Minority Law Student Job Fair - Cook County Bar Association

Attention Minority Law Students in the Classes of 2014 and 2015:

You are cordially invited to participate in the:

Cook County Bar Association

30th Annual

Minority Law Student Job Fair

Date

Friday, August 16, 2013 (SAVE THE DATE)

Location

Embassy Suites Chicago – Downtown/Lakefront

511 North Columbus Drive

Chicago, Illinois 60611

Employers

Anticipated States Represented by Employer Participants Include: Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin

Anticipated Employer Participants Include: Large, Medium, and Small Law Firms, Corporations, and Government Agencies

Anticipated Number of Employer Participants: 150

Advocates for Life Legal Writing Competition

Advocates for Life, the law student initiative of Americans United for Life, is conducting its first ever legal writing competition. This year’s prompt involves new legal opinions of the landmark case Roe v. Wade.  

Awards:

Monetary prizes will be awarded to the top three authors, and the first-place entry will be published in Human Life Review. 

The prompt and full contest rules are available at:

http://www.aul.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Legal-Writing-Contest-Rules-2.pdf. 

Due Date:

Entries are due on September 20, 2013.

Advocates for Life is the law student outreach program of Americans United for Life, the nation’s leading pro-life public interest law firm.  Advocates for Life and Americans United for Life are non-partisan and non-sectarian.

They invite members of the student body to take part in this exciting opportunity. 

Contact:

Kelsey Hazzard

Legal Fellow, Americans United for Life

Advocates@aul.org

Post-Grad Considerations: Student Loans

In addition to the prevalent post-graduate responsibilities of preparing for the bar exam and searching for a job, recent graduates must navigate a new responsibility: student loan repayment. While you should continue to use the Financial Aid office at the law school as a local in-person resource, there are also outside resources to aid with understanding this complex area. Heather Jarvis is a national expert with all things related to student loans; her website alone provides a great deal of helpful information to begin evaluating repayment options and federal programs for loan forgiveness. Check out her site at http://www.askheatherjarvis.com/.

Heather also recently published a very useful Student Loan Timeline for graduating students on the American Bar Association website. See that article HERE.

Being informed about your options and responsibilities in regard to student loan repayment is important as you embark on your journey to post-graduate life. Take advantage of Heather's knowledge and expertise!

Ohio Young Professionals Weekend & Leadership Conference

The Ohio Young Professionals Weekend & Leadership Conference is a two-day leadership development and professional networking event in Columbus.

Conference Dates: April 26 - 27, 2013

The conference is hosted by the Columbus Young Professionals Club (CYP CLUB), http://www.cypclub.com/, and co-hosted by the Ohio Young Professionals Network.

From the conference website:

On Friday, attendees have a chance to listen to local and regional leaders, network and learn during exciting workshops and activity sessions, and in many cases, teach each other. There will be a team-building charity competition (recreational athletic, creative, and downtown scavenger hunt) on Saturday morning where teams from corporations, YPOs, and cities have the chance to win a significant donation in their name to one of 10 local charities of their choice.

Although the event is technically non-legal, it provides a great chance to begin building a professional network if you intend to practice in Columbus after you graduate from CapLaw. Columbus Young Professionals Club (link above) also provides a number of professional networking and social events around Columbus throughout the year. 

For more information about the conference, go to: http://www.ohioyoungprofessionalsweekend.com/

OACTA 2013 Law Student Diversity Scholarship

OACTA's annual Law Student Diversity Scholarship program is open to incoming second and third-year African American, Hispanic, Asian, Pan Asian and Native American students enrolled at Ohio law schools. Incoming second and third-year female law students enrolled at Ohio law schools are also eligible regardless of race or ethnicity.  Other criteria for the scholarship include:

• Academic achievement in law school;
• Professional interest in civil defense practice; and
• Service to community and to the cause of diversity;  

Up to two (2) scholarships in the amount of $1,250 each will be awarded to successful applicants.  Applicants are required to submit an application, law school transcript and a cover letter addressing the following:  academic, personal and professional accomplishments, and why they should be selected as a recipient of the scholarship.  Applicants may submit up to three letters of recommendation.

The completed application and all other requested material must be received by April 19, 2013.  Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. 

Winners will be announced in June 2013.  Scholarship recipients will be recognized at the OACTA Annual Meeting in November.  

Download Scholarship Application

 

The Rewards of Networking

One the most important skills a job finder should develop and hone is the skill of networking. The ability to connect with others and to build relationships is key to success.

In a recent email to the Office of Professional Development, a current law student shared his experiences with recent networking activities.

For the longest time, I had been holding off on networking, mostly because it is not the most natural thing for me to do. I've never really been comfortable doing it, but now I am getting really good at it. I started off by talking to someone I knew who offered to take me to a Columbus Trial Lawyers meeting. From there I set the goal of meeting 2 people. One of the individuals I met referred me to someone at the Public Defender's Office and from there I got a paid internship... which has been amazing. I had zero interest doing criminal law, but I wanted to be close to the courthouse to gain insight to how the court works.

Note how a referral led to a job. But his pursuit didn't end there.

During lunch one day, I wandered into a DUI case at the courthouse and was amazed at the process and the science behind it. To make a long story short, I mustered up the courage and called the NACDL's [National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers] DUI Committee Chair and asked if I could have 20 minutes to talk with him on the phone about his practice. We had a great conversation and he provided me with attorneys to call in Columbus. 

One the most important ways to connect with new people is to get others to introduce you or to recommend individuals to contact. Such referrals can lead to interesting connections and opportunities. 

Along the way I learned about a DUI Defense CLE [Continuing Legal Education] in Key West, so I decided to fly down there for 3 days last week. The CLE had national experts and was full of the big Ohio DUI lawyers. While there I was offered 2 law clerk positions and one of the big local DUI attorneys wants my resume. They mentioned that in 7 years I was the only law student to ever attend their CLE, not even one student from the University of Miami. 

Most professional associations welcome law students to events with open arms. Some offer travel assistance or free registration. Not only can you continue to network but you can learn even more about the profession.

As our dedicated student tells us, it just takes patience and initiative.

Back to the big picture, all of this happened within the course of 2 months. My networking confidence has increased 10 fold during this time frame, this is a product of simply setting a weekly goal of calling so many people. I've even gotten to the point where when I am in court doing arraignments I will go up to the cameramen and local photographers and introduce myself to them. My logic is that these guys are career and will be around for a long time and will be a good source of information down the road. The best advice I would give to students is to look at networking like a swimming pool... you can put your toe in to test the water, but eventually you should just jump in because once you do it is fine. The trouble I had the first 2 years was that instead of looking at networking like a swimming pool, I was looking at it like a volcano to be avoided.

If you want to learn how to be an effective networker, feel free to schedule an appointment to speak with the OPD.  We want to make sure you're ready to make similar inroads like our student above. 

Lexis Advance® ID Unlimited Summer Access

Unlimited Access to Your Lexis Advance® ID this Summer for Work and Academic purposes

Your law school Lexis Advance ID will remain active during the summer and you will have unlimited access for academic use,  as well research or other work you perform on the job as a summer associate or internship/clerkship. Whether working in a firm, government agency, any of the courts, or brushing up on your cost effective research skills, you will have unlimited access to Lexis Advance for the months of June, July and August.  You simply need to be registered for Lexis Advance.

Registering for Summer Access

• If you're already a registered Lexis Advance user, you don't need to do anything else to get Summer Access. Your current ID is all you need.
• If you aren't a registered Lexis Advance user yet (or aren't sure), click here for assistance from your Account Executive.

Support throughout the Summer
Your school's LexisNexis® Account Executive is available to you during the summer for training and support. Feel free to contact him or her early to let them know your summer research goals.
You also have access to 24/7 customer support for help with Lexis Advance, summer access or research questions at 1-800-45-LEXIS (53947).

Enjoy your "All Access Pass" to Lexis Advance this summer!