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Summer Associate Advice Good for a Lifetime: Solicit, Receive, and Materialize Constructive Feedback
By Vanessa Stephens • May 31, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Politics and Government, Other Career Issues, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, •Mentoring and Networking
Many leaders succeed in their fields because they request continuous feedback, process it, and adjust their course. As a law students, I attended panel discussions centered on soliciting feedback very frequently, so it seems like a hot-button topic for young associates. The legal field is incredibly challenging; the learning curve is steep and the workplace dynamics are intricate. I want to make continuous and open dialogue about my learning opportunities a regular part of my legal process, so I talked to my mentors about how to request and receive actionable constructive feedback. Here are a few tips that I picked…
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…
Public service scholarship essay
By Nayelly Dominguez • May 05, 2019 •Law School, Other Law School Issues
Diversity, Inclusion, and Representation are words that have a strong presence in the legal community. With a greater push from clients for teams that reflect the diversity of the greater world we live in and a realization that the number of attorneys from under represented backgrounds is extremely disproportionate to the amount of white men from the good ole’ boys club, the push for diversity efforts in law school recruitment has been a significant one. While many law schools have increased the enrollment of students from underrepresented backgrounds, they have not gotten past using ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusiveness’ as buzzwords for recruitment…
Learning to Speak Up for Myself
By Rebecca Ray • May 05, 2019 •Law School, Other Law School Issues
I am generally a nonconfrontational person. I felt bad when I was seven and I told my mom that I wanted a different doll than the one she had picked out. I felt bad when I was eleven and I told my dad that I didn’t want to go to the haunted house because I was too scared. But I didn’t feel bad when I told someone who I thought was my friend to stop sexually harassing me. I was caught off guard when he first started messaging me. I was only fourteen and was still very unfamiliar with sex.…
Minding the Business that Pays You
By Caambridge Horton • April 28, 2019 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Curriculum and Classroom Dynamics, Other Law School Issues
One of the most difficult parts of law school thus far has been fighting the urge to get swept up in the all-consuming comparison trap. "Comparison is the thief of joy” is all too real when it comes to law school even though it is almost human nature to compare yourself with others. Comparison is something that most people utilize because it seems to serve as a way of measuring our success and achievement against someone who we deem to be in similar standing to us. The hard part about comparing yourself to others is that we live in a…
Come to the “SITIE” of Seattle!
By Rachel Sindorf • April 18, 2019 •Careers, Legal Academia, Other Career Issues, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Curriculum and Classroom Dynamics, Other Law School Issues, Issues, •Mentoring and Networking
Innovate Your Summer in the "SITIE" of Seattle! This is an open letter to all my Ms. JD law school colleagues. I would like to invite you to enroll in Seattle University School of Law’s Summer Institute for Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (SITIE), in Seattle, Washington. As one of the student co-founders of the forthcoming Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law, and a past student of the Immersion Course, I am excited to help spread the word about a new academic collaboration between the law school and attorneys at many of Seattle’s most cutting-edge technology companies, including Microsoft, The Allen Institute for…
Testing Accommodations are not a Gift of Extra Time
By Katherine Macfarlane • January 10, 2019 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Other Law School Issues, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination
Late last year, a University of Michigan Law student sent an email about testing accommodations to a public listserv. The subject: “People using ‘extra’ time.” In the email’s body, the student wrote: “I see you messing up the curve for me thanks.” Michigan Law’s Assistant Dean for Student Life issued a compassionate response affirming the law school’s commitment to diversity and its disabled students. Above the Law condemned the student’s complaints in a late-December column. Still, the idea that testing accommodations are a gift which might unfairly ruin another student’s grades persists. I want to debunk this myth. Accommodations are…
Tips for Saving Money For Law School and Paying Off the Debt
By Dennis Hung • December 18, 2018 •Law School, Other Law School Issues
For the top law schools, the price can be more than $43,000 a year. If you want to go to a less prestigious law school, it’s not much better. According to the American Bar Association, the average private law school cost $34,300, and for public schools, the cost can be more than $16,800. For you, going to law school isn't optional. You want to be a lawyer to help people, and it’s your dream to get there. Since law school can be expensive though, some people are turned away from getting their degrees. The good news is that there are…
Why You Should Take A Break From School Before Going To Law School
By Dennis Hung • December 17, 2018 •Law School, Pre-Law, Other Law School Issues
If you’ve worked hard to prepare for law school, the idea of taking a gap year might seem a little crazy. It took all you had to get this far, and if you lose momentum now, how will you ever be prepared for the demanding schedule required by your future school? While it may seem counterintuitive, a break can sometimes be just what you need to refresh your mind and prepare for a rigorous course of study. Time Off to Explore: Who Said a Break Was a Bad Thing? According to data from the Associated Press, up to 40,000…