Browse Topics

Bringing Blue-Collar Roots to the Legal Profession - An Interview with Jennifer Frankola Crawford
By Molly Timko • December 02, 2019 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Internships and Clerkships, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
For this month's post, I am thrilled to feature my fellow CUNY Law alum, Jennifer Frankola Crawford. Jennifer is an experienced attorney, arbitrator, and human rights advocate with blue-collar/working-class roots. As an arbitrator, Jennifer hears cases and renders decisions based upon New York State’s Insurance Law. In addition, Jennifer maintains an active practice in education law, representing families of children with learning disabilities and developmental delays. Further, Jennifer engages in pro bono work involving human rights issues, including handling immigration/deportation cases, and she collaborates with other lawyers to design and host CLEs. In this interview, Jennifer describes how her family's history, including her parents' immigration to the United States, influenced her career trajectory. She also offers excellent advice to first-generation…
Announcing the Winners of the Ms. JD Summer 2019 Public Interest Scholarship Competition
By Sonya Rahders • June 19, 2019 •Careers, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Law School, Internships and Clerkships
Ms. JD is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 Public Interest Scholarship Competition! The four scholarship recipients were selected from a large pool of highly competitive applicants. Ms. JD appreciates the level of passion and personal conviction that was exhibited in the application pool, and we are thrilled to support these students in their pursuit of public interest careers. Royse G. Bachtel is a rising 2L at Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, PA. This summer Royse will be working as a summer legal intern at the Women’s Law Project, a public interest legal center that…
How I Speak Up!
By Nicole Williams • May 05, 2019 •Law School, Internships and Clerkships
“Nicole, although your year-end review showed that you were among the top producers for the Georgia Families 360 program, we are unable to offer you a salary increase. We hope that you will continue to advocate for the adoption assistance, foster care, and juvenile justice population as you have done this year so successfully.” Wow. There I was, the third year in a row, not receiving the salary increase that was “guaranteed” to me when I interviewed for the position. As an outreach care specialist, I was tasked with calling healthcare facilities, juvenile correctional facilities, and families to ensure they…
Ms. JD Summer 2019 Public Interest Scholarship Competition is Now Open!
By Sonya Rahders • April 08, 2019 •Careers, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Law School, Internships and Clerkships
Ms. JD is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2019 Summer Public Interest Scholarship Competition! The recipients of the 2019 Public Interest Scholarship Competition will each receive a scholarship, up to $5,000 per recipient, to go towards their summer living expenses as they pursue careers in public interest law. Ms. JD is thrilled to continue our support of women pursuing public interest careers and soften the burden faced by folks who accept public interest internships, which are often unpaid. Eligibility The Scholarship is open to all law students who currently identify as women, or who have previously…-100x100.png)
Webinar: Speak Up: Finding Your Voice and Taking Charge of Your Career
By Katie Day • March 08, 2019 •Ms. JD, Conference, Careers, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Internships and Clerkships, Issues, Features
On March 6, 2019, Ms. JD Board Member Katie Day sat down with Jodi Flynn, Executive Coach and Founder of Women Taking the Lead for a webinar on speaking up. In this webinar, Jodi shares three stumbling blocks to speaking up and provides practical solutions. Want to learn more about speaking up? Join Ms. JD on March 14-15 at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law for "Speak Up" our 11th Annual Conference on Women in the Law. Have questions about the stumbling blocks Jodi discusses? Want to pick her brain? Shoot her an email at jodi@womentakingthelead.com. About Jodi Jodi Flynn of…
Unpaid Internships: A Garbage and Discriminatory Legal Practice
By Kate Miceli • January 21, 2019 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Politics and Government, Other Career Issues, Law School, Internships and Clerkships
Do you want to know the best-kept secret in the legal community? Unpaid internships. In my last blog post, I mentioned that I had four unpaid internships in law school. I received several stunned responses from friends outside the legal community, specifically those in business school. I thought it was common knowledge that many law student internships are unpaid. Spoiler alert: it’s not. For those outside the legal community, here are two important things you should know. One, it is very common for law students to work full-time, unpaid internships during the summer and school year. Two, law students are…
Friend or Foe? Technology in Our Everyday Lives: Fintech
By Keisha M. McClellan • September 30, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Internships and Clerkships
“Every technological revolution takes about 50 years.” Jack Ma, Co-founder of the Alibaba Group In the case of the Fintech revolution that is upending business models and competition in financial services, it is being digitized, streamed, podcasted and mobile-accessed now. It is a revolution that is taking place today as opposed to in the future. As Forbes Magazine’s Daniel Newman warns us, “If you have not heard about the Fintech revolution that is happening right now, you need to get out from under your rock.” Fintech, the fusion of finance and technology, is here with all of the subtlety and…
10 Ways to Help Immigrant Children Separated from Parents
By Tsion Chudnovsky • August 23, 2018 •Careers, Legal Academia, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Politics and Government, Law School, Internships and Clerkships, Issues, Women and Law in the Media, •Other Issues
With immigration tragedies playing out across America, many lawyers and students are searching for constructive actions they can take. Here our immigration lawyers review some of the best ways to help refugees and immigrant children separated from their families. While it is unclear exactly how many immigrant children have been separated from their parents, the US government has so far been unable to comply with federal court orders to reunite the children they have separated from their parents. The heart wrenching images and stories have ignited an immigration firestorm and prompted the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, based in Geneva to declare the…
Interview with Recent Grad Alexa Galloway - On the Field: Women in Sports Law
By Tatum Wheeler • August 09, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Law School, Internships and Clerkships, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, Women and Law in the Media
I’m delighted to introduce Alexa Galloway, a recent graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law and former Law School Toolbox author. A former Cape Cod Baseball League field reporter, Alexa most recently worked as a Legal Intern for Santa Clara University Athletics. Hey, Alexa! Thanks for joining us. First and foremost, congratulations on finishing law school! What are your short-term and long-term goals? Alexa: Well, my short, short-term goal is to pass the bar. Following that, I hope to work in civil litigation and get as much trial experience as possible. By attending conferences and speaking with attorneys in the…