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Preparing for a Legal Career

Preparing for a Legal Career. Eileen Doyle Crane, J.D. University Prelaw Advisor Utah Valley University. Stages of Career Progression. Prelaw Law Students Law School Alumni Law Practice Legal Work Outside of Law Licensure Officer of the Court Community Leader. Prelaw Issues.

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Preparing for a Legal Career

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  1. Preparingfor a Legal Career Eileen Doyle Crane, J.D. University Prelaw Advisor Utah Valley University

  2. Stages of Career Progression • Prelaw • Law Students • Law School Alumni • Law Practice • Legal Work Outside of Law • Licensure • Officer of the Court • Community Leader

  3. Prelaw Issues • Quality of education • Building skills • Reading • Writing • Logic • Major • Oral • Professional behavior

  4. Prelaw Issues • Curriculum • 20-page paper per semester • Reading outside of textbooks • Faculty Mentor • Advising • Prelaw advisor • 100 x JD: Connected Lawyers are Happy Lawyers • Law School Preparation • Test prep • Application procedures • Applications • Personal Statement • Resume • Addendum • Letters of Recommendation • Financial Aid Application

  5. Law School • Coursework • Study requirements • Law Review • Moot Court Competition • Student Bar Association • Career Services • Alumni Association

  6. Law Students • 1L curriculum set by school/ABA • Constitutional, torts, criminal, property, contracts, and civil procedure • Legal writing and advocacy course • 2L & 3L curriculum • 21-25 topics on state bars • Specialties in law • Clinical and theoretical courses • Choices informed by goals, summer work, job prospects

  7. Law Students • Faculty mentor • 100 x JD outreach • Student Bar Association • School-based • National organization • Career Services Office • Mock interview and resume service • Courses • OCI: On-Campus Interviews • Job prospects built on the back of alumni • Alumni Association

  8. Law School Alumni • Donate time and money to school • Create connections for current law students with future potential employers • Serve on Alumni Association board • Serve as Board of Visitor’s members • Create initiatives for law school • Advise current administration of law school • Become practicing attorneys, business and political leaders, and law faculty • Teach as adjunct faculty

  9. Law Practice • State bar license • Placement data: • http://www.nalp.org/uploads/NationalSummaryChartforSchools2010.pdf • Data on Class of 2010 • Reported 34,092/44,258 77% • Private/Public Sector 66%/32.5% • Academic 3.7% • Business 15.0% • Judicial Clerkships 9.3% • Unknown 1.5% • Private Practice 50.9% • Government 12.8% • Public Interest 6.7%

  10. Law Practice • Size of Firm Reports • Reported 18,329 • 2-10 39.1% • 11-25 8.9% • 26-50 5.3% • 51-100 4.2% • 101-250 5.6% • 251-500 6.0% • 501+ 20.5% • Unknown 4.9% • Solo 5.7%

  11. Law Practice • Salaries, 2010 • Bi-Modal Curve: • http://www.nalp.org/salarycurve_classof2010 • Catalyst –Organization that studies women in the professions, leadership, mentoring, and salaries and satisfaction • Sponsorship is Important for Women • Beyond that, sponsorship is particularly important for women. As Catalyst research on women and men in the pipeline has shown, women start out behind and often remain behind men, even with mentoring.7 However, when women’s mentors are highly placed, women are just as likely as men to get promoted.8 That’s where power and sponsorship come into play. A highly placed, influential mentor, more precisely called a sponsor, goes far beyond giving general career feedback and advice; a sponsor can propel a protégé to the top of a list or pile of candidates or even eliminate the list itself. As one high performer we interviewed put it: • If [you’re with] the right people, they can give you that different look. They will listen to you more. It’s... like the sun goes up a few wattage points. —Woman Protégée

  12. Legal Work Outside of Law • Community Service • Politics • Writing • Building a resume when not involved in paid settings

  13. Licensure • State-based • Reciprocity • Utah Bar: www.utahbar.org • MPRE—test of ethics understanding for lawyers • State determines passing score • Offered three times per year • March • August • November • Bar exam offered twice per year • February • July

  14. Officer of the Court • Duty to uphold the system • Representative at ALL times • Never not an attorney • Requires honesty and law-abiding behavior • Grievance Committee • Not answering phone calls in a timely manner • Dealing with client funds

  15. Community Leader • Opportunities to serve in many capacities • Ability to listen, organize action and non-action items, ability to theorize as well as generate practicable solutions to difficult and detailed problems • Opportunity to network and build practice • Ethical issues abound and must be taken seriously • J. Reuben Clark Law Society • www.jrcls.org • We affirm the strength brought to the law by a lawyer's personal religious conviction. We strive through public service and professional excellence to promote fairness and virtue founded upon the rule of the law. • Student Chapters at over 100 law schools in US and abroad • Duty to pro bono work • Most states require/recommend 50 hours per year • Pro bono work NOT the work you expected to get paid for that you charge off • Work for those for whom the system can not/will not serve UNLESS YOU do the work!

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