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From Paralegal to Associate: How to Survive your First Year on the Job – Part I
By Nadia Ennaji • March 26, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
You have survived and graduated from Law School … You have survived and passed the Bar. Congratulation!! What amazing achievements. After the rush of excitement settles down, you realize that now, lays yet a new challenge ahead of you: your first job as an associate attorney. What can you do to survive your first year on the job? I have done some research, and adding to it my own personal experience, I am sharing what I found out. I have divided the article into two Parts. In part one I will discuss the first few weeks into a new job. …
The Mindful Mindset: Managing Anxiety the Mindful Way
By Pia Das • March 24, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
"Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones." - Thich Nhat Hanh Mindfulness encourages us to pay attention intentionally to the present moment and non-judgmentally observe what is happening within and around us. It is not uncommon to be living on autopilot where our responses become an automatic reaction…
More Women, Less Problems? 5 Predictions On The Implications Of More Women in The Legal Profession
By Kerriann Stout • March 20, 2018 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination
It is an exciting time to be a woman in the legal profession. I am definitely not suggesting that things are all “rainbows and butterflies” for female attorneys or that there isn’t still a lot of work to be done to close gender gaps. However, in 2016 women made up the majority of law students in the United States for the first time. In 2017, also for the first time, A-list included gender among equity partners as a ranking factor in determining which law firms are best. And, the wage gap - while still present, is narrowing. The tide is…
It’s Time To Beat The Burn Out: The Importance of Well-Being In The Legal Profession
By Paige Marie Robinson Greene • March 07, 2018 •Ms. JD, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Mentoring and Networking, Features, •Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law, Myths & Truths
THE CURRENT CLIMATE Burnout, stress, anxiety, depression – whatever you want to call it – if you’re in the legal profession there is a chance that you’ll feel it at some point in your career. Lawyers are constantly reaching for a professional-personal life balance, and the pressure to deliver can feel enormous for even the most confident and most competent lawyers. Unsurprisingly, burnout starts in law school. A 2014 research survey on law student well-being revealed that law students might have higher rates of anxiety and depression than other graduate students. (Jerome M. Organ et al., “Suffering in Silence: The…
Creating Balance through Routine
By Elizabeth Tolon • March 06, 2018 •Ms. JD, Law School, Pre-Law, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
As I go through my final semester of law school, I reflect on what I’ve learned since starting two and a half years ago. For me, law school has been challenging, invigorating, fun, and full of surprises. When I walked into class on my first day of law school, I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what textualism meant or how the Rules of Civil Procedure influence litigation. I didn’t know what the Socratic method was and I didn’t understand the curve. After my first day of classes, I felt a little like Elle Woods after…
#MillennialMom: Law Student, Leader, and MOM!
By Katherine Larkin-Wong • February 26, 2018 •Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Features, Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law
Shortly after I launched #MillennialMom on Ms. JD last month, I got a DM on Twitter (you can follow me @kmlarkinwong). "Did you know that THREE of the ABA Law Student Division's Leaders are Moms? I think this is column-worthy!" You know what, I agree! So I reached out to the #MillennialMoms who are leading the lawyers of the future and asked them a few questions about being law students, leaders, and Moms. Two of them were able to be interviewed between school and Mom Life! First, a bit of biographical information: Name: Meredith Parnell ("MP") Law school: Harvard Law School…
The Mindful Mindset: Starting Your Morning The Mindful Way
By Pia Das • February 23, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
Mindfulness brings you into the present moment of your current experience rather than remembering the past or anticipating the future. It teaches us that we can be aware of our thoughts without judging them as right or wrong, pleasant or unpleasant. They are simply just thoughts. To practice mindfulness, start by becoming aware of your thoughts, sensations, and feelings. Eventually through repeated practice, you can access the quiet "observer" within you who is only noticing what is happening in your surrounding environment without getting swept away by thoughts and feelings. The morning is a great time to practice mindfulness as the morning can set the tone of your entire day. It is easy…
Solid, well-considered legal advice and compassion.
By Victoria Gentry • February 05, 2018 •Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
Sunlight is beaming through my office windows, a miraculous reprieve from the single-digit temperatures that are holding court outside. Eager to stay in the beam of sunlight, I flip open the new file on my desk. Immigration paperwork, resumé, passports, marriage certificate. The usual. My eye snags on the marriage certificate, which displays a color photo of the bride and groom. The bride is resplendent is crimson and gold. Her long sable hair falls so long that it continues out of the frame. The groom looks like his having a hard time sitting still. He has one shoulder wedged behind…
How Meditation Helped My Law Practice and Why I Think It Could Help Yours
By Claire Parsons • January 26, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
Last year, I made equity partner at my Firm. In this blog, I have promised to tell some of the tips that I picked up along the way to share with other women lawyers who may have the same goal. Because January is a month for resolutions, I chose to start with something from my own list of New Year's resolutions: meditation. I have been meditating consistently for a few years now but my resolution is to keep it going in 2018 and to log at least 50 hours of meditation in 2018. That may sound like a lot but it…