Université de Sherbrooke

It's not a horrible analogy. An associate who sticks around forever but is incapable of making the jump to partnership could suck the air out of the room and prevent other associates who do have that possibility from gaining experience and working on files, etc. And all else being equal, every firm would prefer someone with more skills and a better business case than someone who isn't. That's just natural. There are certain people who are so talented however at a particular niche that they stick around forever and a spot is made for them despite not being as well rounded, but that's few and far between and largely the people that don't make partner are not those people. Returning to the idea that big law is a pyramid scheme, I think people should really look up phrases before using them. A pyramid scheme is one in which you get paid by recruiting people into the scheme who also pay. You could perhaps argue that equity partnership (rather than big law as a whole) is a pyramid scheme, except partners aren't making their big money off enrolling new people to contribute equity. They make money by generating actual revenue, something pyramid and MLM schemes don't actually do. If you wanted to argue it was a Ponzi scheme, because the house of cards collapses if everyone takes their money out at once, sure. But that's still not the right analogy, because again, existing partners aren't funding their returns using the money from new investors. They are funding it from generating revenue. In any event, smaller partnerships actually have way worse structural issues than big law. A pyramidal structure isn't inherently a pyramid scheme and linking the two is just poor logical reasoning. The pyramidal structure of big law (and accounting and consulting and finance) are actually well oiled models. A senior partner contributes more value by overseeing multiple juniors than by doing the work themselves. Anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot. Leverage is natural and it is inherent in most organizational structures because not all work is the same.

Also while the broader firm won't see your grades, the student or junior associate director (who are sometimes one and the same and definitely coordinate if not) will and a massive drop from good grades to straight Cs, absent some explanatory life event, may be a red flag that they keep in mind when evaluating your performance going forward.

In Ontario the LSO will provide you with the study matierals. There is also an index compiled privately that many people use. Neither of these is avalible to you yet, so don't stress out and worry you're missing something.

Getting hired back is never a guarantee. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to look for an associate position as a fresh call, your grades will definitely matter.

I’m a first gen law student and I have no idea what the procedure is for studying for the bar. Are there classes? Books? Free materials? When do I start? any guidance is appreciated including what did and didn’t work for you 🙂

You're incredibly competitive for UBC. I'd be shocked if you don't get in.

Accepted today, 167 LSAT, 3.83/4 GPA, strong softs

Apply now and rewrite in January, I'm pretty sure they will see your Jan score regardless. Not sure if you can specify that you intend on re-taking the exam in January somewhere in the application page? I got rejected with a higher GPA and a 151 LSAT last year. Good luck 🙂

My dream school is UBC, the other schools are backups. With drops my GPA for UBC is 86.5 and my LSAT is 165. Will be taking again in January to increase my score. My one downside is that I don't have a degree even though I have completed over 120 credits. Been out of school for the past 4 years working full-time. Lots of work experience and strong extracurriculars. Applying today. For UofA and UofC my last 2 years give me an 88-89% average. Thanks in advance!!

It doesn't matter, but within reason. All C's would raise some eyebrows. A "D" would be even worse. I assume you were referring to being "hired back" as an associate, but even being hired (back) from 2L summer student to articling student may be standard procedure, but it is not an absolute guarantee. Very rare, but students have been dropped at this stage.

Out of 4.0!

Congrats!!! Out of curiosity, 3.7/4.0 or 4.3?

Accepted via email! 3.7 GPA/162 LSAT

I got the email about an hour ago! So happy!! 3.83/4.00 & 166

wow what are their complaints about UBC?