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Starting from the Bottom Up to Create a Killer Personal Brand
By Jacob Maslow • October 05, 2018 •Features, Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law
A digital presence is a must for every law firm, and there’s both professional and personal branding. When a founder is the face of a company, they’ll have to start creating a personal brand that potential clients will know and trust. Branding is one of the most powerful tools in marketing, and it all starts with reputation. Supervisors often sit new or aspiring lawyers down to express how important reputation is in the law field. Building a good reputation is the start of personal branding, so you might need to help others, work extra hours. The goal is to create…
Owning Up to My Reality: I’m Disabled, and I Always Will Be
By Katherine Macfarlane • August 27, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, Features, Myths & Truths
I struggle with calling myself disabled. It’s much easier to write “I’m disabled” than it is to say it out loud. I use an endless list of euphemisms instead. “I need to sit down.” “I need extra time to board.” “I’m just not feeling up to it.” "It's going to be hard for me to make that walk." I’m not sure I’ve ever said the words “I’m disabled.” I’ve had countless conversations about my need for reasonable accommodations, and my volatile health, but generally avoid claiming my status. Which is ridiculous. I've spoken at legislative hearings about the tremendous impact…
Women in the Legal Field & the #MeToo Conversation
By Jennifer Hemmer • August 14, 2018 •Ms. JD, Careers, Other Career Issues, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, Other Issues, Features, Myths & Truths
Regardless of a woman’s age, race, location, career or economic status, most have either experienced sexual harassment first-hand or know of someone who has. With the numerous allegations made in the past year against Harvey Weinstein and dozens of other powerful figures in Hollywood, the media and politics, and the explosion of the #MeToo movement, the prevalence of sexual harassment in American society has never been more exposed than it is right now. There has not been a formal study conducted on sexual harassment specifically in the legal field, until now. Lauren Stiller Rikleen, founder and President of the Rikleen Institute for…
11 Tech Tips for Your Legal Tech Work
By Jeanne Ortiz • July 22, 2018 •Ms. JD, Careers, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Law School, Features
The Legal Services National Technology Assistance Project (LSNTAP) and Pro Bono Net hosted the 2018 edition of 50 Tech Tips for Your Toolbelt this past June. You can find the recording here and a list of all the tech tips here. These are the tips I shared for the webinar and a few bonus ones: Color Zilla - A browser extension for identifying the colors of your site or any other colors that you want to use for other programs. TimeAndDate.com - You can find here all of the calculators you need for time and distance. The date calculator is useful for deadlines and…
The Barred Life: A Series of Indefinite Length - Part II
By Jannet Matthew • June 27, 2018 •Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Other Issues, Features, Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
PART II Lessons and Realities from the Pass List Let’s get housekeeping out of the way. If you read my last post you know I took the California February bar exam and I was waiting for my results. So here’s the update: I didn’t pass. I sat on my living room floor with my laptop on my thighs. After navigating to the Cal Bar website, I carefully typed in my applicant number. Then my file number. I scrolled through and didn’t see my name on the pass list so I refreshed the screen. Again, I very carefully typed in my…
The Uniform Bar Exam: An Unclear Hurdle to Licensure
By Kelly Swan Taylor, Esq. • June 26, 2018 •Features, Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
Ask any attorney about his or her bar exam experience and you will get an array of stressful, nerve-racking tales, doubtfully containing any positive tones. For me, personally, I will never forget the awful experience, including an all-nighter before the second day of the exam. When you have to memorize black letter law for some 15-plus subjects in order to draft convincing essay answers, there’s just no time for rest. These experiences, along with some brutal stories revolving around the Socratic Method in law school, are things that bind licensed attorneys together. It’s awful, but it’s a rite of passage. And…
How Can the Military’s Rules on Professionalism Help You?
By Tristany Leikem • June 15, 2018 •Ms. JD, Careers, Law School, Issues, Features
You probably know that members of the military follow certain rules, regulations, customs, and traditions, from the requirement to wear a uniform to rules on how we interact with others. You may not know, however, that you can use military rules to boost your professionalism and personal brand in your own job. As an officer in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, I am evaluated not only on the quality of my work product, but also less tangible characteristics like leadership and military bearing. Military bearing includes the way I walk, talk, wear my uniform, and interact with others.…
Lawyering in a Crisis: What Five Puerto Rican Women Did in the Aftermath of a Major Hurricane
By Jeanne Ortiz • June 14, 2018 •Careers, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Politics and Government, Other Career Issues, Issues, Other Issues, Features, Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law, •Myths & Truths
Imagine living with no power for 10 months as a result of two major hurricanes and having to prepare for a third one. Or imagine being grateful for having your power back after 6 months but still having a blue tarp for a roof. That was the reality for thousands of Puerto Ricans this week when Beryl, the first hurricane of the season, formed in the Atlantic. I think we can all attest to the gut-wrenching feeling of anticipation the day we were expecting Hurricane María last year. Gazing out the window with my sister at 5:00 am still feels like yesterday,…
Sponsor Spotlight: Legal Kid and The Little Lawyers
By Kerriann Stout • June 13, 2018 •Ms. JD, Features
This Friday, June 15, 2018, Ms. JD is hosting its “Ready to Rise” one-day academy in law and leadership for middle school girls (grades 6-8). This academy is designed to introduce young girls to the legal profession and allow them see themselves as future members of it. Ms. JD wouldn’t be able to hold important events like this without the help of our wonderful and generous sponsors. Today, we are so excited to showcase one of our #WeSupport sponsors: Legal Kid. In the summer of 2016, Legal Kid, Inc. began as a conversation among a group of strong and skillful…