Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every Tuesday.

Q:I graduated from a top Ivy League law school, but I am ranked in the bottom 20 of my class. What are my prospects of getting hired by the likes of Cravath, Sullivan & Cromwell or Davis Polk?

Thanks,
Marginal

Dear Marginal: I don't like addressing you by that name because it says so many things about you all wrapped up in one word -- and none of them are descriptive of the kind of person hired by Cravath, Sullivan or Davis Polk. Let's move on to a different way to describe you, OK? Personally, it seems to me that you have big ideas for your future, and they are far from being marginal.

Unfortunately, reality has to set in at some point, and I am afraid that I must be the bearer of the bad news.

The three firms you have chosen as prospective employers are probably three of the toughest firms to break into as far as grades are concerned. Let's take a look at how firms determine who they will interview based on grades.

The first thing you need to know -- and this is the good news for everyone out there -- is that the top Biglaw firms will look at candidates from just about all of the accredited law schools. Top tier through the lowest tier, all schools are considered. If you read through the Martindale-Hubbell listings of these firms, you will see that it is not just the top 10 law schools that were attended by the partners and associates. However, the difference comes with the grading system.

For example, if you graduated from one of the top 10 law schools, you probably only need to be in the top 25 percent of your class to be considered for an interview with Cravath, Sullivan and/or Davis Polk. However, if you went to schools ranked in the second tier, my guess is that you would have to be in the top 10 percent or even higher to secure an interview with these firms. Certainly, you would have to distinguish yourself with some honors from law school such as law review, at the very least cum laude, Order of the Coif, etc.

As your law school's ranking decreases, your standing in law school needs to increase in order to be considered as a candidate at this type of law firm. If you end up as the No. 1 or No. 2 ranked student in your law school graduating class, you probably can interview at any firm of your choosing.

Now, let's discuss your specific situation. Based on grades alone, I would have to say that you are not going to be interviewing with the firms you have chosen. What happened to you in law school? It's not easy to get into the top Ivy League law schools, so your undergraduate grades must have been great, and your LSAT scores, obviously, were top-notch. The law firms such as the three you have named are going to look at your grades and reject your candidacy based on grades alone. They will assume you were not interested in your classes, you were lazy or you are simply not cut out to be a lawyer. In any event, you will not make their cutoff for grades and will not be under consideration as a candidate.

But all is not lost for you. There are many law firms that will consider interviewing candidates without first reviewing their transcripts. They will be interested in you because you did graduate from a top Ivy League law school, but of course, eventually, they will want to find out why you fell into the bottom of your class. You need to analyze what caused this result after three years of law school because you will be asked to explain why this happened, and your answer, ultimately, may determine whether or not you receive an offer of employment.

There will always be firms that will hire you without looking at your law school grades, but if the firms you named are where you want to work, you need to rethink your goals. Instead, focus on getting a job at a law firm within reach and then learn how to be a great associate. Speak with your career services office regarding firms that might be interested in hiring graduates from your law school. Find out where alumni from your school are practicing and enlist their help.

You need to overcome a bad transcript, and you can do that by learning to be the best lawyer you can possibly be. You will not be the first great attorney who had a difficult time getting through law school -- you can do it if you really want to be a lawyer.

I suppose that is the real question you must answer, and you are the only person who can answer that question.

Best wishes!

Sincerely,
Ann Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates