Law Schools

Law School Students Locked In Elevator 3 Hours During Worst Callback Ever

What do you call 12 young lawyers trapped in an elevator?

By  
on

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Most on-campus interviewing horror stories involve vile interviewer behavior or embarrassing reception drunkenness. Getting locked in an elevator for over three hours before the fire department could arrive and let students out is a new one, however.

Let’s do this in bar exam format: What do you call 12 young lawyers trapped in an elevator?

(a) A good start;
(b) The Northwestern Law DifferenceTM
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) Neither (a) nor (b)

Around midnight, we started hearing about the harrowing tale of 12 Northwestern Law students, picked to live in an elevator to find out what happens when people stop being polite… and start getting real. After an evening callback reception at Winston & Strawn’s Chicago office, students boarded an express elevator on the 35th floor at 7:10 p.m. Then things took a turn.

According to another tipster, the building management showed little initiative, refusing to call the fire department “even though the elevator was nearly 100 degrees from the hot lights/lack of air conditioning.” Students would have truly started freaking out remembering that M. Night Shyamalan movie Devil, where strangers are trapped in an elevator with Satan, if anyone had willingly watched a Shyamalan movie between Unbreakable and Split.

The trapped students tried calling the firm, but according to a tipster, the cell service was terrible and they had a hard time reaching anyone. About 90 minutes into the ordeal, after reaching family and friends, the fire department showed up to mount a rescue effort. It reportedly took five fire trucks and firefighters repelling down the elevator shaft to push the elevator manually down 28 floors.

Sponsored

For their part, Winston & Strawn felt the bottle experiment in problem-solving and interpersonal bonding was a great success. No, obviously we’re kidding, the firm was mortified when they learned what had happened and were present on the ground floor with water and snacks for the intrepid students. I’m sure they would have preferred offers, but alas. On the other hand, as a tipster put it:

I am not sure any of us find the prospect of taking that elevator every day to be very promising!

Indeed.

Alright on-campus interview participants… try to top that story. And be sure to email us at tips@abovethelaw.com if you think you have an OCI story you think the world might enjoy.

Sponsored

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

Topics

, , , , ,