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You’ll Pay For This: What In The World Does Your Student Loan Statement Say?
By Kerriann Stout • February 28, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Other Issues
I would compare reading about law school loans to watching a car accident happen. You don’t really WANT to watch it, but you also can’t seem to turn away. This month, I am rewarding your curiosity with a more in depth analysis of how student loans work. As you may recall from last month, I spent a good deal of time (almost 2 years) after graduation completely avoiding the fact that I had student loans at all. A big part of the reason I was so scared to even look at my student loan accounts after I graduated was that I…
From Paralegal to Associate: Are you still doing “office housework”?
By Nadia Ennaji • February 26, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, Women and Law in the Media, Other Issues
I recently read an article written by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant on women doing office housework.[1] It couldn’t ring truer to my ears than now. As a paralegal, it is your job to do all the admin tasks being delegated by the attorneys. But as an attorney, I somewhat still am asked to do those admin tasks on top of the workload of an attorney. Recently, during a trial, not only was I expected to do all the preparation for the trial, but I was also expected to put the exhibits together, and prepare the binders. What is one supposed…
10 Habits of Wealthy Lawyers
By Joshua Holt • February 25, 2018 •Careers, Legal Academia, Law School, Pre-Law, Issues, Other Issues, Features, Myths & Truths
Setting yourself up for financial success isn’t about making one good decision. If willpower were all it took to get rich, we’d all have a million dollars by 3 pm and on a flight to a tropical island by 7 pm. Unfortunately (or fortunately really), building wealth is about changing behaviors through developing new habits. And just like any habit you’ve ever changed, it’s not something that happens overnight. You’ll have to build these habits over time. Here are my top 10 habits of financially successful people. Habit 1: Paradigm Shift People that are successful with money believe that money…
LEGALXX 2018: Women’s Legal Tech Event
By Nikki Torres • February 21, 2018 •Issues, Other Issues
Planning to visit ABA TECHSHOW? Interested in closing the gender gap for women in legal tech or women lawyers representing tech companies? Join us for a free, one-day symposium on closing the legal tech gender gap. Learn more at: https://www.legalxx.org/ LEGALXX - Women. Law. Technology. Wed, March 7, 2018 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM CST Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology 565 West Adams Street Chicago, IL 60661 Women are woefully underrepresented in the tech field, often facing sexism and harassment. As startup founders, investors, or tech employees, men often outnumber women many times over. If women play…
Don’t Be An Investing Clown
By Joshua Holt • February 10, 2018 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Issues, Other Issues, Features, Myths & Truths
The stock market just finished a great year. For every dollar invested on January 1, 2017, in an index fund tracking the S&P 500, the market returned a whopping 19.42% in appreciation by the end of the year. That’s not even taking into consideration the dividends paid. If you add in those, the index investor saw a return of 21.83% on each dollar invested (less fees, which of course should be kept to a minimum). Those are exciting numbers. What does a 21.83% return get you? Well, it doubles your money every 3.3 years for a start. You could get…
Female Lawyers: a Doubtful Advantage
By Ben Tor • January 31, 2018 •Issues, Other Issues
Harvard University presented the results of a study concerning graduates-lawyers. Among other observations of the career of those who came from an elite educational institution, it turned out that women who have made a career in law receive less, make marriages less often, and work more than their male counterparts. The study, entitled "Men and Women of the Harvard Law School", in which the 1975, 1985, 1995 and 2000 issues were studied, demonstrated how different are the lives of lawyers and professionals of different sexes. The differences were more than enough. Researchers - from the time of job search and…
When The Law Breaks Your Heart
By Kendra Strobel • January 30, 2018 •Issues, Other Issues
Law school taught me a lot of things. It taught me how to read a case, write a brief, argue an issue, and drink as much coffee as humanly possible. Among the things that law school didn’t teach me, however, was how devastating it would be the first time the law broke my heart. In all fairness, I’m not blaming law school for this – I have no idea how you teach someone what it will feel like when you watch a family torn apart and can’t do anything to stop it. For those of you who haven’t faced this…
The Best Way to Leave the Law When You’re Burned Out? Don’t.
By Amy Impellizzeri • January 26, 2018 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Other Law School Issues, Issues, •Women and Law in the Media, Other Issues
In 2009, I took a one year sabbatical from my 13+ year law career. I turned out the lights in my 42d floor office at 4 Times Square and left. Just a year. Nine years later, I often joke that I’m still on that one year sabbatical. The truth is, I’ve transitioned away from the active practice of law, and nine years has given me a fair perspective to understand how and why that transition has been so successful. In nine years, I’ve worked on the executive team of a pioneering start-up company, negotiated publishing contracts and a literary agency contract, launched…
You’ll Pay For This: The First Step Is Admitting You Have a Problem
By Kerriann Stout • January 25, 2018 •Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Other Issues
I owe $226,020.79 in federal student loan debt for my legal education. Let’s start at the very beginning. I was extremely fortunate to have my undergraduate education paid for through a mix of scholarships and parental-aid. When I graduated with my shiny new B.A in Modern Languages and Cultures (yeah, I know), I had no clue what I wanted to do, and I had no concept of how different my life would be with student loans breathing down my back. In my infinite 21 year old wisdom, I decided “I don’t know what I want to do, so I will…