Find a small office in your home town and just start learning. Look for a young growing litigation office. The rest will fall in place. The practice of law is a marathon.
You didn't mess up. First things first, let's say even if you had 10+ internships.. getting into corporate would've been impossible w/o contacts or an exemplary CV (again almost impossible w/o contacts, be it corporate or litigation). This is simply because of the existing nepotism in this profession and the monopoly/preference of Tier-1 NLUs in the context of Tier-1 law firms (again not a criticism of that culture - it is what it is). And you're from DU, so factor that in; your college prepares you better for litigation. And truth be told, you'd be slightly better equipped in certain areas than students from slightly better law colleges (again read this with emphasis on certain areas).
With litigation, you still would not have been making big bucks right out of college. The gestation period is longer, without any guaranteed success anyway. So yes, you did lose some time, maybe a couple of months, or even if you want to exaggerate, let's say a year. One year would hardly make a difference 10 years later. Hell, you could even catch up or zoom past others. Start counting the days from when you get your license. No breaks starting from that point because all you will do is work, work, and work. Until then, read... and then read some more.. whether it's procedure, case laws, commentaries, drafting, practice itself..Try to learn about what you haven't learned in college...watch online how Advocates argue. Litigation is about the long game, not the short game. Ofc, you have to be grounded and understand that it will take time to blossom and still, it may or may not align with your ambitions.
Since you are clear you want to enter litigation and are first gen, I would recommend not starting with Senior Advocates; for the same reason Tier 1 firms would not have been interested - some of these positions are filled up via contacts or exemplary CVs (again contacts). Bud, nepotism is the rule of this game, whether it's that hotshot corporate firm or a Senior Advocate. With that in mind, start lower - the goal is to develop your skills in the first 6-8 years - that includes being able to handle a case right from the trial court stage to the appellate stage. Trial practice and appellate practice are similar but different games and you must get some trial court experience - even though oversaturated, it continues to be one of the most difficult areas to master, for evidence (in majority of cases) is appreciated at this stage. So start low, and climb your way to a senior advocate.
With litigation, you still would not have been making big bucks right out of college. The gestation period is longer, without any guaranteed success anyway. So yes, you did lose some time, maybe a couple of months, or even if you want to exaggerate, let's say a year. One year would hardly make a difference 10 years later. Hell, you could even catch up or zoom past others. Start counting the days from when you get your license. No breaks starting from that point because all you will do is work, work, and work. Until then, read... and then read some more.. whether it's procedure, case laws, commentaries, drafting, practice itself..Try to learn about what you haven't learned in college...watch online how Advocates argue. Litigation is about the long game, not the short game. Ofc, you have to be grounded and understand that it will take time to blossom and still, it may or may not align with your ambitions.
Since you are clear you want to enter litigation and are first gen, I would recommend not starting with Senior Advocates; for the same reason Tier 1 firms would not have been interested - some of these positions are filled up via contacts or exemplary CVs (again contacts). Bud, nepotism is the rule of this game, whether it's that hotshot corporate firm or a Senior Advocate. With that in mind, start lower - the goal is to develop your skills in the first 6-8 years - that includes being able to handle a case right from the trial court stage to the appellate stage. Trial practice and appellate practice are similar but different games and you must get some trial court experience - even though oversaturated, it continues to be one of the most difficult areas to master, for evidence (in majority of cases) is appreciated at this stage. So start low, and climb your way to a senior advocate.