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Taking Care of Your Future Self During an 80-Hour Week
By Marisa Tashman • October 23, 2019 •Ms. JD, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Other Issues, Features, Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them
Like many young ambitious women in the wake of Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” movement, I often have to make choices between two options that are both necessary: “sleep or work out?” “meditate or call my mom?” Beginning my career as a litigator at a large law firm in Los Angeles, I’ve been forced to make these choices all too often, eventually transforming into a thought-cycle of not being balanced enough, which inevitably transforms into being hopelessly imbalanced. Layer on psychosomatic GI issues, migraines, and an unexpected back injury, I turned to a wellness “industry” filled with preachers on becoming perfectly…
Healing Hurt With High Heels: How One Aspiring Law Student Helps Others Heal from Domestic Violence
By Roberta O. Roberts, Esq. of Grace for the Grind™ • October 12, 2019 •Law School, Pre-Law, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, Other Issues, Features, Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, [1] so this article shares the story of a pre-law student who started her own nonprofit organization for survivors of domestic violence after surviving domestic violence herself. I am honored to share this conversational interview I had with Ronshanda “Nikki” Chaney about how she found purpose from her pain and in turn helps others heal through her novels and organization, Heel My Heart. --- Nikki, thank you so much for taking time to answer questions for me as the October member spotlight for Grace for the Grind™ Career Mastermind! Let’s start off with…-100x100.png)
Join Ms. JD as our Social Media Coordinator!
By Katie Day • September 10, 2019 •Ms. JD, Careers, Law School, Pre-Law, Features
Do you have crazy social media skills? Is your smart phone always ready to Tweet, Pin, and Post? Do you have a passion for women helping women? If you answered yes to these questions, you might be just the person we are looking for! Ms. JD is seeking a part-time Social Media Coordinator to join us as an independent contractor to help build and manage our social media outreach strategies. As an independent contractor, the Social Media Coordinator will exercise her or his own independent judgment and discretion to support Ms. JD’s online presence. What will you be doing? As…
Join Ms. JD—We’re seeking a Volunteer NWLSO Director!
By Katie Day • July 09, 2019 •Ms. JD, Law School, Features
Ms. JD is seeking a volunteer Director for our National Women Law Students’ Organization (NWLSO) program! NWLSO's goal is to support female law students, in whatever capacity that may be, from brainstorming events to connecting chapters and affiliates with potential speakers to providing a blogging platform where your writing will be featured on a site that receives over 27,000 visitors per month. Quite simply, NWLSO exists to support all women law students. The volunteer NWLSO Director will work with Ms. JD’s CEO to help grow and develop Ms. JD’s NWLSO program. This includes: -Compiling and sending a monthly NWLSO…
Bar Exam Success Strategies Bar Prep Courses Don’t Teach You with Brandi D. Pikes, Esq.
By Roberta O. Roberts, Esq. of Grace for the Grind™ • June 15, 2019 •Features, Advice on Passing the Bar Exam, Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law
Editor's Note: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Ms. JD Corporation. Lack of confidence is one of the three most common Bar exam preparation pitfalls according to a recent Above the Law article. So when I heard the story of an attorney who intentionally and strategically incorporated her faith into her Bar study routine to increase her confidence in herself and her abilities, I knew I had to reach out to her! I am happy to share this conversational interview I had with Brandi D. Pikes, Esq. about her Bar…
Just in time for graduation, the ABA tightened its bar pass standard for law schools
By Jen Reise • May 21, 2019 •Law School, Pre-Law, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Other Law School Issues, Features, Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
Thousands of new lawyers celebrated their graduation this weekend and, in time-honored tradition, celebrated for approximately one day before turning to studying for the bar exam. On Friday, the ABA announced that it was tightening its accreditation standard for law schools’ bar passage rates. The new standard will require law schools to have a bar pass rate of at least 75% within two years of graduation. Overall, this rate was 88.57% for the most recent year, but bar passage rates are highly correlated with LSAT scores. This change puts the pressure on bottom-tier law schools, i.e., those that admit the…
Millennial Women: Estate Planning is for You Too!
By Iffy Ibekwe • May 10, 2019 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Other Issues, Features, •Myths & Truths
Millennial Lawyers are Powerful. I can say that because I too am a millennial lawyer. We are highly educated (sometimes in the school of hard knocks), talented, committed, innovative and ready to take on any challenge head-on. Watch out! The world is changing for women and millennials are leading the way for future generations: Around 72% of millennial women are in the workforce. [i] Although a gender pay gap still exists but is narrowing. [ii] More than 28% of millennial women start a business because they see an opportunity. [iii] Millennial women are more likely to have bachelor degrees than their male…
Time Management Tips for Women Lawyers from Harmony Planners Creator Kellie Beach Sims, Esq.
By Roberta O. Roberts, Esq. of Grace for the Grind™ • May 10, 2019 •Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life, Features, Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law
A survey of 146 female lawyers revealed the “constant need to be the best” as the “single greatest obstacle to juggling career and family,” and that more than half of the female lawyers surveyed “reported difficulty delegating responsibility (compared with about 38 percent of the overall sample).” But the average woman lawyer probably doesn’t need a survey to validate these facts: many of us feel stressed getting it all done in our demanding careers while also being present and showing up in our family and personal lives. As women, we often want to “have it all” and may feel like…
Speak Up!
By Dawn Trivolis • May 06, 2019 •Features
When I worked at Boise Girls Academy, I helped the clients (teenage girls with risky behaviors) learn how to speak for themselves. Many times, their own voices had been lost in the poor decisions they had made in the past. They followed the crowd. Over time, I helped the girls see themselves differently. By building trust, the girls shared their fears, hopes, and goals. Their future was bright—not bound to a life sentence of continual poor choices. After working at Boise Girls Academy, I needed to practice that advocacy myself. The recent break-down of my marriage resulted in many life…