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I'm in my third year and my grades are abysmal. In my first year of college, I messed up my grades horribly. In fact, I had to reappear for one paper. Despite the fact that I have greatly improved since then, I am still not in the top 50 of my batch. I have a good number of publications and no moots. Many of my friends have started getting T1 placements, but I haven't been able to get one because no firm will accept my grades. Also, I had two drop years after 12th grade, which aren't helping my case. Please advise me on the best course of action to take from now on.
Thank you in advance
I was in a similar place as you a year back. The problem is most people in law schools have been made to think as if recruiters are v sensitive about grades and bad grades are the end of life. Other than S/CAM, most firms such as KCO, Trilegal, JSA, S&R, Indus, AZB, ELP don't care much about grades (I interned with all of them without any contacts and eventually got one of the early PPOs in my batch). So, bad grades are not the end of the world. If you have good grades that gives you an edge, but bad grades can be compensated easily with some efforts. The following helped:
1. Network with people effectively. If some boutique law firm is willing to offer you an internship atm impress them with your work and build personal relations. Once they are impressed, ask them if they are willing to recommend you to a T1/T2 firm. An SA even in a boutique firm such as Keystone will have law school batchmates working at these T1 and T2 firms and can ask them to recommend you to the HR.
2. Start cold emailing partners (relevant practice area). While this is v luck dependent as most partners wont reply but someone might. This takes a lot of work and luck to crack.
3. Publish papers/blogs like crazy. There are good blogs like Oxford Business Law Blog, Columbia Blue Sky blog and Spicy IP. Plus renowned Indian/international journals (preferably scopus indexed). If you are able to show 6-7 good publications in the relevant practice area, that would take you far.
4. When you get the internship, work hard (be open to late nights and early mornings, if needed). Law firms are less about brilliance and more about hard work. If you are able to make a SA's life easier for a month. There's no reason she wont recommend you for a PPO. Also, speak frankly with your mentor on the last day regarding the hiring process.
5. Find moots/events which offer internships with law firms to the winners.
Also, it may all seem very overwhelming now. But you will be laughing at this phase a year later. So, don't forget to enjoy the process. Everyone gets a job.