Archive for September, 2009

Rachel J. Littman, Esq.

How to stand out in a buyer’s market? You can spend a small fortune on job-finding books, but the assistant dean of career development at Pace Law School sums it up for you with 11 simple tips:

1. Be flexible – You may not be able to secure the job of your dreams on the first (or even third) try. Map out the skills that are important to your ideal job, and be flexible and open to opportunities that can help you build those skills and create connections towards your goal.

2. Show an employer why they should hire you – Highlight relevant skills and experience. Once at work, be proactive in seeking assignments; work hard, ask questions, and solicit constructive feedback.

3. Do your homework – Research areas of practice and particular potential employers. Be as prepared as you can for interviews and your assignments. At work, ask about outside reading or CLEs you could attend to improve your knowledge of a particular area.

4. Create tailored cover letters and resumes – Researching an employer, as well as the industry or practice area, will help you create the best cover letter and resume.

5. Build a network of references – Networking is STILL the best way to land a job. You need as many allies as you can to create a useful network of people who can vouch for you and your work quality, and to help pass your resume along to potential employers.

6. Be a self-starter – Being capable, confident, and proactive at work is the best way to ensure that you have a steady work flow and are valued for your contributions.

7. The practice of law – Learn the business of the practice of law, whether it is in private practice, government or public interest.

8. Gain as much experience as possible – That will give you an edge and make you valuable for your first, second and succeeding jobs.

9. Follow-up is important – Follow up on leads, references, and interviews to express your interest and to maintain contacts.

10. Always say “thank you”! – This is true for interviews, referrals, and positive feedback on your work.

11. Once again, be flexible – You may not be able to secure the job of your dreams on the first (or even third) try. Map out the skills that are important to your ideal job, and be flexible and open to opportunities that can help you build those skills and create connections towards your goal.

Rachel J. Littman, Esq.
rlittman@law.pace.edu
Copyright 2009. Reprinted with the permission of Pace Law School

Jill Backer, Esq.

In this brief Q&A, Brooklyn Law School’s associate director of career services, offers some obvious and NOT-so-obvious job-finding suggestions in the roughest job market in a half-century:

Q. What do you see for the legal job market when the economy recovers?
A:I think the legal job market will bounce back, but I doubt it will ever be the same. In my opinion, the market has hit a huge reset button, and things like associate life (and pay), hourly billing, and luxurious and populous summer programs are things of the past.

Q: So, how do I find work?
A: You’ve heard it before, but it’s still true: Networking is THE best way to get a job or a client. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for a job. Even put the type of position you’re looking for on your Facebook page for all to see (provided, of course, your Facebook account has no questionable entries!). Second, get involved in the area of law you wish to pursue. Attend bar association committee meetings, and CLE and alumni events. Think of it; what could be better than a local bar association committee meeting in the area you wish to practice? The entire room is filled with potential employers, and lawyers love to help a young, go-getter. The networking skills you develop now will help you through your entire career.

Q: But what if the area of law that interests me is in a slump?
A: It’s a legitimate concern, and several practice areas have been deeply affected. So, you need to do what every other out-of-work lawyer is doing: research and identify the emerging legal markets, like bankruptcy, energy, privacy, labor & employment, etc. Take classes in these new areas for which you have an interest, attend CLE’s; do whatever you can to gain experience/exposure to supplement your current resume. Also, rework your resume in a way that focuses on your applicable legal skills rather than on a specific practice area.

Q: I really have my heart set on getting into Biglaw.
A: Your first job is not the be-all/end-all of your career. At this time, and in this economy, it’s important that you consider all your options. For many grads and new admittees, the federal government has not been an employer they considered. And yet every practice area found in private practice has its mirror image in the public sector. For example, say you ultimately want to be a fashion lawyer. Did you know that any fashion house general counsel would look favorably on your experience with the US Bureau of Customs & Border Protection. Yes, this agency is constantly challenging imports for piracy of trademark claims. So, stop focusing on landing your dream job right out of the gate, and concentrate on gaining the skills that will get you there. Thinking outside of the private sector might serve you well in your long-term career goals.

Q: So, what you’re saying is ‘be flexible’.
A: Yes. To get your foot in the door, you have to be. That also means being geographically flexible. In most big cities right now, it’s a buyer’s market; there are dozens of candidates for every opening. Which means you may have to take a job at a small or midsized firm that does more general practice with some of what you are interested in rather than jumping right to the mid-size boutique. Keep your eye on the prize and take measured steps towards your goal. I think you will also find you are better prepared once you arrive. The most important thing you can do now is to not rest on your laurels. Be proactive in your thoughts and your actions. There are no guarantees in this market. Make sure you are as marketable as you can be, and that means you MUST work to get as much experience and exposure as possible. Taking time off before you hit the real world means you may never get there.

Jill Backer, Esq.
jill.backer@brooklaw.edu
Copyright 2009. Reprinted with the permission of Brooklyn Law School

By Daniel Lukasik, Esq.

New York lawyer Daniel Lukasik attended his 30th high school reunion this past summer. It was an occasion that produced this gentle reflection on life, law, and the sweet victory that comes from finally discovering one’s second act:

In a few weeks I’ll turn 48, and have been out of law school for 21 years.

As I entered the local watering hole where the reunion was underway, I could see the changes in our bodies and faces that bespoke the passage of time; each of us was entering the Fall of our lives.

Midlife, and all the challenges this stage of life brings, has been on my mind lately. But besides the reunion, something else has supplied the voltage for my middle age meditation: a book by psychologist Robert A. Johnson called, “Living Your Unlived Life: Coping with Unrealized Dreams and Fulfilling Your Purpose in the Second Half of Life.”

Johnson writes that the first half of our lives is spent addressing matters in the outside world – learning a trade, marrying and raising children, and finding our way in this difficult world. Then, “in the second half of life, the hunger of our missing pieces often becomes acute. It dawns on us that time is running out. So we often set about rearranging things on the outside. Such changes distract us for a time, but what is really called for is a change of consciousness.”

There is something inside of all of us which has been unlived. This is part of the maturation process and just plain growing up. We choose this; we don’t choose that. As we age, our lives take on certain defining features that we never could have foretold in young adulthood. And as I mingled at the reunion with people from so long ago, I imagined what unlived lives each of them had. We all smiled and made small talk as we swayed to the music. All the while, I imagined their hopes to live their unlived lives gently humming beneath the surface.

This is what Johnson has to say about unlived lives:

“… We all have both a ‘lived’ and an ‘unlived’ life,” he writes. “And in the process of becoming differentiated adults, we inevitably become split. Most psychotherapies are designed to patch up wounded people and then throw them back into the battle of oppositions. They guide people in how to become better adapted socially: more adept at making money, more highly disciplined, more dutiful, more economically productive. Even when such therapy is successful and gets an individual back out into the rat race again, you can watch them wither over time under the weight of it all. (But) in the second half of life, we are called to live everything that we truly are, to achieve greater wholeness.

“We initially respond to the call for change by rearranging outer circumstances, though our split is actually an inner problem. The transition from morning to afternoon that occurs at midlife calls for a revaluation of earlier values. During the first half of life we are so busy building up the structure of the personality that we forget that its footings are in shifting sands.”

Many, many lawyers are exhausted by the weight of our lives at the midpoint of the journey. It seems that our careers, and all the obligations that go along with it, have built a momentum that is seemingly unstoppable. So, we settle for distractions (entertainment, money, good food, etc.) along the road to retirement to blunt the pain. This pain is the pain of the unlived life; the part of their inner lives we didn’t get to live while committing large chunks of their time to building our careers.

I believe we must turn and face ourselves at midlife. We must stop running and finally listen (perhaps for the first time in a long time) to that inner voice that is trying, desperately, to get us to listen. Listening to that voice, it dawns on us that we are not the immortals we fancied ourselves in our youths to be. We recognize and sense our mortality and we have yearnings. We want to start living a life, instead of enduring one. Or, as Bruce Springsteen once said, “At some point, you have to stop thinking about the person you want to be and be that person.”

And maybe that’s what depression is about for some of us: painful symptoms that leak out because of un-reconciled parts of us demanding to be heard and lived.

If the central concern of the first half of our lives is building up our resumes of success, maybe the second half is a deeper search for meaning and purpose. For me, the unlived life has recently found expression as a writer. I feel meaning in writing about things flowing through the deeper currents of life; in sharing my insights, musings and struggles with you.

– Daniel Lukasik (University of Buffalo Law, 1988), is managing partner at Cantor Lukasik Dolce Panepinto in Buffalo NY, and represents plaintiffs in personal injury cases and civil rights matters in State and Federal Court. Two years ago he launched a now-nationally recognized website for lawyers suffering from depression (www.LawyersWithDepression.com), which provides information and resources for attorneys battling this disease. Reprinted with permission.