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This post is directed at the rising 2L who just finished the school year and is headed toward their first summer. Come back to this when you are wrapping up 1L. Yes, grades are the most important thing right now — but it does not hurt to keep the end goal in view.

Focus on the Post-2L Summer

If you took a position just for the legal experience but ultimately want biglaw next summer, tell yourself now: the real purpose of this summer is to set yourself up for as many interviews, callbacks, and offers as possible by Labor Day of 2L year.

If you start right after 1L, you can out-hustle peers who did better than you academically. I was .03 above the median. That means you need to work harder.

The Action Plan

• Locate. Find lawyers from your law school and undergrad on large firms’ websites.
• List. Build a spreadsheet: name, graduation year, school, practice group, one interesting detail.
• Outreach. Start with five lawyers. Write to their work email. Then expand.

Never underestimate the power of being an enthusiastic student reaching out on your own. Take a deep breath: you are in the same situation as nearly everyone else who went to law school.

Do something within the next five minutes to make progress toward landing a biglaw summer associate position.

If you want help building your outreach list or thinking through interview prep, the first 15 minutes are free. More here. For a complete walkthrough of biglaw interviews, my book Biglaw Interview Advice is on Amazon.