May 15, 2008
You've Graduated & You're Still Looking for a Job? Don't Panic!
If you are graduating from law school this Sunday but still have not secured a permanent job, do not panic! You will find a job. Your legal (or post-law school) career is just starting, and when you look back to this time years from now you will hardly be able to remember why you were worried.
Many employers do not hire until law graduates have sat for or even passed the bar. These employers can include smaller firms and government and public interest employers. However, you want to keep applying for jobs so that your resume is in the mix when employers are ready to hire. If you are interested in small firms -- which is where the majority of practicing lawyers work -- you should also be open to the possibility of working as a law clerk until bar results come in; some firms will bring graduates in as law clerks and at a reduced pay rate so that everyone can test the waters, and they hire them for associate positions once they are licensed. Also, you should consider broadening your horizons as far as areas of practice and work settings.
Also, keep in mind that studying for the bar exam is a full-time endeavor. You don't need to abandon your job search altogether, but spend the vast majority of your time preparing for the bar so you only need to take it once!
May 09, 2008
Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge
The following post was created from information recently received by the CSO from the Pro Bono Institute.
Since 1993, the Law Firm Pro Bono ChallengeSM, an initiative of the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Project, has served as a guidepost to assist major law firms in increasing their commitment to pro bono legal services. As you begin to research prospective employers, the Institute’s list of Challenge Signatories will provide you valuable insight regarding the pro bono commitment of Signatory firms.
The ChallengeSM principles are designed to offer institutional support and to maximize the efficacy of law firm pro bono programs. Most notably, firms that sign on to the ChallengeSM agree to devote either three or five percent of their total billable hours or 60 or 100 hours annually, per attorney, to do pro bono work – a majority of which must be in the service of persons of limited means. Firms that currently participate in the Pro Bono ChallengeSM make a substantial commitment to pro bono service, a commitment that is making a real difference in their communities.
Students interested in obtaining as much information as possible about various law firms will find the Pro Bono ChallengeSM a useful tool in determining the scope and nature of Signatory firms’ pro bono activities. Pro bono service becomes an increasingly important factor in evaluating prospective law firm employers as students weigh careers in public interest law against the financial demands of loan repayment programs.
Visit www.probonoinst.org for a complete listing of all Challenge Signatory firms, with links to the firms’ websites. Additionally, the website provides the full text of the Law Firm Pro Bono ChallengeSM and Commentary. You can contact the Law Firm Pro Bono Project at probono@probonoinst.org.
A listing of the Signatory firms can be found on the CSO bulletin board.
April 30, 2008
Opportunities with the U.S. Department of Justice
The CSO recently received an email from the Department of Justice introducing some important changes to their Attorney General’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program for 2008-2009. The text of their message follows:
There are exciting new developments in the Attorney General’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program! Highlights include:
• An earlier application deadline and a faster review and selection process. The applications open on July 25th and close on September 2nd, 2008 (12:00 midnight Eastern time).
• Four United States Attorneys’ Offices (USAOs) and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) are hiring approximately 16 entry-level attorneys through the Honors Program. Due to the level of responsibility held by AUSAs, these opportunities are only available to applicants who are admitted to a bar or, in some cases, who have taken a summer 2008 bar examination with results due in fall 2008. Participating USAOs are:
o The Central District of California, Los Angeles, CA
o The Southern District of California, San Diego, CA
o The Western District of Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI
o The Middle District of Florida, Orlando, FL
o EOUSA, Washington, D.C., with possible assignments nationwide
• The USAO for the District of Wyoming is participating in the Summer Law Intern Program and offering a position in either Cheyenne, WY, or in Yellowstone National park.
• The Honors Program application has been expanded to permit applicants serving in post-J.D. legal fellowships to apply online on a conditional basis.
Please visit www.usdoj.gov/oarm for more details!
The CSO also received a PowerPoint presentation detailing this information. To receive a copy of the PowerPoint, please send an email to lawjobs@case.edu
April 24, 2008
CSO Continues Employer Outreach Efforts
The academic year is drawing to a close, but, as you know, the CSO’s continues to be available to you every day from 8:30AM until 5PM. Not only that, we also continue our employer outreach efforts year-round. Interested in where we’ve been going and who we’ve been meeting? Check out the bulletin board outside the CSO where we list the employers with which we’ve met.
To date, we’ve invited more than 3,000 employers across the country to participate in our 2008 Fall Interview Program and we’ve sought to establish personal contact with hundreds of employers in various markets. During this academic year, we’ve met face-to-face with more than 100 employers to share information about the law school and to obtain information that is useful to you as you make decisions about your legal career.
We want to share what we know with you. As you continue your job search efforts, please feel free to bring a list of your target employers to the CSO. We’ll tell you what you know and point you in the right direction to get more information.
April 21, 2008
Guest Blogger's Advice for How to Make the Most of Your Summer Legal Job
Periodically throughout the year the CSO will be posting blog entries from guest bloggers about various topics. Please note that the views expressed by our guest bloggers are the personal opinion of each blogger and are not necessarily the views and opinions of the CSO. The CSO guest blogger entries are intended as an opportunity for attorneys currently practicing in the legal field to share their insight and advice with law students.
Our guest blogger for the month of April is Haroon Hamid, Esq. (class of 2006). Mr. Hamid is an Associate at Baker & McKenzie in New York. In his blog, Mr. Hamid offers advice to students for how to make your summer job experience a successful one.
"For all of you who are getting ready to start your summer work experiences, first keep things in perspective and make sure you have a great time. Second, I recommend the following:
1. Use your summer experience as an opportunity to explore different areas of law:
Most firms either have rotation programs where you move through different practice areas or have a central assignment program from which summer associates select their assignments. You can experience and gain maximum exposure to different areas of law to make an educated decision on what area most interests you through either one of these programs. If there is no such program, you can take the initiative to explore different practice areas to the extent possible.
2. Get involved in firm activities:
Your grades, your interview, and getting the job are only half the battle. The other half is networking and getting to know not only the other summer associates but also the attorneys and staff members throughout the firm. The more exposure that you have to members of the firm, the stronger your chances of receiving an offer at the end of your summer experience.
3. Treat each assignment with enthusiasm, pay attention to detail, and be on time:
The basic building block of your summer experience is high quality work. Everything else that you do presupposes that your work product is of the highest quality. Make sure that every assignment you take on is completed with enthusiasm and on time. If you feel you need more time to complete an assignment, inform the appropriate people of the additional time requirement well in advance of the due date.
4. Ask questions:
Asking questions shows that you are intelligent, curious and generally interested in what you are learning about. This is the one point that I cannot stress enough!
5. Know the facts:
You can rarely complete an assignment well if you do not know the real life context of the legal issue at hand. When given an assignment, find out as much of the factual background as possible.
Note: While the foregoing refers directly to a summer experience at a law firm, the recommendations are generally applicable to any summer legal experience."
April 14, 2008
REMINDER: How to Have a Successful Summer Workshop Tomorrow!
Interested in making the most of your summer legal job? Wondering what employers will be expecting from you this summer?
The CSO will provide advice about making the most of your summer work experience and a student panel will be available to answer questions.
When: Tuesday, April 15 at Noon
Where: Room A57
April 11, 2008
A Best-Kept Secret of the CSO
When you come in the CSO, do you ever wonder what’s in all those filing cabinets around the room? Well, wonder no more! Most of them are chock full of some of the best resources in the CSO – firm brochures, newsletters, and marketing mailers from employers all over the country! These materials are veritable gold mines of insider information about an organization’s practice areas, attorneys, culture, pro bono opportunities, recent achievements, and more.
Use this information to identify employers in line with your career goals, to learn who the leaders in a particular city or practice area are, and to help prepare you for interviews.
The information in these cabinets is updated regularly. In fact, just this week we received a Pro Bono Update report from Mayer Brown and information about applying for student and summer opportunities with the District Attorney of the County of New York. Stop by and check them out!