on. So I guess it's nice to have some way of getting income if I need it, but I'm not sure I could do that for very long without jumping off a bridge and/or becoming an alcoholic.

The perfect job is a public interest one in the southeastern part of the state. It pays really well for this type of work (more than I'd ever need), plus offers really good benefits. I just finished my resume, so just have to see if the people I'd like to be references are all willing and have someone give it a once-over. I have no doubt I'd be competitive (I spent 2 summers in a legal aid office where I live, plus a semester with the Attorney General's consumer law section), but there's big doubt in my mind about whether they'd be willing to wait the 6 months or so until I'm actually licensed to practice law, assuming I don't fail the bar exam. That's something I try not to think too hard about.

I suppose that even if I don't get this one, it's a sign that I shouldn't totally loose hope, and that good jobs are indeed out there. Keeping my fingers crossed....

< Hail, Mary, Full of Wood

Let's think of the true victims of fuel prices >

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4	Re: Ugh gerrymander. Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 01:28:59 PM EST 5.00 (astute)

the amount of stuff turned over during discovery can be ridiculous (think hundreds of those ream-sized boxes copy paper comes in)

That's the old school discovery process. These days, it's easier just to put scans of every document conceivably applicable to discovery on a 500-gigabyte hard drive or six, and say "Go fish."

6 4	Re: Ugh DEMachina. Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 05:50:48 PM EST none

That almost sounds easier; unless they do them as image-based PDFs, of course (i.e. no text searches).

Still, I know the documents-in-boxes approach still has its adherents; I got to help comb through some of them while with the AG's office.

Q: What do you think of western civilization? Gandhi: I think it would be a good idea.

7 6	Re: Ugh gerrymander. Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 08:09:15 PM EST none

It is image-based files (PDF or TIF, usually), but there's also character recognition software which runs along the indexing software, and tends to be pretty good. If you end up working for a big firm, you might be sorting based on a serious commercial database searching program (a local Google license or home-grown equivalent), but smaller firms tend to use one of the standard substandard packages like Concordance or Summation (they don't suck, but neither are they really good).

The trick is getting the lingo down. Text search features are only useful if you know what text to search for, and even within rarefied law strata (my firm only does intellectual property, for example), how clients and opposition refer to things can vary wildly. Sometimes, that alone is enough to make law clerks tear their hair out.

Good luck!

8 7	Re: Ugh DEMachina. Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 10:15:48 PM EST none

Good to know, thanks.

My goal is to stay as far away from a large firm as I possibly can with the possible exception of a pro bono fellowship. Still, you never know when that kind of thing could come up, although it is pretty rare in public interest practice based on my limited experience.

Q: What do you think of western civilization? Gandhi: I think it would be a good idea.

1	Job Offer pO157. Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 09:54:22 AM EST none

I'll give you $5 to be on retainer in case I get a DUI or a traffic ticket or something.

(Note: The chances of you having to do any actual work are probably slim since I don't drive in the city and I do most of my drinking at home anyway)

2 1	Re: Job Offer DEMachina. Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 09:09:41 AM EST none

Haha...I appreciate that. If about 9,999 other people do that I've got myself an income!

Too bad we're in different states....

Q: What do you think of western civilization? Gandhi: I think it would be a good idea.

3	Good Luck In Your Future. MayorBob. Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 09:56:54 AM EST none

Why would it take you six months to get licensed to practice law? I'm aware in some parts of the US, as long as you've passed law school, a law firm can get you provisionally licensed to practice law. Taking and passing the bar exam is just a hurdle you have to accomplish, but you knew that before you entered law school. Is Monster or Careerbuilder really the path to employment for lawyers? Isn't your law school scheduling appointments with law firms or public sector agencies? If you already did the spade work by finding out about the public interest firm, maybe that's the way to go initially. Most of my lawyer friends tell me that really the best way to identify employment opportunities or steps up the career ladder is to network like a son of a gun, even in law school.

Illegitimi non carborundum.

5 3	Re: Good Luck In Your Future. DEMachina. Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 05:49:19 PM EST none

First, thank you.

In Virginia there's a rule that third year law students can practice, but there are some restrictions: 1) you have to be supervised by a member of the bar; 2) you must have the client's permission; 3) you must have the judge's permission. The latter two you have to get for each individual case you handle. That's it as far as any kind of conditional practice is concerned. So some firms will hire you early and have you basically be a paralegal until you're admitted, which is nice. I'm not sure a public interest group has the budget for something like that, but I'm still going to try.

Yeah, I'd say networking is the best way. Unfortunately most of my connections are in the public interest field, which is great if there's an opening. So I just have to hope that if this one doesn't work out, other possibilities will come up between now and when my cash reserves run out. Still, I do realize it's early yet, although the process remains pretty miserable.

Q: What do you think of western civilization? Gandhi: I think it would be a good idea.

9	Monster thefadd. Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 04:28:34 PM EST none

and CareerBuilder are extremely depressing. There's a couple localized career sites that don't suck terribly but has anyone ever had any success with them?

It is easy to buy small plaster models of what you think life is like.

This story: 9 comments (0 from subqueue)

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DEMachina.

Posted to Diary on Sun Aug 31, 2008 at 07:00:41 PM EST. RSS.

Re: Ugh

gerrymander.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 01:28:59 PM EST

5.00 (astute)

4

Re: Ugh

DEMachina.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 05:50:48 PM EST

6

Re: Ugh

gerrymander.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 08:09:15 PM EST

7

Re: Ugh

DEMachina.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 10:15:48 PM EST

Job Offer

pO157.

Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 09:54:22 AM EST

1

Re: Job Offer

DEMachina.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 09:09:41 AM EST

Good Luck In Your Future.

MayorBob.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 09:56:54 AM EST

3

Re: Good Luck In Your Future.

DEMachina.

Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 05:49:19 PM EST

Monster

thefadd.

Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 04:28:34 PM EST