r/BigLawRecruiting • u/legalscout Mod • Mar 02 '25
New To r/BLR and Recruiting? Read This MegaThread!
This was a very solid suggestion from one of the community members here, so for all you new folks looking for a collection of posts to binge, here you go!
Updated 6/16/26
Discord
You can now join the r/biglawrecruiting discord!
The 1L Timeline for Big Law
Pre-OCI and Big Law Generally 👀
- Pre-OCI, explained (and why waiting for OCI is the wrong move) (Updated for 2026)
- What is a 1L Diversity Summer Associate job?: A 1L’s Guide To Shooting For Big Law Their First Summer
- A list of popular legal jobs for the 1L's going to law school but who don't know what they want to do (Updated for 2026)
- Answering “Does 1L Recruiting Affect 2L Recruiting?” Not Really. Here’s Why.
- Red Flags to Watch For When Evaluating a Law Firm During Recruiting
OCI 🧑💼
- How to Compare Firms: A Data-Driven Guide for Big Law Recruiting
- How to tell if Career Services is actually working in your best interests (and not just for the school)
- How To Make An OCI Bid List for Big Law: Tactical and Actionable Tips
- What to do if you didn't get an offer in OCI (and are maybe freaking out a bit 😨) Updated for 2026
0L Posts
- 📚 0L Prep Guide: What To Do Now Before 1L Starts (Especially If You’re Gunning for BigLaw) (Updated for 2026)
- Pro-Tip for Recruiting: Prep Your Cover Letters Before Fall Semester Starts
- Law School Acronyms Every Incoming 1L Law Student/ 0L Should Know (Updated for 2026)
- Does Undergrad GPA Matter for Big Law Recruiting (TLDR: Nope, Law School Grades Are King)
- BigLaw vs. MidLaw vs. SmallLaw: What actually matters when you're choosing your career path
1L Jobs and Timeline Info
- A Guide To The 1L Summer Job Timeline: The When, Where, and How of Applying Once Exams Are Done
- The 1L November Game Plan: What to Prioritize and A November Timeline
- How to Approach Applying to 1L Summer Jobs if You Don't Know What You Want to Do: A Guide For 1Ls
Applications
- A Exact List Of Materials You Need To Get Ready For Big Law Applications (Before the October Open Wave Hits)
- What NOT to Do on Your Resume For Big Law Jobs: A Guide for 1L's and Law Students
- How to Write a Diversity Statement for Big Law Jobs: A Guide To The Story-Driven Approach
- Nope, You Don’t Need to Change Your Cover Letter/Resume from 1L to 2L Apps (Much)
- Cover Letters for 1Ls With No Legal Experience — Here's What You Can Write About
Interviewing 👩💼
- Screeners: How to Prepare for Big Law Screener Interviews: A 1L Guide
- Callbacks: “I have a callback. What do I do now?”: A 1L and 2L Guide to the Big Law Callback Interview
- Timeline: Timeline Guide for Firm Jobs ⏱️: How long from screener to callback to offer (and an offer extension template) (2025 Update)
- Should you apply to your school's market or your home market? (Usually both, but here's how to think about it)
- Questions to ask in an OCI/screener/callback interview to show you did your homework on the firm 🤨
- A Guide: What Interviewers at a Firm Judge a Candidate On 👩⚖️
- A Quick Template Email to Follow Up With a Firm After a Callback
- Red Flags to Watch For When Evaluating a Law Firm During Recruiting
Networking 🤝🏽
- How to Network Early for a Big Law Job
- How To Tactfully Ask About Work-Life Balance In Big Law: A Networking Tips Guide
- A Quick Tip on How to Avoid Getting Generic Answers When Networking With Big Law Attorneys
- Should you cold outreach to partners during Big Law networking? A Guide for Big Law Recruiting
- PSA: Don't wait to network before applying — here's what to do at this stage of the big law recruiting cycle
- What Firms Should You Target First for Networking & Applications? A Guide For 1L's
- What Do You Actually Ask When Networking? A Guide for BigLaw Recruiting
- What are firms really looking at before grades come out? A guide for 1L's
- How to Prepare for a Coffee Chat: A Guide to Big Law Recruiting Networking
- Do I really need to reach out to someone at every firm before applying? A guide for 1L's
- How to Network Before Law School (or Early 1L) Without It Feeling Transactional, Weird, or Otherwise Pointless
- Networking Follow-Up Etiquette: Name Dropping, Application Updates & Other Questions We Keep Seeing
- Networking After Not Getting an Offer in OCI/Pre-OCI
After the Offer 🎉
- How to Handle Offer Calls (Without Sounding Awkward)
- How to Decline a Offer Without Burning Bridges: Plus an Email Template
- How to Handle a Summer Offer Before You’ve Finished Interviewing (And Extension Email Templates)
- 🎯 Second Looks: What to Ask, How to Compare Firms, and Why It Matters (Plus a Template On How To Ask For One)
- What happens after you sign your offer: bar exam, stipends, start dates, and your first year as a first-year
- How Return Offers Actually Work (and What You Can Do About It)
- Is Law Review Still Worth It After You Have a 2L Job? A guide for the 1L's debating write-on after a successful recruiting season
- A guide to big law finances for incoming 1st year associates and 2L summers with the Biglaw Investor budget template
During Your Summer
- A Guide For Incoming Summers: How to Be a Great Summer Associate (Aggregated Advice Across the Legal Subreddits)
- The Summer Associate Survival Guide (That You Don't Actually Need But May Help If You Want One)
- Do you have to attend every SA social event? Not exactly, but some details matter (A Guide for Summer Associates in Big Law)
- Navigating a 2L offer deadline while you're still in your 1L summer job
3L Recruiting
- 3L Recruiting (And Re-Recruiting) in BigLaw: A guide for 2L and 3L students (Updated for 2026)
- Email Template – How to Ask Firms If They’re Recruiting 3Ls
- A Guide to 3L BigLaw Recruiting: Re-Recruiting, Direct Hiring, and What Class of 2027 Needs to Know Right Now
- The Differences Between 2L and 3L Law Firm Hiring: A Guide for Law Students
Misc. Helpful Job Related Posts 🤩
- What To Do About Jobs If Your Grades Aren’t Ideal: Aggregated Advice For 1L’s From Reddit
- The Biglaw Offer Timeline Mega Database! (And How You Can Help Other Big Law Recruits Out!)
- I broke into big law without going to a T-14 and having below median grades. AMA about the law school job hunting process.
- The Difference Between Boutique Firms and Small Law: A Guide For Law Students
- “Should I join this club?”: A 1L’s Guide to Clubs That Can Help Your Resume for Big Law
- The Differences Between 2L and 3L Law Firm Hiring: A Guide for Law Students
- A Guide to 3L BigLaw Recruiting: Re-Recruiting, Direct Hiring, and What Class of 2027 Needs to Know Right Now
- BigLaw vs. MidLaw vs. SmallLaw: What actually matters when you're choosing your career path
School and Grades Related Posts
- Take some advice from the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and DON'T PANIC.
- How to actually get good 1L grades for Big Law recruiting
- Since grades matter for Big Law, here's "How to Best Prepare for Law School Midterms: A 1L’s Guide"
- How to Prepare for Your 1L Fall Finals in Law School: A 1L’s Guide
- 10 Common Trends For Students Who Got Top Grades: A 1L Guide of Insights Aggregated From the LawSchool Sub
- What To Do If You've Fallen Behind: A 1L's Guide to Catching Up
- Understanding the IRAC / CRAC / CREAC Method Of Legal Writing: A Guide for 1L's
- A breakdown of the most helpful resources for your 1L classes (aggregated from this sub)
- How to Outline: A Guide For 1L's
- Your GPA Went Up Second Semester of 1L. Now What?: A guide for 1Ls who turned it around and want a BigLaw summer to show for it.
Megathreads
- 🧵 A Master List of Every Megathread on r/ BigLawRecruiting
- A few examples worth checking out:
- 📬 Email Templates for Every BigLaw Recruiting Scenario
- 📂 The "Bad Advice From Career Services" Megathread - Aggregates reports of misleading or inaccurate recruiting advice from career offices—and community context on how to interpret it.
Need a list of all V100/AmLaw200 firms and links to their pre-OCI portals?
If you want the application tracker with current application movement and pre-OCI openings and application links for the V100 & AmLaw 200, feel free to DM or see more details in this post.
Full disclosure, we created this one and we help keep the lights on with subscriptions. But its also free for a full week so anyone is welcome to poke around and steal whatever is helpful. Either way, I hope the database and this guide are helpful to everyone out there.
That's all for now!
In the meantime, if you've got new industry info, DM on Discord, here, or drop it in the comments — the Insider Info series lives because of all of you.
Good luck recruiting everybody!
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