How to Break into the U.S. Biglaw Market as a Foreign Law Student – Part I
Biglaw in the U.S. is one of the most desirable legal markets students have in mind even before applying to law school. That’s because Biglaw offers some of the most competitive starting salaries in the world. While this may inspire many to pursue a career in Biglaw, others will consider the prestige and opportunity to practice alongside and learn from the legal experts with access to the most sophisticated deals around the country. The path is not as straight forward as going to law school, getting good grades and killing it in an interview. The process is exhausting, ruthless and competitive, especially if you are a foreign student trying to understand the American culture, the legal market and find sponsorship to work as an attorney.
1. Life before US law school
My experience is quite different from that of a standard American JD student who made it into a Biglaw firm. I had to overcome many obstacles as I came to a better understanding of the system, so take these words with a grain of salt. Please also remember that these experiences were lived before the pandemic and probably some practices will be different in the future.
I was born and raised in Mexico, to Peruvian-Chinese parents. I studied law in Mexico and practiced for some time, until I got a job in Atlanta to work for the Mexican Consulate. While in Atlanta, I decided to get an LLM to eventually take the bar and get a job as a US lawyer. How naïve was I. The path was going to be much more complicated than that.
The U.S. legal market is already super competitive for American JDs. Usually, people who decide to apply for a good law school were top students in their colleges, or spent a few years working and are convinced that they want to invest in a JD. Then, add to that pool of candidates, the foreign students (called “international”), who are looking to improve their livelihood by finding a job in the U.S., thus are super motivated and are usually really competitive. So, for foreign-trained attorneys looking to break into the American market with only an LLM and a need for sponsorship, the journey will be quite challenging. In my class, I only knew of 1 out of 105 LLM students who was sponsored by a small law firm outside Atlanta! However, she was the exception. In that LLM journey, and after countless of conversations with different mentors, I realized that Biglaw firms had the resources to sponsor a foreign applicant, but they will usually invest in her only if she holds a JD.
After realizing the limitations an LLM graduate faces in this market, and finding myself 11 weeks away from graduation, I decided to extend my studies and get a JD. While I was an LLM student, I met many JDs who were trying to get the best grades because having them will give them better chances during the On-Campus Interviews (OCIs) – the only forum where Biglaw firms recruit from. Just then, I realized the U.S. had a yearly calendar and an objective way to place talent into the best law firms in the country! An objective way to make into Biglaw? That was mind-blowing to me, considering that where I come from, what matters most is who you know or who your family is. Again, I was naïve. The reality is that in the U.S., a small percentage of the population can afford to get into a graduate program like law school, because of the costs associated with it. A school year can be as expensive as getting a mortgage of a $150,000. So, only wealthy minorities or those willing to acquire a huge debt that will follow them for years can make it to law school.
2. Understanding the first year of law school and finals
Before getting to OCIs, you will need to understand what the first year of law school is like. Let’s start with some acronyms. Americans love acronyms! A JD program is 3 years long and each year is called 1L, 2L or 3L. So, can you imagine how they call their law students? Yes, you were right – 1Ls, 2Ls or 3Ls! In a 1L class, your class will be divided into sections. 1Ls will share every class with a different section for the semester or year, and compete in each class for the best grades which are compiled with the grades of the different sections to establish the class ranks. All students will be graded based on a bell-curve method, with the median set by your school and professor. The core classes that American law schools teach during a 1L year may vary, but those usually are Civil Procedure (CivPro), Torts, Contracts, Legislation & Regulation, and Legal Writing (during the Fall) and Property, Criminal Law, Constitutional, an optional class and Legal Writing 2 (during the Spring).
If you want to get a job in a Biglaw firm, all that matters are grades as a 1L because only the top percentage of the class will be chosen to participate in OCIs. The system is so well traveled, that I have even heard of people who hired tutors before enrolling into law school to prepare for 1L classes. Some will organize study groups months in advance to the finals, with those students who seem to have potential to get good grades (imagine the drama of not being invited or excluded from those study groups). Few will try to call the professor’s attention every class to get into their heads and probably get a few extra points when graded (those are known as gunners, and they will remain acting like gunners all through law school).
But beware that the law school finals are nothing like you have ever seen before in college or any other law school in a civil law jurisdiction. Usually, these exams are so lengthy that you cannot even get to all of the questions. They will also require a lot of typing in those famous CivPro, Torts or Criminal Law issue spotters (I could not believe how fast people could type, only after I took my practice Torts exam!). The point is, that these students are ultra-competitive. With all that said, your law school experience will be really different from what I imagined law school should be (or at least what I experienced in Mexico). You will not be taught to fight for people’s rights, to defend the poor or to protect the environment. That first year will be all about reading hundreds of pages of cases with no context, and trying to figure out what the professor will ask during the final. A key piece of advice here is to go to the professor’s office hours and getting answers to any questions you have from the lectures and readings, and to ask the 2Ls or 3Ls who took a class with that professor, in order to understand the format and style of the final. Some professors will not care if you outline an answer, and do not care about perfect grammar. You have to figure out the way to please their style. So, use all that information to your advantage! The earlier you can prepare for this, the more you will alleviate the toughest three weeks of your academic life during finals. The reality is that the average student will learn the class during those final weeks using commercial outlines or former student outlines. However, some gunners and other diligent students have been preparing for finals for months and most likely will do very well.
This wraps up my tips for today, but please look out for the second part later this week, in which I will share how to succeed in OCIs!
Claudia Chafloque-Siu, is licensed to practice law in Mexico, holds a JD and LLM from Emory Law and currently works at a leading global law firm. Contact Claudia via LinkedIn.
*Note also that this is a republication of an old article published in 2020, please do your due diligence to ensure the up-to-date developments and changes related to anything discussed in this article.
