Summertime is upon us, and for law students, that means it is time to start brushing up their resumes in preparation for fall recruitment. For most law students, properly revising and editing a legal resume can be an extremely time-consuming process. It has been proposed, however, that in the future, law students may not have to endure such painful exercises. LexisNexis Law School has suggested via Twitter that the resume is dead, and that instead, law students should be creating professional bios. Is this sound advice for those entering the legal profession?
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When the weather gets hot, “must-have” fashion tends to get even hotter. While men are thinking about sporting their short sleeve dress shirts, women are getting excited about breaking out their peep-toe pumps. Last year, this phenomenon became known among women lawyers as “Peep-Toe Gate.” Will you grab a ticket to the peep show and dare to wear this controversial piece of couture during court appearances or at the office this summer?
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The decision to attend law school is an important one: one that may involve up to six figures of student loan debt. Despite the recession, many prospective law students entered law school under the false presumption that they would be able repay those loans after attaining employment upon graduation. But when law schools publish deceptive employment statistics, prospective and current law students may be basing their future livelihoods upon unreliable information.
As another academic year draws to a close, many soon-to-be and recent law school graduates have been left holding the bag as far as employment prospects are concerned. Law School Transparency, however, hopes to promote greater accuracy in law school employment data.
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This is the latest installment of Dress for Success, Lawyerist’s column on fashion for lawyers, written by Staci Zaretsky and Josh Camson.
For some women, a proper hairstyle can take hours to perfect each morning. However, after all the blow-drying, straightening, and brushing, we usually end up with a ‘do that we flip and play with all day, whether we realize that we’re doing it or not. As women lawyers, we all know that hair can be a distraction, especially when all eyes are on you. The ponytail, oftentimes controversial in terms of office couture, can really be a lifesaver. But we’ve got to wonder: is this look professional enough for the office?
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During my freshman year of college, I joined a sorority. Eight years later, I still remember time spent with my sorority sisters as some of the best days of my life. Aside from the obvious social benefits, as a young professional, I have realized that being a member of a Greek life organization can also be rewarding in terms of networking and career prospects.
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Here at Lawyerist, we are very big on business cards for lawyers. Business cards can not only provide valuable contact information to both clients and colleagues, but they can also serve to reflect a lawyer’s personality. In fact, tech-savvy lawyers can even include a QR code on their business cards for ease of electronic access.
However, when even law firms have gone digital, one begins to wonder whether business cards are becoming relics of the past. In this Internet age, are business cards on their way to extinction? Perhaps, but some say that business cards have already died.
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This is the first installment of Dress for Success, Lawyerist’s new column on fashion for lawyers, written by Staci Zaretsky and Josh Camson.
Women lawyers, have you struggled to find a fashionable, yet professional, bag to bring to the office? Are you worried that your colleagues won’t take you seriously if your bag is too “cute”? Worse yet, have you finally managed to find a fashionable bag that’s professional enough for the office, but later discovered that it simply won’t hold your files? If any of these situations have happened to you, please take comfort in the fact that you are not alone.
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The ABA Journal recently published an article which suggested that unemployed women lawyers should remain hopeful about their careers. Why? Because according to 2009 Labor Department statistics, being a lawyer is “a good gig for women who want to earn big bucks.” Based on those statistics, Forbes magazine compiled a list of the 10 best-paying jobs for salaried women employees working full-time. Women lawyers earned a median salary of $75,000 in 2009, ranking them in third place behind pharmacists and chief executives.
While a third place ranking is certainly respectable, Forbes noted that women lawyers are making only 75% of men’s earnings in the same profession. Meanwhile, according to U.S. News, the median annual salary for lawyers of unspecified gender is $113,000. Based on these statistics, it is obvious that there is still a gender wage gap in the legal profession. Why does the gender wage gap still exist, and what can women lawyers do to level the playing field?
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Recently on Lawyerist, we discussed the growing silence of women lawyers in today’s classrooms and courtrooms. The article was met with a bit of backlash, especially from women litigators. These silent women, the critics claimed, must not be litigators. After all, women litigators are allegedly known to speak their minds at all costs.
Apparently, that is not the norm in New York, where the courts have recognized a dearth of female litigators in commercial and appellate litigation cases. The problem is so serious that the New York City Bar Association held a special program to address the issue and explore viable solutions. What say you now, women litigators?
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Have you given any thought to hanging your own shingle lately? Here at Lawyerist, we continue to advise lawyers, both young and old, to start their own niche market law practices. However, in this Internet age where lawyers are being replaced by computers, the idea of hanging your own shingle doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to opening a new law practice. Instead, why not launch your own law blog and hang your shingle there?
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