Monday, November 30, 2009

Legal Services of New York City: Annual Recruitment Open House

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

New York City Bar Association Career Search Support Group

On December 2, 2009, the New York City Bar Association will host Dr. Sylvan Schaffer and his career search support group. Dr. Schaffer has a unique approach that will help members cope with the emotional and psychological blocks related to job loss and job search. The support group will:

• Provide a forum for members to discuss the impact of job loss and job search on their daily lives

• Provide insight for members to overcome hurdles to job search, e.g., negative thinking, feelings of shame and diminished self-esteem, depression

• Address the "myths" of what a lawyer can or cannot do, e.g., temporary work, contract work

• Help members refocus their energy on a new venture before abandoning the profession

Dr. Schaffer will present some instructive material, coaching and skills training. There will be ample opportunity for the participants to discuss their particular needs and feelings regarding their situation. There is no fee to attend the group, but registration is required and is ONLY open to New York City Bar Association members.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 12 - 1 PM
House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street
Registration: This program is free of charge, however registration is required.

Interested in Criminal Law? Free CLE on Transgender Issues in the Criminal Justice System

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Monday, November 23, 2009

PSLawNet.org: The Essential Facts

PSLawNet is an incredible job search resource that contains a comprehensive database of over 12,000 public interest organizations, public interest law firms, and government agencies located throughout the United States and the world. Touro Law Center subscribes to the service and, as a result, Touro students and alums may access the database free of charge. Job seekers log on to the PSLawNet website and self register to create their own profile.

The database has two search features: (1) “organization searches,” which yield lists of organizations and agencies which focus in a particular practice area in a particular state, city, or metropolitan area; and (2) “opportunity searches,” which yield current postings for summer and school year internships, post-graduate jobs, and fellowships. In addition, the site contains numerous publications with career advice, summer funding sources, and a guide to federal legal employment opportunities.

We recommend starting with an organization search in order to find organizations that practice the kind of law and are located in the geographical areas in which you are interested. You may search by practice area, type of job (internship, fellowship, attorney), type of employer (public interest organization, government agency, etc.), and city, state or metropolitan region. The list that is generated from your search will contain information about the organization and a contact person to whom to address a cover letter. You will also see a link for each employer’s website.

While an opportunity search will yield actual job postings, not all organizations actively post jobs. Rather, they wait for resumes to come to them. Accordingly, you should apply to an organization even if no active job listing is posted on the website.

Please see Tom Maligno or any counselor in the Career Services Office for more information about PSLawNet.

Friday, November 20, 2009

A New Bar Exam Study Game: "Passing the Bar"

Touro Law Center alum Caryn Pincus (Class of 2006) has created a new board game to help those studying for the Bar Exam (and really anyone studying the Multistate Bar Exam practice areas). The game is called "Passing the Bar" and it is receiving national exposure.

Caryn is licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. She graduated cum laude and received CALI Awards for Academic Excellence in Contracts II and Disability Law. She interned with the New York Appellate Division, First Department, the Suffolk County Attorney's Office, and Nassau-Suffolk Law Services. After graduation, she worked at a matrimonial and criminal law firm and subsequently with a commercial litigation firm.

Passing the Bar includes hundreds of flashcards on Multistate Bar Exam and legal trivia questions which players answer as they role the die and move their game pieces around the board to be the first person to reach the Admission Ceremony and get sworn in. Prior to being sworn in, however, a player must answer three professional responsibility questions. Additional flashcards may be purchased separately. The game looks like a lot of fun and a great addition to the more traditional ways to study for the Bar Exam.

For more information about the game and to place your order, go here.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The 2009 Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements

The American Bar Association and the National Conference of Bar Examiners publishes the annual Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements, which sets out the rules and practices of all U.S. jurisidictions for admission to the Bar. This valuable resource can be downloaded for free here.

So, you passed the Bar Exam. Change your resume!

The July 2009 New York State Bar Examination results were recently announced, so it is time for those who passed the exam (woohoo!) to do a little resume updating.

Create a new section between your name/address header and the education section on your resume as follows:

BAR ADMISSIONS New York State (awaiting admission)

The "awaiting admission" designation lets employers know that you have passed the Bar Exam and are awaiting to be formally admitted to the Bar. In addition, include the fact that you are awaiting admission to the New York State Bar in the first sentence of your cover letter. Do not use "Esq." or any other honorific which might lead an employer to think you are actually admitted.

Please feel free to email your updated resume to a Career Services Office counselor to have it reviewed.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Be Aware: Some NYU Job Fair employers capping number of resumes they receive

Last year, many employers at the NYU Public Service Job Fair were inundated with resumes, with several employers receiving close to 2,000 applications for interviews. This year, a cap of 500 resumes will be enforced for those employers who request it. Accordingly, for capped employers, applications will be accepted from only the first 500 students who apply to the employer. The online system will work on a first come, first served basis. Once a capped employer has received 500 applications through the system, the system will tell a student seeking to apply to that employer that the employer is full and will not permit additional applications.

Accordingly, it is very important for a student who has a strong interest in an employer to register for the Job Fair and upload a resume to that employer as soon as possible. Registration for the Job Fair is now open.

To date, the employers listed below have requested to receive no more than 500 applications this year:

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Federal Defender of New York for the Eastern District of New York
New York Attorney General’s Office
New York County District Attorney’s Office
Legal Aid Society — Criminal Practice
Legal Aid Society — Civil Practice
Legal Aid Society — Juvenile Rights Practice
Spivak Lipton

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

NY County District Attorney's Office Resume and Interview Workshop

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

NYC Bar Program - Resume and Cover Letter Writing: Telling Your Story, Selling Yourself

The New York City Bar Association presents:

Resume and Cover Letter Writing: Telling Your Story, Selling Yourself


Monday, November 16, 2009, at 8:30 a.m.
at the House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street, NYC

featuring our own Margarett Williams, Director of Employer Relations.

In this competitive job market, your resume must be flawless. If you are looking to switch practice areas, or transition into a quasi-legal position, or simply need to update an old resume, come to this two-part program and listen to our panel of experts offer advice on general resume rules, crafting resumes for transition periods, and avoiding common mistakes. Afterwards, you will have the opportunity to ask your own individualized resume questions in a breakout group led by one of our expert panelists. You will also receive guidance regarding cover letters and how to use them with e-mail submissions. You will leave this program with lots of ideas for improved and enhanced materials that will better tell your story and sell your talents.

Moderator:
PATRICIA MORRISSY, Chief Legal Recruiting Officer, Sullivan & Cromwell

Speakers:
GIL ALLISON, Senior Vice President, Right Management;
BRUCE BLACKWELL, President, Career Strategies International;
JESSICA SILVERSTEIN, Principal, Attorney’s Counsel;
JULIA HERR SMITH, President, Esquire Prep, LLC;
MARGARETT M. WILLIAMS, Director of Employer Relations, Touro Law Center

The fee is $15 for members, $25 for non-members.

To register, go here.

Monday, November 2, 2009

If It’s November, Think NYU Job Fair

Beginning November 1, students can register online for the NYU Public Service/Public Interest Job Fair. The Fair takes place in early February at NYU and hosts over 100 government and public interest employers offering both summer internships and post-graduate jobs. Registration is free and required to participate in the Fair. There is no penalty for registering for the Fair and then deciding not to participate, so you should register to reserve your right to participate. Once students have registered, they can upload resumes to specific employers and check interview schedules online.

The Fair is a public service job fair in the broadest sense. In other words, any employer who touches upon the public service – be they public interest organizations, government offices, or private law firms that do public interest work – can be at the Fair.

All first-year students are encouraged to register for the fair, as almost every employer that participates would provide excellent legal experience for a first-year law student. Remember, first-year students are looking for summer opportunities that are supervised by an attorney and provide legal research and writing or client advocacy work. The actual practice area engaged in by the employer is a secondary concern at this point in your legal career. There will be plenty of time over the next couple of years for you to focus your resume on particular practice areas in which you become interested.

Upperlevel students, particularly those interested in careers in public interest or government, should seriously consider registering for the Fair. Even “law firm bound” students should think about the Fair, as many of the participating employers could provide useful skills in many different practice areas.

To register for the Fair, go here.

Pursue Your Dreams, Manage Your Expectations

How many times does a person have to hear, “You can’t do that, don’t even bother” before he or she begins to believe it? Probably not as many times as we would like to think. In any event, it is not the kind of thing you should hear when you are planning your career, and you should not and will not hear it from a counselor at CSO.

Many students come to law school with certain dreams of a particular kind of legal career. Some of you may want a government career, others a career in a small to mid-size law firm on Long Island, some seek to open their own firm, others see themselves practicing in New York City at large law firms or with a different kind of employer, some seek to practice out of state entirely, while still others dream of being public interest lawyers. These dreams should be nurtured by a Career Services office, not ridiculed or, worse, destroyed.

When you meet with one of us, we will talk with you to develop a plan to obtain your dream job. We will talk about how best to prepare yourself while in law school, and we will discuss the kinds of opportunities that are out there after you graduate. We will strive to leave you with a clear idea of what you have to do to get yourself in a good position to accomplish your goal.

Effective career counseling does not end there, however, particularly in an economy which is, well, difficult. While we will plan with you the most direct path to your dream job, we will also talk about expectations and how to manage them. Like a doctor explaining the likelihood of success of an operation, you should be able to plan your life based upon real world facts. Therefore, once we plan the most direct path to your dream, we will talk about alternative roads to the same goal. This Plan B, Plan C, and maybe even Plan D will help you just in case Plan A does not work out. We should not take our eyes off the prize, but we will talk about different paths to obtain it.

So, the next time you meet with a CSO counselor, be sure to express yourself about your dream job. We will work on Plan A through Plan D so you are prepared to get to your goal, one way or another.