Caseload

Advice for 3Ls

If you haven’t already heard, soon you will know if you will receive an offer from your summer employer. If you do not receive an offer, you will undoubtedly experience many negative emotions, but don’t feel sorry for yourself for any length of time. This is your career; you need to proactively look for opportunities and work to secure an offer. It will undoubtedly take a lot of work, but you can still be successful in your job search even if you don’t return to the firm where you worked this summer.  Get in touch with Career Services sooner rather than later, and be prepared to take control of your career.

We also strongly encourage you to read the following:

http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2008/08/letter-to-the-1.html

Lynne Traverse has excellent advice and recommendations. As she demonstrates in the article, it is possible to be successful even if you don’t receive an offer, even in this economy. The successful student will have to be prepared and work hard.

You should not speak (in person or cyberspace) negatively of your firm or your experience there. It only reflects poorly on you, and ultimately will work to your disadvantage.

You’re going to have to handle bad facts at some point in your career as a practicing attorney; here is your first opportunity to prove that you can do so with confidence, poise and maturity.

The bottom line:

Career Services is here to help. Stay in close touch with the Career Services Office or the Public Service Center, and let us help you help yourself.

Fall 2008 Interviewing

It isn’t too early to begin thinking about the Fall On Grounds Interview process. The first thing students should do is email your resume to Career Services before June 30 to be reviewed and updated with your current summer position. Next, you should consider your target markets and employers. Review the resources online, and make an appointment with Dean Hopson or Dean Lawson if you have further questions. Given the change in the NALP timing guidelines, you would be wise to create an excel spreadsheet to track your interviews, callbacks, offers, and offer expiration date. This can be an important tool in organizing your job search.

Important Dates for Rising 2Ls

Please be aware of the following dates:

June 1 - First Day to sign up on CASE
June 30 - Deadline to have resume to Career Services for review/updates
July 13, 10pm - CASE closes; deadline to have resume uploaded, interview requests and lottery submissions
August 3, 10pm - deadline to confirm alternates, cancel interviews, and submit special requests

August 20-26 On Grounds Interviews, Phase One

August 28, 10pm - CASE closes for Phase Two interviews

September 18-24 On Grounds Interviews, Phase Two

Mandatory Orientation for Rising 2Ls

Career Services will be holding an orientation session to go over the fall interviewing process on Monday, April 7 and Tuesday, April 8 at 4:30pm in WB152.  All rising 2Ls are required to attend one of the two meetings.  We will cover the same material in both sessions but you should plan to attend either Monday or Tuesday’s meeting.

We look forward to seeing you Monday or Tuesday.

Life as Corporate Counsel Panel

Please join Career Services and the Corporate Counsel section of the Virginia State Bar to learn about careers as general counsel on Thursday, March 20 at 4:30pm. 
Panelists include:

• Edward Beck, ExxonMobil
• Douglas Calloway, Wachovia Securities
  
• David Rosenfeld, private practice
  
• Jeffrey H. Burton, Norfolk Southern
  
• Jennifer McClellan, Verizon, and Virginia House of Delegates

Room information will be updated shortly.  Food and drinks will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you there.

How to be a Public Interest Attorney at a Private Law Firm

Interested in doing public service while working at a private law firm? How can you find out more about a firm's pro bono policy? What can you ask about pro bono in your interviews?  What advantages will you have over other associates by doing pro bono work?

Please join us for the upcoming panel:  

How to be a Public Interest Attorney at a Private Law Firm
Monday, February 25, 2008
12:00pm-1:00pm
Caplin Pavilion

For more information on the event (including a list of panelists and how to RSVP to receive lunch during the talk), please see the posting on Public Works.   See you Monday!

 

Dress for Success Seminar

Dress for Success, Tuesday, February 19, 2008

6:00 PM, Caplin Pavilion

Career Services and PILA will hold a "Dress for Success" seminar next Tuesday night, February 19 at 6pm in Caplin Pavilion. The presentation will cover the basics of dressing for a professional environment and the finer points of dressing for an interview, building a functional business wardrobe, and dressing in a business casual environment.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Conference on Public Service and the Law

The 9th Annual Conference on Public Service and the Law will be held this Friday and Saturday at the Law School. Founded by law students nine years ago, the conference brings together students, citizens, and attorneys to discuss current public interest legal issues.

The Conference will feature a Keynote Address by Richard Cohen, President of the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Cohen is a renowned civil rights litigator named a "young lawyer outside the private sector whose vision and commitment is changing lives."  He is the Executive Producer of 2 Oscar and Emmy-winning documentaries.

The following panels will be offered on Saturday at 1:00pm:

• Public Interest Law in the Private Sector (WB 104)
• Careers in International Public Interest Law (WB 103)
• Careers in Poverty Law (WB 105)
• Careers in Prosecution and Defense (WB 126)
• Women in Public Interest Careers (WB 102)
• Careers in the Federal Government (WB 128)

Full schedule and registration available here. More information is available here.

NALP Apartment Exchange

NALP, the National Association for Law Placement, annually hosts an apartment exchange for law students looking for housing during the summer.  You can post your apartment for sublet or search for housing in the city where you'll be working this summer.  More information can be found here or at www.nalp.org.