"Another corporate attorney in the Bay Area comes through with Legal Authority"
Mark*, a 2000 graduate of a top ten law school, had little more than a year of experience as a corporate attorney with a major Silicon Valley law firm. Mark's circumstance was particularly dire because he (1) was a corporate attorney, and (2) had failed the California Bar Exam not once-but twice. Mark's law firm had the same policy as others: If you failed the bar exam more than once you were out.
Mark conducted his job search for a few hours every day, trying numerous methods for getting a position. Mark scanned online job boards, contacted recruiters and asked his law school for alumni contacts. By January of 2002 - more than 7 months after being let go - Mark had not received a single interview. After unsuccessfully trying to get a job through a preeminent San Francisco recruiter, the same recruiting firm recommended that Mark contact Legal Authority.
*Names have been changed to maintain privacy, but this is a 100% true success story.
"Uncluttering the Maze Leading to an In-House Position"
Attorneys have traditionally gone in-house by accepting an offer to do so from one of their clients. Nevertheless, unless specifically asked by a client to work for them, you might be out of luck. If you ask one of your clients if you can come work for them, how does that make your current firm look?
A few attorneys get in-house positions by responding to ads on job posting boards or in classified sections of legal newspapers. The problem with job posting boards is that most in-house employers posting positions on job posting boards receive well in excess of 1,000 e-mailed resumes in response to their ads. In-house employers are simply flooded with resumes of top attorneys seeking a better lifestyle, more predictable hours and no billable hours.
"When Law Firms Turn Mean"
One of the more interesting aspects of the current economic slowdown is the fact that many firms have become increasingly "meaner" to their associates. Not that all firms are mean, however, attorneys often need to be aware of the conditions within firms to survive. As this article will demonstrate, firms that are doing well economically are often not mean, and it is important for attorneys to seek out firms that consistently perform well economically.
The best way to study this phenomenon is to contrast differing economic conditions at different points in time-in a good climate and in a poor one. For example, in the Year 2001 there were numerous associate layoffs throughout the United States. This contrasts with the massive hiring binge at firms in between 1998 and most of 2000.
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Dear Legal Eagle,
I am a third-year law student at a second-tier law school. Most of my fellow students who are not in the top 10% of their class did not find jobs through the on-campus interview process and now plan to start looking for a job only after they pass the Bar. What is the deal?
Signed . . .Worried 3L
Dear Legal Eagle,
What are the benefits of working in the government as opposed to a law firm?
Signed . . .Not Ready for a Law Firm
Did you know . . .
A local ordinance in Atwoodville, Connecticut, prohibits people from playing Scrabble while waiting for a politician to speak.
In Atlanta, Georgia, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp.
(Thanks to www.uselessknowledge.com)
CATHERINE FOBI: Catherine, a graduate of Bates College, is a data analyst at Legal Authority. With the assistance of our data entry center, Catherine reviews and revises over 10 client files per week. Legal Authority clients are quite surprised at the amount of work required to perfect each customer file.
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