Do Grades Matter After You Have a BigLaw Offer?
BigLaw Bear · 2 min read
Under the current cycle, most students who land a BigLaw offer get it in 1L spring after January OCI, then carry it through 2L and 3L year. (A separate full-time offer comes at the end of the 2L summer associate program.) Either way, you are back in school for the bulk of law school with a job already lined up. The question everyone asks: can you coast?
The short answer
Your grades matter less than they did before your offer, but they are not irrelevant.
When post-offer grades matter
If your offer is conditional. Some firms explicitly condition their offer on maintaining a certain GPA. This is rare at BigLaw firms but not unheard of. Check your offer letter.
If you want to clerk. Judges care about your full transcript. If you are applying for clerkships during 3L, your 2L and 3L grades are part of the evaluation.
If your firm has a grade threshold. A few firms review final transcripts and have been known to rescind offers in extreme cases (like a student who fails a class or has a dramatic GPA drop). This is exceedingly rare, but it happens.
If you lateral later. When you lateral to another firm years down the road, some firms will look at your full transcript. Your grades are a permanent part of your professional record.
When they do not matter
For the vast majority of BigLaw associates, nobody at the firm will ever look at your 3L grades. Your performance as a summer associate and then as a junior associate is what matters. Partners care about your work product, not whether you got an A or a B+ in Evidence.
The real question
The question is not whether you can coast. It is whether you should. The classes you take in 2L and 3L can actually be useful if you choose well. Courses in securities regulation, M&A, bankruptcy, or federal courts can give you a head start on the substantive knowledge you will need as an associate.
Take classes that interest you or that will help you in your practice area. Just do not tank your GPA so dramatically that it raises questions.
Check out our guide on best 2L classes for BigLaw for specific course recommendations, and browse the firm directory to see which practice areas are growing.