As legal employers increasingly fault law schools for failing to prepare their students for the actual practice of law, law schools have responded with an increasing array of student requirements that appear relevant without actually requiring the law school to provide any of that pesky practical experience that most professors don’t actually have. For example, when law firms complain that students exiting law school don’t have a proper grounding in how to draft legal documents like motions, briefs, or memos, the law school may respond by adding an “analytic paper” requirement in which a student must write a short academic treatise on a legal topic.
Keep Reading ⇒
When you are job searching there is a “no stone unturned” mentality in finding a hopeful employer to send your “based on a true story” résumé and completely bullshit cover letter. One location that I never thought would work but actually has had some results is Craigslist. Yes the same website where you can buy used Ikea furniture can also help you find a job. Is it sketchy? Definitely. But no worries, Bitter Lawyer has your back. Keep these 5 tips in mind when applying and you likely won’t be skinned alive during the interview.
Keep Reading ⇒
The farther I get into law school, the harder it gets to avoid the reality that, at some point, my education will end. And at that point the real world will begin. The real world will of course include bar prep, the bar exam, and some type of employment: unemployment, funemployment, part-time employment, under-employment, non-legal employment, or the elusive and mystical fulltime legal employment.
As that finish line inches ominously closer, I find myself in more and more conversations with friends and family and random strangers about what I’m going to do next. They ask what I want to do when I graduate, what kind of law I want to practice, what my plan is. Seven months ago, I didn’t know how to answer their questions. I still don’t.
Keep Reading ⇒
Thinking about going to law school? That’s great. But first, ask yourself why. Do any of these reasons sound familiar?
1. I Want to Wait Out the Bad Economy
Maybe you are having trouble working in your current field, or maybe you are anticipating the end of college and can’t even imagine finding a job. Everyone in their twenties seems to be an amateur economist nowadays, and every unprofessional economist has the same analysis: that the economy will recover in exactly the amount of time it takes for me to finish graduate school. What everyone seems to forget is that a bad economy will make it harder to get coveted public interest internships while in law school, which will affect your ability to get a great job once law school is over and “the job market opens up.”
Keep Reading ⇒
When I first heard about the class action lawsuits alleging fraud based on inflated post-grad career placement statistics filed against 14 law schools, I wasn’t shocked in the least by the allegations contained in the complaints.
Instead, my reaction was more like, “Yep, that sounds about right.”
Keep Reading ⇒
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you already made the gravest error an educated person can possibly make in his or her lifetime, i.e. law school. Everything about that decision virtually guarantees a life of inescapable misery. It’s like walking into a Vegas casino with your life savings (most of it borrowed) and wagering it all at Casino War.
Keep Reading ⇒
(Click the image to see the full comic.)
