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The Pros and Cons of Quitting Your Job After Less Than a Year

February 14, 2023 by Leave a Comment

The Pros and Cons of Quitting Your Job After Less Than a YearThis week we welcome guest writer Marissa Geannette to talk about what to do if you want to quit your job quickly.

After you graduate from law school and take the bar, it’s time to start your first legal job. For most, it’s an exciting beginning of a new career. For some, though, that first job is not exactly what they were hoping it would be.

There’s almost always an adjustment period when starting something new. Working at a law firm or other legal job is no different. What happens, though, if, almost from the get-go, your shiny new job is not at all what you were hoping it would be? Can you quit shortly after starting, or will that sink your legal career before it’s even had time to get off the ground? Let’s explore. [Read more…]

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How To Juggle Multiple Work Assignments At Once

January 17, 2023 by Leave a Comment

How To Juggle Multiple Work Assignments At OnceThis week we welcome back guest writer Marissa Geannette to discuss managing multiple work assignments as a lawyer.

As a law student, you already know what it’s like to have more than one thing due at once. Having competing obligations and multiple assignments due at once is nothing new to you.

When you begin working, especially at a law firm, you’ll likely find that you have even more things to juggle. Sooner rather than later, you’re bound to receive multiple assignments, from multiple lawyers, all due at the same time. So, what’s a new lawyer to do?

First of all, let’s put something to bed once and for all– multitasking doesn’t work. Our minds can’t do two things at once, so when we try to do that, we end up costing ourselves more time in the end.

That’s why none of these tips are about how to multitask. Instead, we talk about other strategies you can implement to juggle multiple work assignments without driving yourself crazy.

[Read more…]

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What Is The Billable Hour? An Overview And Practical Tips For New Lawyers

December 6, 2022 by Leave a Comment

What Is The Billable Hour? An Overview And Practical Tips For New LawyersThis week we welcome guest write Marissa Geannette to talk about an overview of the billable hour.

When I was a law student, I had no idea how law firms operated. One of the biggest mysteries to me was the billable hour. I’d heard that most law firms required their lawyers to track their time, but I didn’t really know what that meant.

If you feel similarly confused, hopefully, this post will make things clearer for you. While it takes a little while to understand the billable hour, with these practical tips, you’ll get the hang of it in no time!

[Read more…]

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Making Moves in Today’s Job Market

October 11, 2022 by Leave a Comment

Making Moves in Today’s Job MarketThis week we welcome back guest writer Zoila Sanchez to talk about navigating the current job market.

The prospects around the legal job market may seem discouraging and even confusing.

On a daily basis, we are hit with ever-changing news about the economy and the job market. Currently, there appears to be uncertainty around a recession. Specifically, we are hearing that the nation is headed toward a recession, and other sources indicating that we are already in a recession.

This understandably leaves concerns for the class of 2023, and for current JD job-seekers as employers are likely faced with limiting their demand to protect their costs in the face of recession discussions, and inflation.

Regardless of job market predictions and prospects, it is always a good idea to make daily progress by:

  • remaining hopeful
  • exercising your networks; and
  • thinking outside of the box

[Read more…]

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Intern Turned Prosecutor: How My Internship at the DA’s Office Led to a Career

March 29, 2022 by Leave a Comment

Intern Turned Prosecutor: How My Internship at the DA’s Office Led to a CareerThis week we welcome guest writer and Law School Toolbox tutor, Sara Beller, to discuss how she turned an internship in the DA’s office into a career.

By the end of my internship at the DA’s office, I felt like a full-blown prosecutor. As an intern, I conducted numerous preliminary hearings, drafted and argued countless motions in court, and even completed a real jury trial from start to finish (by myself!). Everything was going according to plan, and I was about to receive a snazzy job offer…or so I thought.

I’ll never forget the day a supervising attorney told me that the office wasn’t able to make any job offers because the county was in a hiring freeze. To say I was heartbroken is an understatement. My Type-A brain went into immediate panic mode. Did all of my hard work go to waste? Should I have invested my time at a private firm instead? Was it a mistake to put all of my eggs into the DA office’s basket? The short answer is absolutely not. Here’s how my internship led to a career as a prosecutor: [Read more…]

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Your Guide to Landing a Research Assistant Position

February 15, 2022 by Leave a Comment

Your Guide to Landing a Research Assistant PositionThis week we welcome guest writer and attorney Hannah Myers to discuss how you can go about finding a Research Assistant position as a law student and what you can gain from this role.

Before we can get into how to get a Research Assistant position, you should know what a Research Assistant actually does. Research Assistants work for a professor as basically exactly what it sounds like–research. This could range from helping out with courses that a professor teaches, long-term projects they’re working on (like a law review paper, a book, or a presentation), or even doing your own project that they oversee. It varies depending on what the professor needs, what your law school encourages faculty to take part in, and what time of year you’re working. [Read more…]

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Ideas For Staying In Touch With Summer Supervisors and Mentors

November 23, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Ideas For Staying In Touch With Summer Supervisors And MentorsThis week we welcome back guest writer Tiffany Lo to talk about how to stay on top of your connections from your summer jobs.

You had a fantastic summer working at your judicial externship, law firm, nonprofit organization, or government office. You shadowed attorneys, observed meetings, wrote memoranda, pleadings, contracts, merger documents, whitepapers, maybe even argued in court or presented at a client conference, and much more. You made connections with attorneys at different stages of their careers and heard many war stories from practicing lawyers every day. You learned a lot from your supervising attorneys and summer mentors. You made an excellent impression. At the end of the summer, you wrote a note or email thanking everyone you met for a wonderful experience, and then returned to your busy life as a law student, as attorneys do to their normal, law-student-less schedule.

In the back of your head, you think, will they remember me one year later if I return full-time? How can I keep these relationships strong? What do I need to do and how much do I need to do it? I certainly asked myself these questions during and at the end of my summer jobs.

Whether you end up returning to that workplace or not, knowing your fellow attorneys in the profession will be helpful in many ways. So, here are some ideas for staying in touch with the attorneys from your summer.

[Read more…]

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What on Earth is a Clerkship and How Do I Get One?

July 6, 2021 by Leave a Comment

What on Earth is a Clerkship and How do I Get One?

This week we welcome guest writer Aleena Ijaz to talk about, and demystify, the clerkship process.

I had absolutely no idea what a “clerkship” was before I started law school. So, if you are reading this post and don’t even know what a clerkship really is, don’t stop reading. I will explain.

[Read more…]

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How to make the most of a Legal Job or Internship – Setting Goals and Meeting Them

May 25, 2021 by Leave a Comment

How to make the most of a Legal Job or Internship - Setting Goals and meeting themThis week we welcome back guest writer and law student Tiffany Lo to talk about why it’s important to have goals at a legal job.

Wondering what to expect in your legal job or internship? Hoping to set yourself up for success and make the most of your experience? Then you are in the right place!

A legal job or internship is a great opportunity to understand how law is put into practice. You will get the opportunity to work on real cases and issues, supervised by legal professionals who have experience and knowledge in the field.

Having worked as a legal assistant, summer associate, and in-house legal intern, I have been able to learn from different legal work environments and assignments. One of my takeaways from these experiences is to set goals. [Read more…]

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5 Takeaways from My In-House Legal Internship

April 27, 2021 by Leave a Comment

5 Takeaways from my In-House Legal InternshipThis week we welcome back guest writer Tiffany Lo to talk about her experience at an in-house internship over the summer.

Over the summer, I had the great fortune of working as an in-house legal intern at a multinational computer software company. With this opportunity, I made it a priority to understand what it means to be an in-house lawyer, especially in contrast to working in private practice.

Here are some of the lessons I learned through shadowing and chatting with in-house lawyers:

[Read more…]

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