The Arrogance of Some People

Now, I've ranted a lot about people seeking unpaid interns to do high skilled things such as attorney level legal work. But this ad is a brand new low:

Seeking A Pre-Law Undergrad Intern (TriBeCa)

Date: 2010-09-16, 2:39PM EDT
Reply to: gigs-4udyq-1957431179@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Hi All,

So I am a full time second year law student at a very good law school in Manhattan. I am also the chairperson of many groups on campus, have a part time job, and a lot of administrative stuff that I always need to do. Lately I have been extremely busy and I have not had time to get all my school work done on top of all the other administrative things I need to do. I am looking to hire an undergraduate intern who is interested in going to law school or is pre-law to help me get some of this stuff done. Although I cannot pay you I promise I won't bore you to death, I won't give you a ton of bitch work, and working with me will be a great experience in learning the ins and outs of doing well in law school. I wouldn't ask you to do my school work either. I would need you to read and review certain cases and certain articles and summarize them for a few papers I will be writing throughout the year. I might also need you to send a few e-mails. In return you would get GREAT experience in the legal field as well as a GREAT networking connection to someone who will be an attorney in a year and half (as well as entrance into my web of legal connections). Surely the most important thing you learn in law school is that is not what you know its who you know. Please contact me if you have any interest. The hours would be extremely flexible and a lot of the work you could probably do from home.
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Compensation: no pay

PostingID: 1957431179

God, I just had to respond to this. How come? Well, I'm at a higher level in the pecking order than this person & have managed to do some things that your average person in my situation would never get to do. Here's what I wrote:

You know, honey? Your arrogance just bothers me to no end.

First off, I'm a LICENSED attorney & work in a field that is a million times harder to break into than law. In fact, if I even mentioned the details of what I've been doing and where I'm going, you'd be jealous + impressed. I know since established, veteran lawyers have respect for me b/c of that & I've been admitted less than 3 years in 2 states.

Second, that being said, I am a busy person myself wearing a bunch of hats in the real world. You won't see me or my colleagues posting Craig's List ads presuming some underling like you should be excited and happy to work for us for FREE or rather, PAY to work for us since you'd probably have to travel & we can't afford travel reimbursement.

Third, if you have so many connections, why do you need to bother w/all that you do? Aren't Mommy or Daddy simply going to get you a job once you get admitted? Don't mega firms & other places hire based on nepotism, cronyism & simple good looks if you meet basic standards? In some cases, I understand meeting basic standards in GPA or activities may not even matter.

And if you think you're busy now, just wait until you become a lawyer. Law school is a cakewalk by comparison. The job market also SUCKS for new lawyers unless you've got nepotism or cronyism to fall back on. That, or maybe you're some great hustler. Regardless, you're not going to be able to hack it in the real world if you have to exploit someone b/c you're "too busy" while you're merely a student.

Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you. Would you want some attorney making YOU work for free & not covering travel once you got admitted? Plenty of firms do that; just look at Craig's List ads in the Legal jobs section.

For the record, this is all true. If you think it's easier to break into entertainment than into law, then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

I also don't know any new attorneys w/that level of balls or even people in the entertainment industry who wouldn't at least provide you w/travel reimbursement or legitimate opportunities. Even the scam artist I worked for eons ago paid for my travel costs!!!

Any attorney I'd bother speaking to wouldn't pull this crap or I'd have to ream the person out & remind him/her that "You are NOT Tom Cruise, Prince, Warner Bros., or some other famous person/company who might get away w/that nonsense".

For the record, hitching your wagon to a law student is absurd unless you already knew him/her. Law student doesn't = licensed attorney & a JD is no guarantee you'll get to be a lawyer. Hitch it to a newly licensed attorney who can actually appear in court & do legal work.

If you're going to work for free, do it for an employed professional who has some real world experience & can at least give you a reference that a 3rd party will care about.

Oh, and if you read lawyer blogs or comments on ABA stories, you'll learn those scenarios do indeed happen in law firm hiring.

I could have been even nastier but hopefully (s)he is getting enough similar responses that we don't see more of that on Craig's List in the Gigs or Jobs sections. It seems there's a lot more trash on there than there used to be. I've met legit, good people though that site; I owe my start to it.

However, it seems there's a lot more trash there than before & it stinks.