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Soon-to-be law students, this is your summer reading list. Okay, you don’t need to read all these books—with 30+ books, they’re probably too many for one summer anyway! But they are helpful, inspiring, and empowering picks all law students might consider.
Should you handwrite or type the Multistate Performance Tests (MPTs) and Multistate Essay Exams (MEEs) portions of the bar exam? Do the bar examiners grade the handwritten essays differently from typed essays? Maybe I can’t answer that second question for you, since grading can be
I had a conversation earlier this month with a former director of a state bar Lawyers Assistance Program. This person shared that during regular meetings with the LAP, administrators at law schools in the state often complained, “Students today are just so fragile.” But
For law students aspiring to be on a journal, the satisfaction of finishing 1L year is short-lived. Write-on is just around the corner. As soon as you’re about to regain your life and your sanity, the 3L board members hand you a packet and a deadline.
What are you planning on doing this and maybe the next few summers? If you plan it well, three years of law school can provide you with up to four summers’ worth of work experience in law/related fields. From traditional law firm summer associate roles, to courtroom clerkships,
Editor's note: This post has been updated to clarify a passage in the original version (5/16/19, 10:44 a.m. CDT). As the spring semester comes to a close, many 3Ls are investigating their bar study loan options. Borrowing one last loan to pay
Whether you’re a law student, young lawyer, or transitioning attorney, find out what it’s like to work as an In-House Counsel.
Whether you’re a law student, young lawyer, or transitioning attorney, find out what it’s like to work as an In-House Counsel.
My dad loves to remind me how he paid for his education. He scrubbed toilets during college and worked as a punch card programmer to pay for law school. He is making a point about hard work, but all I can hear is how great things used
After completing law school, it can be challenging to find a job. It can be difficult to know where to begin looking, not to mention how tedious it is to send dozens of applications to potential employers. However, it is essential to understand that there are ways you
There comes a time when you must decide on an area of legal practice you want to pursue. Whether you had an inkling of what you wanted to practice when you went into law school or are now deciding while taking your law courses, here are a few
Want to get your student loans paid off faster? Would you like to retire a bit earlier? What if I told you there was an easy step you could take right now that would help you accomplish those goals? These questions may sound like the beginning
As people start hearing back from law schools, there is much celebration and often some disappointment. However, there is also a third possibility that not much is written on — being waitlisted. I was waitlisted at nine (you read that correctly) law schools, including eight in the top
Besides finals, cold-calls, and the ever-present need to “keep it together,” a universal and timeless woe for most law students is the search and obtaining of employment. But, fear not fellow law students! Opportunity is everywhere.
How do today’s law students (yes,we’re talking about students like you) stack up when it comes to making smart job-search moves?
Justice means different things to different people. And students nationwide are reshaping what it means for those who need it most.
For many students, law school marks the first stage in a student’s life where they are living on their own, away from on-campus housing, away from their parents, maybe even away from roommates (if they’re lucky). As a result, students start considering the ultimate responsibility: parenthood—that is, parenting a four-legged roommate.
Studying for the bar exam is a marathon, not a sprint. To get you into condition to achieve your best performance, new lawyers who successfully prepared for and passed their bar exams will share tips in this 30 Tips in 30 Minutes webinar on bar prep.
In the podcast, I talk about looking at law school exams as a rite of passage and also compare them to the Ming dynasty’s civil service exam.
In a recent article for The American Lawyer, Joanna Litt recounted the suicide of her husband. She attributed his death to the stresses of his law practice and of being a partner in big law. I saw this article posted at first by a single former law school
You will survive your first cold call too, and, believe it or not, you’ll probably make it through the next three years. Here are some tips on coping with the stress from this massive, harrowing journey.
Studies have found that approximately one out of every five students pursues an alternative career path after law school. There are many different careers that can benefit from your law degree. The job that’s best for you will ultimately depend on your most valuable skills and what you want to do.
The legal industry is a highly-competitive one, and landing a job – especially if you’re a fresh graduate – is easier said than done. There are hundreds of applicants exactly as qualified as you are. Here’s a bit of advice to help you stand out and maximize your chances.
The networking events that are part of new associate orientation can seem awkward. Here are some tips to help make some specific networking situations more palatable.
Law school is stressful by pure design alone. The strenuous course schedule and endless reading assignments, learning and reprogramming your brain to think like a lawyer are the challenges most law students face in addition to outside pressures. However, there is one particular group of law students who are often not mentioned during discussions of time and stress management: parents.
Before the Bar is the blog of the ABA Law Student Division. It brings together a diversity of opinions, experiences, and voices from those associated with the law anywhere in the world and is targeted to law students, current, past and future.
Unless stated, the opinions shared by our writers do not reflect the official position of the American Bar Association.
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