How to get Hired Back for Subsequent Terms as a 1L Summer Student

[Goblin King]

Hi all, 

I was lucky enough to get offered a 1L job at a large bay street firm. I'm hyped but also kinda nervous. I would love to come back as an articling student and eventually an associate and I am wondering what the determinants of success are.  Specifically: 

1. How much will my 1L final grades impact me being offered a 2L and/or articling position? 

2. What are they looking for out of me in the work term and what tips do you guys have for a good summer term? 

3. Do firms generally bring back all their students? 

 

Thanks! 

[LMP]

Obviously firm dependant but generally the intent is to bring back 1L students. It is more or less a straight shot to articling (with some exceptions of course). 

[Pecan Boy]

Yeah, as long as you don't do something insanely fucked up, you'll get hired back for 2L and for articling. Probably as an associate too, but depending on the firm, that one can be slightly more dicey.

[Turtles]

11 minutes ago, Goblin King said:

Hi all, 

I was lucky enough to get offered a 1L job at a large bay street firm. I'm hyped but also kinda nervous. I would love to come back as an articling student and eventually an associate and I am wondering what the determinants of success are.  Specifically: 

1. How much will my 1L final grades impact me being offered a 2L and/or articling position? 

2. What are they looking for out of me in the work term and what tips do you guys have for a good summer term? 

3. Do firms generally bring back all their students? 

 

Thanks! 

Firm dependent, but generally:

1. Either the firm won't ask for any grades ever again, or they'll ask but the only expectation is you are doing reasonably fine. A couple more "academic" firms can give someone a hard time about grades slipping, but generally anything (except failing out of law school) can be looked over if your work performance is good enough that they don't want to get rid of you anyway. (In the recruit firms use grades as a proxy to judge your aptitude, inside the firm they have your work performance, attitude, and reliability to judge you on instead.)

2. Be real about timelines and your knowledge/experience/limitations going in. Be responsive. Be nice. Take initiative and try to be on the ball. Take feedback. Make connections. Don't be the person with the least amount of work all summer, but also don't be the person with so much they become overwhelmed or overly negative. Support your cohort when they need it (rebalance work, share if you have something that might help them with what they're doing, help solve tech/system issues if you already experienced something, just be a friend if someone is left out, etc). Try to fall in the middle of the curve in terms of hours and work assignments and you'll be more than fine. Be a good team player and internally network to stand out more and help build equity in your brand. 

3. You will be told you have to burn down the firm to not be brought back. You're expected to make mistakes. You're expected to not know much. You're expected to try new things and fail and reflect and try again. Unless the error leads to absolute catastrophe, like you start sexually harassing someone or telling client to f off or just completely ignore deadlines without a care in the world, you will generally be acting within the range of reasonable performance expected of you.

[Goblin King]

21 minutes ago, Turtles said:

Firm dependent, but generally:

1. Either the firm won't ask for any grades ever again, or they'll ask but the only expectation is you are doing reasonably fine. A couple more "academic" firms can give someone a hard time about grades slipping, but generally anything (except failing out of law school) can be looked over if your work performance is good enough that they don't want to get rid of you anyway. (In the recruit firms use grades as a proxy to judge your aptitude, inside the firm they have your work performance, attitude, and reliability to judge you on instead.)

2. Be real about timelines and your knowledge/experience/limitations going in. Be responsive. Be nice. Take initiative and try to be on the ball. Take feedback. Make connections. Don't be the person with the least amount of work all summer, but also don't be the person with so much they become overwhelmed or overly negative. Support your cohort when they need it (rebalance work, share if you have something that might help them with what they're doing, help solve tech/system issues if you already experienced something, just be a friend if someone is left out, etc). Try to fall in the middle of the curve in terms of hours and work assignments and you'll be more than fine. Be a good team player and internally network to stand out more and help build equity in your brand. 

3. You will be told you have to burn down the firm to not be brought back. You're expected to make mistakes. You're expected to not know much. You're expected to try new things and fail and reflect and try again. Unless the error leads to absolute catastrophe, like you start sexually harassing someone or telling client to f off or just completely ignore deadlines without a care in the world, you will generally be acting within the range of reasonable performance expected of you.

This is super helpful, especially with respect to workload management and internal networking. Quick question: who are the more academic firms? 

[Turtles]

16 minutes ago, Goblin King said:

This is super helpful, especially with respect to workload management and internal networking. Quick question: who are the more academic firms? 

Typically torys, davies, mccarthys fashion themselves as such. Have heard a specific story of the student director at one of those telling a student that the firm expected better from them after their grades had dropped and to do better because it's "a privilege to work there".

[ruthlessfox]

As others have said, you would have to effectively try to not get hired back. It's extremely rare. Being a "slow learner" or making some mistakes in your work doesn't cut it. Turtle's advice is excellent guidance for a summer student.