How to Keep up with the Law

How to Keep up with the LawThis week we welcome back guest writer Zoila Sanchez to discuss how to keep yourself informed about what’s going on in the legal field.

If you are interested in going to law school, you have likely learned about the various steps you need to take to successfully get there. For example, you must take the Law School Admissions Test (“LSAT”), write a personal statement, and obtain letters of recommendation.

While you are in the pre-law process of exploring the possibility of attending law school and familiarizing yourself with the requirements to be a successful applicant, it can sometimes feel like you are not engaging with the reason why you wanted to attend in the first place. For example, in my own personal experience, I spent so much time carving out hours to study for the LSAT aside from my full-time job and other commitments, that I did not have the time to connect with the social justice issues that inspired me to attend law school. I discovered through an incredible pre-law program that there are easy ways to quickly plug into legal issues in the world today. [Read more…]

How to Maintain your Law School Connections

How to maintain your law school connectionsThis week we welcome back guest writer and 2L Tiffany Lo to talk about keeping up with your law school connections.

Making and maintaining connections during law school are important. The legal profession is a small universe, and you may encounter your classmates as the opposing counsel, as a client, as a judge, as an academic, or as a public servant. Having a personal connection with people in the legal field can help you develop business, craft a litigation or negotiation strategy, and find new career opportunities.

Making connections might be easy, but maintaining them takes work. Here are my thoughts on how to do that: [Read more…]

Three Tips For Networking During The Pandemic

This week we welcome back guest writer Hillary Vaillancourt, to talk about how you can still work on your networking skills, even when you’re stuck at home during COVID-19.

Most of us know how important networking is, particularly when you’re in law school and aspiring to a legal career. Having good grades and published law journal articles will absolutely make a difference in your job prospects. But, having quality connections is a significant advantage.

If you are looking to get hired by a firm, agency, nonprofit, or other employer, having connections may help you learn of unposted job openings. Your connections may provide meaningful letters of recommendation. Your connections who are “in the know” may help steer you away from employers from whom you wouldn’t want to work. Or, they may help you and mentor you even after you get hired. [Read more…]

Are You Using LinkedIn as Effectively as Possible?

LinkedIn for Lawyers(This is a sponsored post from LexisNexis Australia — Hi, international readers! — which also provided the book free of charge.)

It’s no secret that of the “Big Three” social media offerings — Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn — I’m the biggest fan of Twitter.

My LinkedIn profile, if we’re being totally honest, is a little desultory. It has most of the basic information, but I hardly ever use the site and typically accept any request that comes my way without a lot of thought. And, in theory, there’s a group associated with The Girl’s Guide to Law School (which — who knew! — actually has people in it), but I don’t do much anything with it.

So, when the offer came in to review LinkedIn for Lawyers: Connect, Engage, and Grow Your Business, I jumped at the chance to learn more about how lawyers (and law students) can use LinkedIn effectively.

And I wasn’t disappointed! Here’s why.

[Read more…]