Recently in Job Market Category

We know your type.  You were the one in high school who volunteered on the weekends and probably even organized school-wide events that allowed students to interact with the community.  We wouldn't even be surprised if you wrote about it in your college application essay.   And it didn't stop there.  You went to college and continued your scrupulous and giving ways.  Joining organizations, launching initiatives to benefit those less fortunate around you.  Maybe you were a philosophical fiend, delving into theories of development and policy related to public welfare.

Would we be shocked if we found out you did some social program after undergrad? Not likely.  Volunteering abroad, Teaching for America, Peace Corp-ing, or otherwise finding under-the-radar ways to be of service.  And knowing you, you used the limelight to bring attention to the cause.

And then you went to law school.  And where your fellow classmates talked BigLaw and BigBucks, you kept using your laptop's calculator to figure out how you could pay back your student loans and still do non-profit work.

It's an affliction, really.  To anyone who told you you have a bleeding heart, you told them that every heart bleeds...it's just that we're often too preoccupied to notice.  Or to care.

But caring has never been a problem for you.  In fact, not caring is what really gets under your skin.

So now, there's you--this soul on the road to exaltation--and there's a law degree, a debt, and a crummy job market.  What does a person like you do? 

Here are our best guesses:

Unless the job finds you first, you are the one who will be charged with leading the search party for a new position.  And "party" may be a bit of a euphemism.  The peaks and troughs of being in the job search are enough to make you question, well, just about everything.  Did you choose the right major in college, was your decision to go to law school solid, should you have done a different internship after 1L, is it okay to do something completely non law-related?  Heck, you may find yourself wondering if you should have played kickball instead of climbing monkey bars during recess in first grade.

You're a smart and talented person, and probably funny and personable too, should it be this hard to find a new job?

It is a tough economy.  And even in a robust economy, finding the right socket to plug in your unique experience and education isn't always straightforward.  But it is possible. As the job market finds its feet, law firms, companies, the government, and non-profit organizations will likely be launching broader candidate searches.

So part of your search strategy involves being ready and knowing where to look.  And that is where this list comes in.  Check out the sometimes-serious, sometimes-humorous, always-possible ways to finding your next job. And with a 111 to pick and choose from, there should be at least a few that apply to you.  Whether actual, virtual, or otherwise, the possibilities will give you at least an idea of what might be printed on your next business card.

A special thank-you to colleagues and friends who contributed to the compilation.

Please note: This list is neither comprehensive nor is it exhaustive.  Mention of items or links to websites are for informational purposes and are not endorsements of the listed items.

While it may be a great time to be in law school, considering future forecasts of possible sunshine and warm weather, those in the legal job or internship market right now may feel like they are standing in a frigid rainstorm, without an umbrella. 

Before you get swept away in the current, consider these tips to help you land a legal job or internship in today's economy.  

1. Commit to the search.  And this doesn't just mean money.  Considering the amount of time you have invested in applying to law school, learning the legalese, and reading resources like this one, you are obviously interested in making the most of the experience.  Spend time tailoring your cover letters to specific employers and judges you apply to.  It can get tedious and may seem superfluous, but treat it like a routine that you go through for each separate application.  A focused application will have an effect on the reviewers and could mean the difference between an interview or the circular file. 

Why be original and face blank stares and quizzical looks from interviewers, colleagues, and managers when you can alter your vocabulary ever so slightly to pave the way for cheers, high-fives, and a big ol' pat on the back?

If you are fresh out of the law school scene and trying to make your way in the workplace or through interviews, you might be up on the legal lingo, but now you need to make sure you are hip with the business buzzwords.  Here's your primer to workplace cliches, as compiled by PR Newswire. 

Big-law may have lost its capital b.  The American Bar Association reports 4300 job layoffs from big-law firms over the course of the present recession.  Add to that small law firms that have closed shop, in-house legal departments that have downsized, non-profit law firms that have reduced staff, and law school grads that didn't get offers, and you may notice that the legal profession is weathering one tough season. 

But before you take "J.D." off of your resume, consider the advice of Julie A. Fleming, Atlanta attorney-turned-life coach who recently hosted a session titled "Seven Secrets Every Lawyer Must Know to Thrive, Even in a Recession."  For all associates, greedy or not, here are the pearls of wisdom she bestowed:

We all know that this is an unprecedented time for law firm layoffs.  The legal job market is tough these days, to say the least.  Many attorneys are finding themselves without a job and wondering what course to follow for their future, and what first steps to take along that path.

In order to help answer these questions, West has created Between Cases, a site with free resources for those looking for new jobs, trying to brush up on their skills in between jobs, thinking about starting their own firm, or even attorneys who just want to learn how to increase their business.

There are a lot of large firms these days casting about for some kind of long-term fix for their crumbling business models. We wrote in May about Drinker Biddle hitting upon a model which, in the weird world of law firms, actually sounded novel: train your new attorneys to be attorneys! That light-bulb moment was bound to be noticed by other firms, and this week it was. Howrey, the D.C.-based, litigation-centric firm previously known for bringing you litigation bootcamp in place of summer-associate slackitude, has initiated a new training program that amounts to a two-year apprenticeship for its new associates.

The National Law Journal and Above the Law both reported on the "Tier 1 Associate Program," which will start this fall. With bonuses considered, Howrey associates will be paid $125,000 the first year, which will focus on structured training and pro bono work. The second year will see a slight pay bump to $150,000, and an opportunity for associates to work with clients at reduced billing rates. After that, the training wheels come off, and Howrey has (it hopes) a whole new group of litigators who are truly ready to work with clients.

We've got all kinds of advice for you this week. See below for that, but first some news links:

• Legal Current recounts a 60 Minutes piece in which parsing definitions from Black's Law Dictionary figures prominently. 60 Minutes is now officially out of material.
• The New York Times invited a bunch of people to comment on the student debt issue. One more time for the record: we would be in favor of not having any.
• Justice Kennedy spoke to the graduating masses at Stanford about the importance of law and freedom. The response, according to the San Francisco Chronicle: students dozing off.
• The University of Illinois' "Clout List" continues to make news. The WSJ Law Blog says there's a lawsuit brewing over public access to admissions records.

Read on for our handy advice:

The post title says what you need to know about our favorite stories this week.  Read on for more:

The Big Story of the Week

• The New York Times had a feature on the current challenges faced by BigLaw firms, with White & Case as the star.

How's Your Career This Week?

• Free podcast! About job-hunting! The ABA Journal has details.
• Here's the Texan take on the state of the law job market, courtesy of the Austin American-Statesman.
• Career options: the National Law Journal reminds you that your military is hiring lawyers.

Learning From the Best

• The case for BLS: Above the Law says that at Brooklyn Law School, you can learn from a real-life mob lawyer! How are these things not factored into the U.S. News Rankings?
• Also worth a read: the Village Voice piece that spawned the ATL story. Only in New York, indeed.

You might see some old stories and recurring themes popping up in this week's links. What can we say? The great themes never change, and some discussions just have to keep on going and going...

Work Life: Everyone Is Still Unhappy

• Semantic Drift needs you to understand just how much effort is required for a 2L to land a summer gig this year.
• Above the Law expounds on Curtis Mallet's odd attempt at humor in explaining its business-casual dress code.
• The National Law Journal reports that would-be public interest lawyers are annoyed that so many deferred BigLaw associates, armed with firm-subsidized salaries, are taking their jobs. Who saw that coming?
• Generational debates never get old, and they never change: the young people today are always ruining it. Defending People has the latest entry in a Boomer/Gen Y dispute that we originally linked to two weeks ago.

Law School: Everyone Still Cheats

• Want to go to a public law school in Illinois? Get yourself a connection, as at least one would-be UI student did, according to TaxProf Blog.