i'll be going to a T14 (MVPB) as a military vet. gunning for biglaw all around.

any experience how military vets do in biglaw recruiting AND/OR once at the firm?

heard finance/engineering pre-ls experience is great, so are special ops/marines sort of things. just a regular military guy here. help a bro out.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27752961)

Obviously you have to have grades that meet their cut offs, but it was at least 50% of what recruiters talked to me about during OCI. Oh, I see you were in the military. Tell me about that and how that experience will help you in working in a high pressure environment like BIGLAW. Just have an answer ready and you will clean up in OCI.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770044)

but yea consider strongly if the biglaw path is right for u, as noted above, its a grind and a half

and thanks for ur service brother

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27753011)

but biglaw partners do to...its impressive, its something alpha to talk about at interviews, it reflects well on the firm to put bros like that on their website, and it gives people a feeling of patriotism to hire them, and its genuinely credited that military bros should have a leg up over the rest of us self-serving strivers

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27753044)

idf sayeret matkal gives you a huge leg up in biglaw.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27753020)

Check out this thread re military in Biglaw: http://www.xoxohth.com/thread.php?thread_id=2521587&mc=20&forum_id=2

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27753125)

Partners will be impressed by how ALPHA AS FUCK you were to serve your country, but it won't give you a bump if you have shitty grades.

What was your MOS?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27756811)

if below that bracket, the military pedigree will matter a lot in the V11-50 range and you should be able to land multiple CBs in that range as long as you're above median.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770102)

I think it will look good

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27756830)

Have heard a few firms (like Williams & Connolly) do like to hire former military bros and people with less traditional backgrounds, but you obviously are going to need to have impressive stats as well.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27769978)

chill bros tend to think it's cool, ask a few questions, and let it be. my sense is that these guys viewed me favorably in the same way that they would view someone who had played the same collegiate sport they had – they assumed i was a good dude who "gets it." it won't overcome shitty performance, but you definitely start with a bit of a halo effect. i found that about 30% of dudes i worked with were in this camp.

i ran into the occasional defensive lawyer dweeb who was clearly threatened and felt the need to make derisive comments or ignore/devalue my service. probably < 20%. i safely ignored these people – they tended to be the same ones whose opinions were not valued at the firm.

the other 50% of dudes are the quiet shut-ins. i don't know what they thought because we only talked about work. you'll have a lot of this at any law office.

as far as female attorneys, they are mostly confused. i was consistently surprised at how little basic background knowledge they had about the military. it's generally a good strategy to underemphasize the military background if interviewing with a woman. a minority (~20%) think it's cool as fuck and will ask about it proactively. if this happens you are good to go. i had 100% callbacks from female interviewers who fit that description.

overall, my military background was helpful. i did better than my grades would suggest at OCI. just don't be a douche about it and figure out how to concisely explain your military experience – and why it will help you be a better junior lawyer than your 24-year-old classmates, because it will – and you will be in good shape.

happy to answer any other Qs you have.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27769983)

Also, their periods attract bears.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770036)

i do think that the ranger tab school is probably about at the limit of what females will be able to do physically, and certainly in any useful quantity. things like BUDS, SFAS, RAP, and USMC IOC – no way, at least from what I've experienced/heard.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770088)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770114)

Were you Ranger qualed?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770131)

while i don't feel the need to justify myself further – particularly to an overly aggressive dude on the internet who has said nothing about his own credentials – i will answer any questions you have that don't put me at increased risk of outing.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770146)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770160)

1. i guess i'm a bit worried about that 'age' gap - i'll be early-30s when i finish school. hearing from you, it seems like age was never a big deal for both recruiting/fitting in at firm purposes?

2. how was LS for you man? were u able to relate to the younger folks/professors in school? any trouble hitting the books after a stint in infantry/field?

3. did u ever consider going jag and/or bigfed after LS? or were u set on copping biglaw?

thanx again for ur time dude. generally downplaying/underemphasizing military experience seems very credited - i certainly feel like i just did my time, got some good experiences, then got out. nbd.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770193)

1. the age gap shouldn't be a big deal. more people are entering law schools, especially good ones, after a few years of work experience. probably 40-50% of my class was at least two years out of undergrad. you are likely to have the occasional interviewer who is a 27-year-old third year who will be a little put off by you, but don't give it too much thought. it's a numbers game and you will have many interviews that don't "click" for a variety of reasons, but it's no problem.

as far as firm culture, i found my military experience to be nothing but a benefit. remember that your priorities are i) impress partners; ii) don't make associates think you would be bad to work with; iii) "fit in" with other summers. i did not find the age gap to be an impediment to (ii) and (iii). the military experience probably went over BEST with the higher level partners whose opinions mattered most.

2. LS was fine. 1L kind of sucked because you almost have to be motivated by fear to care about a lot of that shit, and i couldn't match the level of mania most of my classmates brought. i still did fine. once you get to 2L/3L, just take classes that genuinely interest you. it's easy to stay motivated if you are doing something you think is cool.

3. for me, one big driver for leaving the military in the first place was to escape the federal bureaucracy. so this was never very attractive to me. however, you do have a more realistic chance of bigfed with veteran status. JAG is a whole different beast – from what i've heard, they are severely over capacity in every branch and trying to get in via a nonstandard route (i.e. non-initial entry) is administratively challenging.

i hope that's helpful. if you want, post a throwaway email and i will hit you up. we can talk in more detail.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2862897&forum_id=2#27770301)