All Rise for Judicial Clerkships!

“A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge.” ~Anonymous

I'm not sure who said that quote, but it is a favorite of our own Dean Ilene! It is also on a sweatshirt my sister-in-law gave me. But it serves my purpose in introducing the topic of judicial clerkships. There is a ton of literature out there extolling the virtues of clerking for a judge after graduation. It seems almost self-evident for me to say that you should definitely consider it. Every clerk and former clerk I have ever talked to has said that it was the greatest job they ever had.

Yesterday, April 29, 2008, the CSO hosted three guest speakers to talk about the job details, reasons to clerk, the process of applying, and tips on making yourself an attractive candidate. I won’t try to recap the whole program here. For details, and to listen to the panel, go to the Career Services Lecture Series site.

To boil it down, here some great reasons to consider clerkships:

1. Prestige: There are few jobs that carry the pure caché of a judicial clerkship.


2. Career Boost: Almost any legal employer loves to hire law clerks because of the research and writing skills you develop, your inside knowledge of the court system, and simply because it looks good for them to have a lot of former clerks.


3. Money: Even though clerkships are government jobs and pay accordingly (but not too badly these days), many law firms offer signing bonuses (quite large ones, according to the New York Times) for associates coming off clerkships.


4. Short time commitment: Term clerkships last only one to two years.


5. Satisfaction: Clerks are able to produce very robust, high-quality, cutting-edge and challenging work without the pressure of billing.
   
6. Relationships: As a clerk, there is a very small group of people in your court that you can discuss your cases with. Judges, clerks, and other court personnel develop very significant personal connections that last a lifetime.


7. Accessibility: When you consider Federal, State, trial court or appellate, magistrates, specialty courts, local and national regions, there are lots of opportunities for clerking, even if you think your grades might not be high enough. Give it a shot!

For more information and resources, check out Dawn Skopinski’s CSO Bibliography (go to page 70, but browse around while you’re there…) The application process can be overwhelming to start with, so check in with the CSO for help! This year, for the first time, the CSO will be paying postage for any snail-mailed clerkship applications! Watch for announcements!

Can a News Article Change Your Life?

"A man's life in these parts often depends on a mere scrap of information." ~Clint Eastwood, as the Man with No Name in A Fistful of Dollars, 1963

It's amazing how a little snippet read in a newspaper or blog or heard on a radio news program (here's where I make a plug for NPR!) can impact one's future if combined with a little initiative. Recently, while participating in an online chat session with some admitted students to UB Law School, one of them asked what they should be reading to prepare for law school. The most common answer they received was, "Read the newspaper." Sounds simple and obvious, right?

From a career development standpoint, one of the most important critical skills you can develop is the ability to ferret out opportunity from information. If you’re not sure what you might like to do for a summer internship, or for a next job move, start paying close attention to the news, whether in the paper, journals, radio, web pages or television. You will find that certain stories catch your attention more than others. Chances are, there are legal participants somewhere in those stories. Sometimes, they are even quoted or highlighted. Why not take that scrap of information and turn it into your next step?

A couple of years ago, one of our UB Law students wanted to find a summer job dealing with technology and China. She started to keep up with current news, and quickly learned that IBM was working on a deal with the Chinese Lenovo corporation to take over their laptop production. In the course of her reading, she found that two law firms were quoted in a few articles about the deal, as well as the in-house attorney for IBM handling it. She contacted each of the three attorneys by name, and told them that she had been following the deal in the news and was interested in helping them out. This was long past the fall-recruiting season; it was at least March. She wound up with three offers, and ended up splitting her summer between the Baker & McKenzie (a MEGA large firm) Hong Kong Office and IBM's North Carolina Office. She had to turn down the offer from the London firm of Herbert Smith because she just didn't have enough weeks in the summer! I guarantee she was the only law student in the country who read that news item and thought to use it to ask for a job. Talk about great odds!

Bottom line, pay attention to what you pay attention to! If you are already drawn to it, chances are, it is something that you will enjoy exploring more deeply, and you will most likely discover an interesting career path with a bit of intuitive, strategic thinking. It could even turn into a fistful of dollars!

Spring Has Sprung, Summer is Coming!

"April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go."
~Christopher Morley, John Mistletoe

Walking to the Jacobs parking lot on Saturday, I saw a robin
nesting in the flowering tree outside Park Hall. After a teasing us for a few months, Old Man Winter has finally released his grip on us, and Spring is really here. Little shoots and buds, birds and insects are waking and emerging.

And so are legal employers! Even though some of the more visible jobs hire a year or more in advance, remember what it was like looking for a job before the wacky paradigm of the “law school job search” warped our expectations. Before law school, you didn’t go to the Gap to apply for a job, only to tell them that you want to start in 10 months! Employers hired you closer to when you were ready to start.

Small firms, public interest agencies, solo practitioners, and all kinds of great summer and graduate employers fall into this “real world” category! Especially if they don’t have a designated HR or recruiting person/department, if they post jobs at all, the vast majority of them don’t think about summer until the snow is all melted and they see their first robin!
What does that mean for you if you’re looking for a job right now? Here are some things to do:

1. Don’t give up on the CSO’s postings on Symplicity. Jobs continue to roll in all through the month of May and into June.

2. Now is the time to recontact those employers that may have told you that they “weren’t looking right now, but they’ll keep your resume on file.”

3. Don’t be afraid to approach a small law firm or solo practitioner and ask if they need extra help for the summer. They are much more equipped to make a decision about their needs now.

4. Public interest volunteer positions can sometimes be the best and most hands-on experiences. Even if you can only afford to volunteer one day a week with a Legal Aid Office or Public Defender or DA, it will look just as good on your resume. Check the employer section of Symplicity (employer type=Public Interest) or PSLawNet.org or Idealist.org for organizations to approach.

5. If you haven’t come to the CSO with an update on your search lately (or ever), come on in! Everyone’s search parameters are different, so we can sit down, help you devise the most efficient strategy, and help find you contacts and leads.

6. If you’re graduating, realize that employers may still not be able to make a decision about their needs until you’re ready to start work. That will be AFTER the bar exam. Graduation is an unfair and illogical deadline to give yourself to have a job offer. (You can quote me to your Mom and Dad). Don’t beat yourself up on the timing, and keep your eye on what your ultimate dream job is!

After a long winter, it feels wonderful to look forward to summer! Enjoy this time of year (exams notwithstanding), don’t panic, but get do excited about getting some great experience! Look around, explore, inquire, ask, seek. You might discover an opportunity, secret and wonderful, hidden in plain sight, just like my little robin in the tree outside Park Hall.

Welcome to Our Noble Profession!

Welcome to the new Career Services blog for the University at Buffalo Law School, (SUNY). I hope that it will be a great source of information, news, events and inspiration for you as you continue to discover your career path in and around the legal profession. Our aim on this blog and in the CSO at all times is to provide resources to all of our constituents: prospective applicants, current students, alumni, and visitors. For as you may or may not know, most law graduates continue to grow and develop their careers throughout a lifetime.

Hence, this blog is named with this path of continuous improvement and education in mind. It is a reminder that the search for meaning and fulfillment extends beyond just finding jobs. We are all on a quest for work that fills the working third (or more) of our lives with the satisfying use of our skills, talents, knowledge and passion. Let's look to our roots, shall we?

The following quote is from David T. Link, Dean Emeritus of Notre Dame Law School. I hope it illuminates or demonstrates the basics behind the philosophy that your chosen field is not merely a memorization of rules, or preparation for a standardized exam. It is an honorable and ancient profession, one that is vital to the survival of our just society.

"No one event can be identified as the “beginning” of the legal profession, but it is likely that the development of the legal profession closely paralleled the development of the other ancient professions. As formerly nomadic hunters and gatherers settled into permanent communities, new opportunities arose, but so did new problems. The establishment of communities made a division of labor possible, allowing certain community members to become “experts” in certain subjects and use their expertise to serve the entire community. But the establishment of communities also gave rise to problems that people experience when they live in close proximity for long periods of time.

One ancient profession was medicine. Someone in each village or tribe was designated to treat physical problems - plights of health and of dying. Whether that person worked with herbs or animal parts or “magical” incantations, he or she was sought out to cure problems of the body. This ancient public servant was a predecessor of today’s nurses and doctors.

A second ancient profession was ministry. Someone in each village or tribe was looked to for help in answering spiritual questions. Whether this person was called a shaman, priest, priestess, minister, or some other name, he or she ministered to the spiritual needs of the people. This ancient public servant was a predecessor of today’s priests, pastors, rabbis, and other clergy.

There was a need for a third “professional” in ancient communities. In virtually every tribe, village, or settlement, someone was needed to resolve disputes about property and personal rights - to decide what those rights were, when those rights had been violated, and how violations of those rights would be remedied. In their need, the people of ancient communities turned to a Solomon-like person to heal societal divisions, resolve disputes, and record the rules or “laws” for the future. This ancient public servant was a predecessor of today’s mediators, arbitrators, and judges. "

--David T. Link

So again, I welcome you to our noble profession. Whether you seek to practice law in the private or public sectors, or in law-related or other careers, know that your education will serve you well in your life’s journey. As you navigate your options and callings, we invite you to use the CSO‘s counselors, programs and resources to help guide you.