Career & Professional Development Blog

Communication alert: use the employer's correct name

What's in a name?  Everything when it's misspelled.

When you write to a prospective employer or to a networking connection, be very careful about how you spell the employer's name.  In law firms, blood is (metaphorically) spilled in management committee meetings when partners' names are added or deleted, and when the committee decides to use a "comma," it is a purposeful decision.  Also "periods" in L.L.P, LLP, LLC, L.L.C., P.A. and PA matter.  Using an agency's correct name matters, too.

This is the first detail that you can miss in your very first writing sample, and everyone who sees your documents will notice.  Forever.

For example:

Arnold & Porter LLP is NOT:

Arnold and Porter

Arnold and Porter L.L.P.

Arnold & Porter

Arnold & Porter L.L.P.

Susan Gainen, University of Minnesota Law School

Add this resource to your clerkship information rotation

In addition to the resources below, a new resource has arrived.  So You Want To Be Law Clerk is full of useful information and interesting polls about clerkships.  Check it out!

Carla DeVelder, Notre Dame Law School

Clerkship Season is here!!!

The Class of 2009 is on the clerkship trail.  Please connect with your career office and your school's Clerkships Committee for specific information about the hiring process and the OSCAR system.

The Clerkship Notification Blog is a clearinghouse for information about clerkship opportunities for the 2009-10 hiring season with posts for six categories of judges: (1) SCOTUS Justices; (2) Circuit judges; (3) U.S. District Court judges; (4) State court judges (focusing mainly on state supreme courts, but intermediate appellate courts are welcome as well); (5) U.S. Magistrate and Bankruptcy Court judges; and (6) miscellaneous federal courts not falling into any of the above categories (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, etc.).

Federal Appellate Clerks is a blog that provides information about which law schools send clerks to feeder or other federal circuit court of appeals judges.

Three cheers for Brian Leiter's Law School Reports -- the source of this material.

Susan Gainen, University of Minnesota Law School

Research Report: Lawyer satisfaction in the process of structuring legal careers

Just in case you thought that no one was watching and studying lawyers...

Lawyer Satisfaction in the Process of Structuring Legal Careers 

RONIT DINOVITZER

University of Toronto
BRYANT GARTH, Southwestern Law School, American Bar Foundation Law & Society Review,
Forthcoming

Abstract:      This paper proposes a new approach to the study of job satisfaction in the legal profession. Drawing on a Bourdieusian understanding of the relationship between social class and dispositions, we argue that job satisfaction depends in part on social origins and the credentials related to these origins, with social hierarchies helping to define the expectations and possibilities that produce professional careers. Through this lens, job satisfaction is understood as a mechanism through which social and professional hierarchies are produced and reproduced. Relying on the first national data set on lawyer careers (including both survey data and in-depth interviews), we find that lawyers' social background, as reflected in the ranking of their law school, decreases career satisfaction and increases the odds of a job search for the most successful new lawyers. When combined with the interview data, we find that social class is an important component of a stratification system that tends to lead individuals into hierarchically arranged positions.

Susan Gainen, University of Minnesota Law School

Working With Recruiters

Recruiters can be extremely helpful resources, particularly for lateral candidates looking for greener pastures.  However, there are some things to remember when working with recruiters. 

First, remember that recruiters don’t work for you, the individual job seeker. Recruiters are hired by a company to fill a specific position(s).  Their success is based on filling that position for that company, building a reputation for filling positions with quality great candidates, and building up a network of great candidates. So, when you are looking for a job, the most useful way to work with a recruiter is to find one that has an open requisition for someone like you.  Simply giving your information to a recruiter in the hopes that they can/will circulate your information to potentially interested employers is not likely to result in success.

Second, recruiters deal with high volume.  They have a large number of applications and referrals to deal with for each position they manage.  Again, they don't work for you, so the burden is on you for follow-up and persistence throughout the process.

Third, maintain control over your information.  If your search is confidential, you must be confident that your recruiter will maintain your confidentiality.  A good recruiter will also never send out your resume without your permission.  If you have applied to positions in the field, let your recruiter know. 

Fourth, consider recruiters as part of your network, even if you don't find a job through them.

Fifth, communicate honestly with your recruiter.  Don't waste their time and yours by being less than honest about your true interests. 

Carla DeVelder, Notre Dame Law School

From the Generation Gap: In House Counsel Discuss Pitfalls of the Generation Gap

From law.com, In House Counsel Discuss Pitfalls of the Generation Gap

Note the mention of the barriers that technology (texting, for instance) can create to developing relationships.

Susan Gainen, University of Minnesota Law School

Stanford is the third school to drop letter grades, "Above the Law" polls for the ideal grading system

From the ABA Journal on line: Stanford Law School Drops Letter Grades. Above the Law, which first reported this change, is conducting a poll inquiring about "your" preferred grading system.   As noted, this is unlikely to spread beyond very top-tier law schools.

Susan Gainen, University of Minnesota Law School

The Daddy Track - a post for Father's Day

From NY Lawyer, The Daddy Track

NY Lawyer requires a login, but registration is free.

Susan Gainen, University of Minnesota Law School