Law School Podcaster

Optimistic Outlook for In-House Hiring of Lawyers

2010-03-05T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports on "a breath of spring in a job market that’s been wintry for far too long." Given our recent post documenting the latest dismal numbers for law firm hiring of law students, it's refreshing to hear from the Association of Corporate Counsel’s (ACC) 10th Annual Chief Legal Officer Survey that things seem to be looking up for hiring of in-house lawyers.

According to the ACC survey, the outlook for Chief Legal Officers is showing signs of optimism, with increased job satisfaction and internal hiring plans for 2010.

Some key points to note from the survey:

• Uptick in hiring/staffing: There was a greater focus on internal hiring in legal departments, as well as an increase in corporate attorneys outside the U.S. Despite the recession, more than a quarter (29%) of the respondents plan to hire staff for their in-house legal departments in 2010,up from 23% who had hiring plans in last year’s survey.

• Job satisfaction is strong: Even with increased scrutiny and expanded duties, an overwhelming majority of respondents (91%) reported they are still satisfied with their chosen career, up from 88% in 2008.

• Increase in workload, demand for alternative fees and decrease in outside counsel work: Even with this uptick in staffing, the recession has impacted legal departments’ workload, budget and outside counsel spend. More than one-third (34%) of respondents reported a cut in spending on outside counsel, and those who did employ outside counsel used more alternative fee arrangements. (Of course, the downside is that this could mean less work for law firms, and fewer jobs for lawyers and law students at those firms).

While the optimistic outlook for hiring of in-house lawyers is a bright spot on the legal employment horizon, Ashby Jones, Lead Writer of The Wall Street Journal Law Blog notes in his post that, "of course, this doesn’t mean that the floodgates have opened. Nor does it mean that in-house jobs are going to be easy to get."

The increase in in-house hires may just be a glimmer of hope or it could be more of a restructuring caused by the recession, as suggested by ACC deputy general counsel, James Merklinger. Merklinger says in a recent post on Corporate Counsel: "The added hiring most suggests that the recession is forcing chief legal officers to change the way they operate. They're bringing more work in-house, spending less on outside counsel, and boosting spending on alternative fee arrangements, the survey shows."

Still, someone has to get those in-house jobs, right?

Ashby Jones of The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog was a guest on a recent Law School Podcaster segment, “The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants and Students.” Check out the full show to hear more on this topic.

The Latest Numbers on Recruiting Law Students

2010-03-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

It's hardly news, at this point -- we know that law school grads face layoffs, deferrals and increased competition for fewer jobs. Yet somehow the numbers from the fall 2009 recruiting season seem worth noting. As reported in the ABA Journal, the National Association of Law Placement's (NALP) annual Perspectives on Fall Recruiting (PDF) was released Tuesday and, not surprisingly, recruiting volume by U.S. legal employers on law school campuses "nose-dived."

Some key stats to note:

• Summer associates: the median number of offers dropped to seven for 2010 hiring. The median number of offers for students recruited in 2008 was 10, dropping from 15 in 2007, NALP reports.

• At large firms with more than 700 lawyers, offers extended to 2Ls dropped to eight in 2009, down from 18.5 in 2008 and 30 in 2007. And while larger firms of more than 500 lawyers were the most likely to cut back on-campus recruiting efforts, smaller firms with 100 lawyers or fewer were more likely to have kept to their regular on-campus recruiting schedule.

• Acceptance rates were 42.8 percent, the highest ever recorded -- evidence that law students quickly snapped up offers of employment.

• Almost two-thirds of offices reported that their summer program was at least one week shorter than in 2008. Among firms of 251-500 lawyers and 701 or more lawyers, over 70% did so.

• Deferrals were also way up, with 85 percent of law schools reporting that at least one 2009 graduate faced an offer delay well into 2010. NALP estimates that at least 3,200 and as many as 3,700 graduating law students faced deferrals.

• Third-year hiring all but dried up, with just a handful of offices reporting any activity at all, and with those that did typically making 1 or 2 offers. In total, only about 3% of employers reported recruiting any 3L students.

NALP Executive Director, James Leipold, said in a statement about the report, "this represents an enormous interruption in the usual recruiting and employment patterns that we have come to expect.” Leipold noted "the largest impact was the deferral phenomenon" for the Class of 2009.

While many deferred associates have now started to work, deferrals are still present and, NALP expects those who don't have solid start dates at this point will be deferred.

There is, of course, "tremendous variation in legal hiring -- both by region and by individual employer" but these numbers tell a story and NALP doesn't expect big improvement in this picture for the short term. The ABA Journal reports that "NALP expects law school recruiting to continue hobbling along until at least the class of 2012 graduates, "though the worst does now seem, we hope, to be behind us."

NALP's Jim Leipold was a guest on Law School Podcaster's segment, "The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants & Students." Tune into the full show to hear more on this topic.

In the End, Just a Few Small Changes to Law Firm Recruiting Guidelines

2010-03-01T05:33:00.000-08:00

In a recent post, we noted that "change does not come easily to the citizens of Law Firm Land." So no surprise that the board of the National Association of Law Placement (NALP) has, for now, made just two small changes to the law firm summer associate recruiting guidelines: The deadline for students to accept offers will drop from 45 days to 28 days, and the deadline for students who have completed a summer program to accept job offers will move from Nov. 15 to Nov. 1.

The National Law Journal (NLJ) reports that NALP board has backed off the recent NALP recommendation to delay the summer associate offer process by four months -- a proposal that would have initiated a January offer kickoff date for law firm summer associate offers.

Law firm recruiters and law school administrators "largely welcomed" the outcome, reports the NLJ. The NALP proposal to delay law firm summer associate offers to January, met with a chilly reception from many law firms and those involved in law firm hiring.

NALP Executive Director Jim Leipold said that the organization received 800 responses to the proposal since it was unveiled in early January, but there was "no easy consensus or even a trend around one particular idea." Leipold explained that "Law firms and law schools are both conservative and risk-averse institutions. The scope of change was very large and it doesn't surprise me that there was resistance."

NALP's Jim Leipold was a guest on Law School Podcaster's segment, "The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants & Students." Tune into the full show to hear more on this topic.

The "Go-To" Law Schools, According to the Biggest Law Firms

2010-02-23T06:22:00.000-08:00

Law school applicants getting ready to choose a law school will undoubtedly face a competitive legal hiring market, along with the prospect of servicing enormous debt on graduation. While it's fair to say that not everyone graduating from law school wants to or will be able to work in a big law firm, there's no escaping that one measure of a law school is the rankings and statistics that tell us how that school does with placing graduates in the biggest law firms. So, even if you think you might opt to work in the public sector or in another position outside of the big law firm world, it's worth looking at law school placement numbers at the big law firms when making that decision.

The National Law Journal (NLJ),has compiled its rankings of the Top 50 "Go-To" schools based on the percentage of 2009 J.D. graduates who landed jobs at NLJ 250 firms by Sept. 30, 2009, using survey data submitted by the 250 top law firms as ranked by NLJ.

At the top of the NLJ list is Northwestern University School of Law, which placed 55.5% of its graduates at NLJ 250 firms -- a sharp decline from 2008, when the highest percentage of graduates heading to NLJ 250 firms was 70.5%.

The top 25 schools in The National Law Journal’s annual Go-To Law School List are as follows:
1) Northwestern University School of Law -- 55.9%
2) Columbia Law School -- 55.4%
3) Stanford Law School -- 54.1%
4) University of Chicago Law School -- 53.1%
5) University of Virginia School of Law -- 52.8%
6) University of Michigan Law School -- 51%
7) University of Pennsylvania Law School -- 50.8%
8) New York University School of Law -- 50.1%
9) University of California, Berkeley School of Law -- 50%
10) Duke Law School -- 49.8%
11) Harvard Law School -- 47.6&
12) Vanderbilt University Law School -- 47.1%
13) Georgetown University Law Center -- 42.8%
14) Cornell Law School -- 41.5%
15) University of Southern California Gould School of Law -- 41.3%
16) University of Texas School of Law -- 36.6%
17) University of California at Los Angeles School of Law -- 35.9%
18) Yale Law School -- 35.3%
19) Boston College Law School -- 34.6%
19) Boston University School of Law -- 34.6%
21) George Washington University Law School -- 31.6%
22) Fordham University School of Law -- 29.4%
23) University of Notre Dame Law School -- 28.8%
24) Washington University School of Law, St. Louis -- 27.5%
25. University of Illinois College of Law -- 26.7%

The NLJ reports that "the 2009 percentages include deferred associates, so an even smaller group actually went to work last year. Remember, the list consists of the very top performing schools, where job prospects in years past have proven recession-proof. Not so in 2009. We’ve ranked the top 50 law schools by the percentage of 2009 juris doctor graduates who snagged jobs at NLJ 250 firms by Sept. 30, 2009. Numbers are based on information gathered from our annual NLJ 250 survey—statistics we get from the nation’s largest law firms."

The NLJ also identified firm favorites—the schools from which the top law firms on the NLJ 250 recruited most of its first-years in 2009.

Listen to our full podcast "Choosing the Right Law School," for more information on this topic.

Summary of Free LSAT Classes That Are Currently Being Offered

2010-02-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

Many test-prep companies these days are offering free sample LSAT® classes. Take advantage of the offers, test out the various companies and find a teacher and course that really works for you.

Here’s a summary of some of the top companies offering free classes:

1. Atlas LSAT Test Prep: Scroll down to “Trial Classes” and learn about attending the first session of the full LSAT prep course for free. Atlas LSAT also offers free LSAT workshops that teach strategies and review LSAT basics. Both Trial classes and LSAT workshops are free and available Live Online and in select cities across the US and Canada.

2. Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions: Scroll down “LSAT Prep” box and click on “Find a Free Event” and plug in your zip code. Sample classes, free practice tests and more near you!

3. Knewton: Free trial includes free practice test, live online instruction and LSAT® and law school admissions seminar.

4. Powerscore Test Preparation: “Free LSAT Help Area” with a collection of tips and discussions and a Complete LSAT® Logic Game Tutorial and Explanation.

5. The Princeton Review: Free LSAT® events across the country, including strategy sessions, practice tests, hyperlearning classes and forums.

Please let us know if we missed anyone!

For more info and tips about the LSAT, tune into our full show “The LSAT: Everything You Need To Know About the Test”.

To hear more from the test prep companies about the unique features of the different courses, study options and materials they offer, listen to our podcast “Comparing LSAT Test Prep Companies: Which One Is Right For You?"

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part: Upcoming Podcast to Look at "Getting In Off the Waitlist"

2010-02-17T10:50:00.001-08:00

The "Waitlist.” Purgatory. Limbo. Call it what you want. What does it mean? And, what should you do? Some schools advise the best thing to do now is nothing at all, while others say they want to hear from you with periodic updates. How can you tell what the right approach is?

Law School Podcaster rounded up some experts to help you plan your strategy. For our upcoming show, "Getting In Off the Waitlist," we interviewed Richard Geiger, Associate Dean, Cornell Law School, William J. Hoye, Associate Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs, Duke University School of Law, Graham Richmond, Founder and CEO of Clear Admit, Ann Levine, Owner of LawSchoolExpert.com and author of The Law School Admission Game: Play Like An Expert.

We’ll find out how to know whether a school really wants to hear more from you, what to send to the admissions committee, how often you should contact them, and what else you should know to help you move off the waitlist and on to the admitted students list. Stay tuned to hear more about this segment!

How to Mitigate a Weakness in Your Law School Application

2010-02-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest tasks confronting a law school applicant is the need to mitigate weaknesses or perceived weaknesses in an application. Nearly everyone applying to law school knows they need to perform this necessary step, but the hard part is ascertaining true weaknesses and then actually addressing them. Here is a 5-step process for mitigating the biggest weakness in your application:

1. Identify the biggest weakness in your candidacy. The first step is identification. If you don't know what your biggest weakness is, how can you possibly mitigate it? For many law school applicants, this is the most difficult task of all. Part of the problem is frame of reference. Most applicants attempt to perform a self-analysis and many are even incredibly critical of themselves, so the problem isn't one of willingness or effort. Instead, the issue stems from a failure to visualize the competitive landscape. More often than not, candidates will evaluate themselves by comparing their own backgrounds and accomplishments relative to those of the people around them (classmates, friends, family members, co-workers, etc.). This is a rather unhelpful comparison. Instead, a law school applicant should make every effort to analyze their candidacy in relation to other applicants. This is the primary value that admissions consulting companies like Veritas Prep provide, although students can certainly get this perspective from faculty members and friends, if they are lucky enough to have access to such qualified individuals.

2. Understand that the weakness works two levels. Every element of your application that might be a major weakness - GPA, LSAT score, resume, etc. - works on two levels: an obvious surface level and a latent, thematic level. The surface level is easy enough to understand, but is the hardest to compensate for, as the premise here can be summed up as "it is what it is." A 2.9 GPA is just that - a 2.9 GPA. There is nothing that you can do to change it and there's no way to convince a school that it doesn't matter. You have to report it to the law school and the law school has to report it to ranking agencies. Everyone in the process is captive to raw numbers and surface-level determinations. However, the thematic level is something else entirely. This is the aspect of a major weakness that most candidates miss, which is a shame because it is much easier to sway a decision-maker on a thematic level. To take the low GPA example above, the latent implication of a low GPA is a lack of discipline, focus, and maturity. Candidates have a much easier time showcasing those traits in other aspects of their profile than they do of making the low GPA go away.

3. Start with school selection. Once a weakness has been identified and properly understood on two levels, the first step toward mitigation is to be smart about school selection. Again, sticking with low GPA, it behooves a candidate to do some research into programs that seem more forgiving of a low GPA. A quick comparison of two elite law schools - Chicago and Berkeley (tied for 6th in U.S. News & World Report last year) - shows a pretty major disparity in GPA range. Berkeley's 25th-75th percentile range for GPA in 2009 was 3.64-3.9 while Chicago's was 3.49-3.76. That may not seem like much, but a .15 difference is massive for such equitable schools. Not surprisingly, Chicago's LSAT range is much higher than Berkeley's (169-173 for Chicago compared to 163-170 for Berkeley). You can make a lot of guesses as to why these disparities exist, but the biggest rule of thumb is don't fight it! If you have an awesome LSAT score and a lower GPA and are debating between Chicago and Berkeley, the choice should be easy. Apply to Chicago and give yourself the best chance to succeed.

4. Take any steps possible toward correction. Once you have a list of schools that makes the most sense, it is practical to take any steps you can toward "fixing" the weakness. This is cheating a little bit, because if something can be fixed, it rises to a level several degrees higher than mitigation. That said, it is startling to see how many candidates settle and accept their fate. If you have a sparkling profile but bomb the LSAT, take it again! If you tanked an accounting class freshman year, take another one. Sure, it won't erase that bad grade or change your GPA if you already graduated, but it will show the law school that you have grown up and are serious about moving in the right direction. When the weakness is in leadership, teamwork, or other extra-curricular factors, it is even easier to take correctional steps, as it simply requires getting involved.

5. Mitigate through the application. This is the step where every candidate ultimately lands if there is a true weakness in the profile. Once you've identified the weakness, worked through the two levels of impact, selected the best schools, and taken correctional steps, you are left with the challenge of positioning your application in such a way that it mitigates the harm of the weakness. Going all the way back to a low GPA and what it means for your candidacy, mitigation will mean using the application to express to the reader that you indeed have the maturity, focus, and discipline to succeed in a law school classroom. The position that such an applicant would take would be to build a "here's when the light bulb came on for me" narrative. For someone with a low LSAT score, the application becomes about intellectual horsepower. And so on. Most law school applicants mistakenly highlight their strengths at the expense of mitigating weaknesses, or they go too far and overtly apologize and make excuses for those weaknesses. The key is to use the personal statement and other application components as a way to change the reader's mind on a thematic level about a component from the profile. Ultimately, that is how you mitigate a weakness.

Adam Hoff is the Director of Admissions Consulting and Research at Veritas Prep. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and Pepperdine University, where he served as the Associate Director of Admissions. Adam oversees Veritas Prep’s law school admissions consulting services to ensure that Veritas Prep clients are successfully poised for admission to their select law schools.

You can hear more from Adam on strategic tips for your law school application in the Law School Podcaster episode, Law School Application Strategy: What You Can Do Now To Help You Get Accepted.

Turnabout Is Fair Play! ABA To Take Closer Look at Rankings of Law Schools & Law Firms

2010-02-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Looks like the organizations that rank law schools are about to be evaluated themselves. Can you hear the chuckles? The American Bar Association (ABA) voted this week at its midyear meeting to take a closer look at how a "variety of organizations" rank law law schools and law firms.

The ABA's resolution stopped just short of mentioning the U.S. News & World Report rankings, but that's clearly the focus. You may have heard that the U.S. News law school rankings have generated just a little bit of "discussion" and "debate" for quite a while now -- among law school deans, law firms that hire law grads, law school applicants and, well, just about everyone else.

Just what does this ABA resolution say? Well, it's pretty general, to say the least: "RESOLVED: That the American Bar Association examine any efforts to publish national, state, territorial, and local rankings of law firms and law schools."

It seems like the ABA vote was prompted, to some degree, by an announcement last July from U.S. News that it intends to add law firm rankings, conducted in conjunction with the Best Lawyers survey of law firms, to its annual reports. The rankings of law firms are expected to be published in October 2010. Counting the days already?

The ABA Journal reports that the New York State Bar Association sponsored the resolution, and said, in an accompanying report, “we know, based upon the experience of the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of law schools, that there will be significant issues regarding the validity of the rankings.”

After the resolution passed, ABA President Carolyn Lamm said that she would ask the ABA’s Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to examine law school rankings, and the Ethics 20/20 Commission to review law firm rankings.

To review, the ABA has resolved to "examine any efforts" of organizations to publish rankings of law school and law firms. Believe it or not, the ABA Journal reported that "the debate in the ABA’s House of Delegates about the measure proved to be the most contentious of any resolution it considered [Monday]." Yep, that's what they said.

Baby, It's Cold Out There! Law Firms Respond to Proposed Changes in Recruiting at Law Schools

2010-02-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

Change does not come easily to the citizens of Law Firm Land. Witness the tepid reaction, if not downright frigid, by some big law firms to the National Association of Law Placement (NALP) Report's (pdf) recommendation to move the period when offers are extended to law students to January, five months after on-campus interviews.

For those not yet familiar with the acronym from the on-campus interviewing (OCI) experience, NALP is the national organization of law schools and employers that, among other things, sets guidelines on the annual on-campus interview season, and determines how long students can hold onto a job offer before making a decision. Tradition is king here -- the process has remained pretty much the same for 40 years, with law firms recruiting on campus in the fall and making offers shortly thereafter.

The recent NALP Commission and subsequent Report (see our earlier post detailing the Report's recommendations) came as a result of the recession, where law firms found themselves overstaffed and forced to lay off hundreds of lawyers in New York and nationwide, and delayed by up to one year the first-year start dates.

Jones Day was an early critic of the plan for an “offer kick-off day” in mid-January during students’ second year of law school and now has offered more details in a critique (PDF) on its website that says the plan is an anticompetitive “radical restructuring” of the recruitment process.

NALP solicited comments to the recommendations in the Report and they are hearing back from member law firms and law schools. According to Jim Leipold, executive director at NALP, "almost universally people felt a January kick-off date was too late." The biggest issue? Recruiting officials at firms have expressed concerned that a January "offer kick-off day" will create a prolonged recruiting season with law firms spending nearly half a year wining and dining top students.

Leipold told the New York Law Journal, reaction to its proposals among the schools and firms is "mixed." NALP is reviewing feedback from more than 825 members, including more than 125 written comments.

NALP's Jim Leipold was a guest on Law School Podcaster's segment, "The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants & Students." Tune into the full show to hear more on this topic.

Brain Game Time! Another Logic Games Challenge.

2010-02-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Atlas LSAT has posted the most recent Logic Games Challenge #21 and they invite our listeners to join in: College Comedy Tour

A comic is planning her college tour schedule for the year. Her tour will include performances at least one of exactly eight different schools: Penn, Queens, Rice, Stanford, Tufts, Utah, Vermont and Wellesley. Her tour schedule must conform to the following conditions:

•If she performs at Rice, she will perform at neither Penn nor Stanford.
•If she performs at Queens, she will perform at neither Stanford nor Tufts.
•If she performs at Wellesley, she will perform at either Tufts or Utah, but not both.

1. Which one of the following could be a complete and accurate list of the schools at which she performs?
(A) Queens, Rice, Wellesley, Vermont
(B) Queens, Rice, Tufts, Vermont, Wellesley
(C) Rice, Tufts, Utah, Wellesley
(D) Rice, Stanford, Tufts, Wellesley
(E) Penn, Stanford, Tufts, Vermont, Wellesley

2. If she performs at Wellesley and Vermont, but not Utah, then she could also perform at any one of the following schools EXCEPT:
(A) Penn
(B) Queens
(C) Rice
(D) Stanford
(E) Tufts

3. If she performs at exactly four schools, including Tufts and Utah, the schools at which she does NOT perform could include any of the following pairs EXCEPT:
(A) Wellesley and Stanford
(B) Queens and Stanford
(C) Vermont and Rice
(D) Penn and Rice
(E) Stanford and Vermont

4. If she performs at exactly five schools, and does NOT perform at Rice, it could be true that she performs at neither
(A) Vermont nor Stanford
(B) Vermont nor Tufts
(C) Tufts nor Queens
(D) Tufts nor Utah
(E) Queens nor Stanford

5. If she performs at Rice, what is the maximum number of schools that could be included in the tour?
(A) 6
(B) 5
(C) 4
(D) 3
(E) 2

6. If she performs at exactly five schools, including Stanford and Vermont, the schools at which she does NOT perform could include any of the following EXCEPT:
(A) Penn
(B) Queens
(C) Rice
(D) Tufts
(E) Utah

Challenge Problem – Not for the faint of heart…
7. If she performs at exactly five schools, how many different groupings of schools (disregarding the order visited) are possible?
(A) 8
(B) 7
(C) 6
(D) 5
(E) 4

Think you have the answers? E-mail them to logicmaster@atlaslsat.com. First person to submit the correct answers wins a $25 Amazon gift card. The best explanation posted on Atlas LSAT Forums wins $25 as well.

Answers to Logic Games Challenge #20: (1)E (2)D (3)C (4)A (5)E (6) C (7) E

For more information about the LSAT, check out Law School Podcaster's full show "The LSAT: Everything You Need to Know About the Test." To hear directly from LSAT test preparation providers about study options, tune in to "Comparing LSAT Test Prep Companies: Which One is Right for You?"

Is LSAT Test Preparation In Your Future?

2010-02-07T13:29:00.001-08:00

Comparing LSAT Test Prep Companies: Which One is Right For You? is a new podcast from Law School Podcaster to help you consider some of the test preparation options available. To help you figure out the best approach to studying and preparation for the LSAT, we have interviewed the various test preparation companies to hear what they have to offer.

In this show, we hear directly from the folks at the following test prep providers:

* Atlas LSAT Test Prep
* Knewton
* Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
* Blueprint LSAT Preparation
* The Princeton Review
* PowerScore Test Preparation

They discuss the different types of courses they offer, from traditional classroom courses, private tutoring and online courses. Each company will have the opportunity to explain how they are unique and what makes them stand out. Listen and learn what option is best for you.

Talk About Bridging the Gap Between Law School Education and Legal Employers' Needs

2010-02-04T06:33:00.000-08:00

It's pretty much a safe bet that most law school applicants and students don't want to hear a legal employer equate their three year law school education, with oh... say... a Pontiac. But one general counsel of a large company put it just that way recently and that is the question posed by the title of a recent NALP (National Association for Law Placement)article, Has Legal Education Gone the Way of the Auto Industry?

The article, from the NALP 2010 Bulletin, reports on a December 14, 2009 panel of legal industry experts gathered in New York City "to continue the public conversation about changes that are happening in the legal industry." The Roundtable Discussion took place among a mix of law firm partners and associates, law school deans and NALP professionals. (NALP is probably best known to law students as the organization that provides the industry guidelines that govern on-campus interviewing (OCI) by legal employers at law schools around the country).

Highlights from the Roundtable discussions include the following:

•A back and forth about how the law school curriculum may need to change in response to changes in the economy and the industry and the role of law firms in training young lawyers.

•Philip Bradley, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Duane Reade, pointed to the gap between what law schools think they're doing and what the law firms think they're buying." Bradley continued, "For the law schools to continue to churn out people in sort of the academic vein without bridging that gap makes you somewhat akin to the car companies -- you're manufacturing something that nobody wants." He called on law schools to come into the modern world and "bridge the gap" because "the luxury of practicing law for three years to learn how to practice law -- which was what it was when [he] came out of law school -- isn't there today."

•A discussion focused on lawyer training and development both in law school and through the practice of law. Law firm and law school participants recognized that law schools do a good job of teaching the essential skill of "thinking like a lawyer," but also that law schools have to find better ways to teach a wide range of professional skills, loosely categorized by Dean William Treanor of Fordham University School of Law, as "the craft of lawyering skills"(these include clinical skills for both litigation and transactional practices, professionalism, business and quantitative skills, ethics, sense of service, problem solving skills group and teamwork skills and an awareness of emotional intelligence).

•A discussion of integrating more "experiential learning into the curriculum," without raising the cost of a legal education "by including more widespread use of internships and by providing more opportunities for specialization within the curriculum." This will require greater collaboration between law firm lawyers and law schools.

•The group drew insight from information about the "Canadian articling process, a year-long training program required by the provincial licensing authority in Canada that accomplishes many of the goals clients and firms in the U.S. say they want."

•There was discussion of law firms transitioning away from lock step advancement by law school class to "levels-based" advancement and compensation schemes. "Profitability is going to depend more on ... organizational capital in the future, as opposed to individual rainmaker capital."

•Bradley suggested that law firms take a "short-term view of things" when they "skinny back on the professional development programs [at law firms] in times of economic distress." He pointed to in-house counsels' frustration at law firm partners focused too much on "profits per equity partner" rather than investing in the in-demand group of people that they'll be pulling through the system."

To hear from the Executive Director of NALP, Jim Leipold, on what changes in the legal industry mean for law school applicants and students, tune into the Law School Podcaster episode "The Current Economic Environment ."

Promoting Women in the Law

2010-02-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

There's a great resource available to law students and it's also helpful and inspiring for those considering or applying to law school. Ms. JD is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded by law students four years ago to reinforce and expand the representation of women in law school and the legal profession. Ms. JD offers a wide range of content -- through it's website, ms-jd.org, blog, a student organization at 70 law schools around the country called the NWLSO (National Women's Law Student Organization), a national conference, scholarships, fellowships and lots more.

The Ms. JD blog has something for everyone! Blog posts include topics like “Advice on Taking the Bar Exam” and “How to Get a Clerkship” to “Balancing Acts: Your Career and Personal Life" and “Choosing A Career and Landing a Job".”

A few of the things to note from Ms. JD:

* Ms. JD Scholarship: Every summer Ms. JD funds summer stipends for two female law students dedicated to public interest work. Past recipients have used their stipends to intern at the ICC in the Hague, the JAG Corps, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and the Equal Justice Foundation.

* Ms. JD Fellowship: Ms. JD is launching the Leadership Fellows program. In conjunction with the ABA's Commission on Women in the Profession's Margaret Brent Award, Ms. JD will match 20 high-achieving female law students with mentors from among the Commission's alumnae of commissioners and award winners. The one-year program is designed to foster a commitment to excellence in a new generation of women attorneys, inspired by the generation of trailblazers who paved the way for their success.

Law School Podcaster is teaming up with Ms. JD to share more news and information that will benefit law school applicants and students.

Keep listening and stay tuned for more!

Law School Application Update: Up, Up, and Away!

2010-01-27T06:43:00.000-08:00

The law school application season is just beginning to wind down, and the application numbers coming in are up, up and away. Applications are up at many schools, but the "away" award goes to Cornell Law School -- reporting a 52% increase over applications filed last year. Cornell Law School's Dean of Admissions, Richard Geiger, told the University’s paper he was as mystified as anyone. “The increase is probably the result of a number of things working together,” Geiger told the Cornell Daily Sun. “What I can’t explain is why it’s 50 percent and not 20 percent.”

A 20 percent increase is more consistent with trends nationwide. The number of people who took the LSAT climbed 20 percent in October 2009, reaching an all-time high of 60,746. The New York Times recently reported that many other schools have reported substantial increases in applications over last year. "Washington University in St. Louis has had a 19 percent year-to-date increase in applications to its college of law. At the University of San Francisco School of Law, applications are up 35 percent over last year, and at the University of Iowa’s College of Law, applications are up 39 percent." According to the New York Times, "applications to the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University have risen 54 percent this year, an increase that might be related to its rise in the U.S. News & World Report rankings to 23 in 2009, from 36 the year before."

Richard Geiger, Cornell's Dean of Admissions, cannot point to any obvious reason for the increase in applications. He told the New York Times, “I’m a little thrown off by the fact that our increase is much bigger than expected. There’s nothing big we’re doing to explain that kind of increase.” Cornell's U.S. News & World Report Ranking has remained relatively stable.

Dean Geiger said that the 52 percent increase in applications means that “we’ll be a little more cautious in making decisions.” He explained that “the increase in applications will make us scrutinize things a little more carefully since we don’t fully understand what this is all about.”

What does this mean for applicants? Well, increased competition, most likely. The Cornell University newspaper reports that the law school "does not plan to increase its enrollment cap and remains committed to continue as 'a small, intimate collegial law school.'”

For applicants still waiting to hear from Cornell, that's not good news. Like most law schools, Cornell accepts students on a rolling basis, and many have already received their acceptance letters. Future law school applicants might want to make note of that for next year. Law school admissions deans around the country have been guests on Law School Podcaster shows and they tell us this over and over -- with rolling admissions, getting a law school application in early is key.

Cornell Law School Dean of Admissions Richard Geiger will be a guest on an upcoming Law School Podcaster segment, "Getting In Off the Wait List."

Latest Logic Game Challenge!

2010-01-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

Our friends at Atlas LSAT have posted the most recent Logic Game Challenge #20 and invite our listeners to join in:
IPA Beer

A bartender is organizing a taste test of the newest IPA beer selections. Exactly seven different varieties of beer will be tasted – Long Lake, Moon Rune, Newtonbury, Olenguard, Pumpkin Pale, Quest, and Roundabout – one at a time and consecutively.

No other beers are to be tasted. The bartender must adhere to the following rules:
• Olenguard must be the third beer tasted.
• There is exactly one beer tasted between Newtonbury and Quest.
• Either Long Lake or Pumpkin Pale is the fifth beer tasted.
• Either Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Roundabout or Moon Rune is tasted before Newtonbury, but not both.

1. Which one of the following could represent the order in which the beers are tasted, from first to last?

(A) Long Lake, Newtonbury, Olenguard, Pumpkin Pale, Quest, Roundabout, Moon Rune
(B) Long Lake, Moon Rune, Olenguard, Newtonbury, Pumpkin Pale, Quest, Roundabout
(C) Long Lake, Quest, Olenguard, Newtonbury, Roundabout, Pumpkin Pale, Moon Rune
(D) Long Lake, Newtonbury, Moon Rune, Quest, Pumpkin Pale, Olenguard, Roundabout
(E) Long Lake, Quest, Olenguard, Newtonbury, Pumpkin Pale, Roundabout, Moon Rune

2. Which one of the following must be true?

(A) Long Lake must be the first beer tasted.
(B) Moon Rune must be the last beer tasted.
(C) Pumpkin Pale must be the fifth beer tasted.
(D) Either Newtonbury or Quest must be tasted fourth.
(E) Either Long Lake or Pumpkin Pale must be tasted first.

3. If Roundabout is tasted first, which one of the following must be true?

(A) Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Moon Rune.
(B) Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Long Lake.
(C) Moon Rune is the second beer tasted.
(D) Newtonbury is the sixth beer tasted.
(E) Quest is the sixth beer tasted.

4. Each of the following could be true EXCEPT:

(A) Pumpkin Pale is tasted second.
(B) Moon Rune is the first beer tasted.
(C) Moon Rune is the seventh beer tasted.
(D) Roundabout is tasted second.
(E) Roundabout is tasted seventh.

5. If Newtonbury is tasted at some point after Pumpkin Pale, which one of the following could be true?
(A) Long Lake is tasted before Pumpkin Pale.
(B) Neither Newtonbury nor Quest is tasted before Long Lake.
(C) Neither Moon Rune nor Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Olenguard.
(D) Olenguard is tasted after Long Lake.
(E) Moon Rune is tasted before Roundabout.

6. If Pumpkin Pale is tasted first, the seven beers could be tasted in how many different orders?

(A) Four
(B) Five
(C) Six
(D) Seven
(E) Eight

7. Which one of the following, if substituted for the condition that either Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Roundabout or Moon Rune is tasted before Newtonbury, but not both, would have the same effect on the order in which the beers are tasted?

(A) Either Roundabout is tasted after Pumpkin Pale or before Moon Rune, but not both.
(B) Either Long Lake or Roundabout is the first beer tasted.
(C) Either Newtonbury or Quest is tasted sixth.
(D) Either Pumpkin Pale is tasted before Moon Rune, or Roundabout is tasted before Newtonbury, but not both.
(E) Either Roundabout is tasted before Pumpkin Pale, or Newtonbury is tasted after Moon Rune, but not both.

Think you have the answers? E-mail them to logicmaster@atlaslsat.com. First person to submit the correct answers wins a $25 Amazon gift card. The best explanation posted on Atlas LSAT Forums wins $25 as well.

Answers to Logic Games Challenge #19: (1)B (2)A (3)E (4)C (5)C (6)C (7)D (8)D

For more information about the LSAT, check out Law School Podcaster's full show "The LSAT: Everything You Need to Know About the Test."

Law School Applicants and Students Face Changing Landscape for Employment

2010-01-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

In “No Longer Their Golden Ticket,” the New York Times shines a spotlight on the rough and changing landscape of the legal job market and paints a dismal view of associate life at Big Law firms -- worse now than before the Recession. The article reports on the reshaping of law firm culture and describes the legal profession as one in a tight squeeze: “lurch[ing] through its worst slump in decades, with jobs and bonuses cut and internal pressures to perform rising.”

Not surprisingly, it's the economy. "The main reason for the squeeze is the Great Recession, which has cut deeply into the kinds of companies — in financial services, real estate, high tech — that are the wellsprings of fees for corporate lawyers. The client companies that survived are doing fewer deals, and driving harder bargains with their lawyers: many negotiate a flat fee for the job, meaning firms can no longer bill by the hour for every legal eagle on the case."

The squeeze felt by associates at BigLaw firms and other lawyers seeking employment is not news to those living the life or for anyone following the legal blogs, which track daily the attorney layoffs, start-date deferrals, salary freezes, scaled back recruitment programs and bonus cuts that have become so familiar. As one law firm partner interviewed for the story observed: “the next generation may have to expect less from a legal career.”

'Less,’ here seems to mean, ‘less money.’

What has come to pass is that a law degree is not a ticket to a six-figure salary and a six-figure bonus,” said Matthew A. Feldman, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York. Smart, talented people will still find advancement within firms, he said. But “speaking candidly,” he added, “in the past, associates were a little oblivious” in presuming that if they “simply showed up every day and didn’t offend anyone, they were there indefinitely. They have had a wake-up call.

It's clear that certain things about law-firm life and the wider legal employment market are changing. But aside from "less money," experts say that some of these changes might actually be healthy. These include a wider array of recruitment practices, a shift from lock-step to merit-based, competency-based advancement and compensation, professional training and development that includes apprenticeship programs as well as generally a more diverse approach to the business model of a law firm. On a recent Law School Podcaster segment, Ashby Jones, Lead Writer for the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and Jim Leipold, Executive Director of NALP (National Association for Law Placement) shared some of their insights on these changes with our listeners.

Here is some of what they told us:

•Ashby Jones, Lead Writer, The Wall Street Journal Law Blog:

“Law firms are sort of trying to rethink the way they do business, rethink the way they hire people, rethink the way they pay their employees, pay their associates, compensate their partners et cetera, sort of everything that has been the textbook way that law firms run themselves is being reshaped and rethought right now, so it is sort of a crisis point and inflection point and law firms are having to adjust to it. How does that affect the current law student? For the most part, it is a challenge, it is a moment of crisis, but in crisis arises opportunity often. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look and knowing what opportunities are going to attract you.”

• Jim Leipold, Executive Director of NALP (National Association for Law Placement):

“In a way, things got so bad that firms were freed up from looking over their shoulder to see what the other firms were doing and it allowed them to try some new things. So we’re seeing some firms, for instance, implement what they’re calling apprenticeship programs where they’re bringing students on in the first year at a much lower salary but also with a much lower expectation in terms of billable hours and they’re devoting more of that first year to training. We’re seeing some firms lower their starting salaries and others not. We’re seeing some firms say, “We’re going to skip our summer program and just hire laterally. We’re not going to take first year law students right out of school. We’re going to wait and just grow our firm laterally.” So I think what that means is that, where in the recent past, law firms, particularly large law firms, have tended to all do the same thing in almost a knee-jerk way and salaries have coalesced very quickly around the common number and recruiting practices have coalesced very quickly around common practices. I think what we’re going to see going forward is more diversity of practice in all of these areas and I actually think that’s healthy. So you’ll have firms that compete with each other some of whom have apprenticeship programs, some of whom don’t; some of whom offer a starting salary of 160, some of whom offer starting salary that’s considerably lower, some of whom abandon a model of hiring first year new associates and others who continued to have traditional summer programs followed by first year associates. In the training and development arena, you see some law firms leaving this lock step model where each year you automatically get a promotion and moving to a more merit based, competency based system. And so you may or may not progress from year to year. All of those things were beginning to happen before the recession for a number of reasons but the recession accelerated most of those changes and I think will support those changes... .So students are just going to have to be prepared for a much broader range of practices and understanding for each firm that they’re interested in what course that firm is choosing.”

Check out our podcast “The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants and Students,” to hear more on this topic.

Keep Law Schools Updated on Your Recent Accomplishments

2010-01-12T07:05:00.000-08:00

Once your law school application is finally complete, you send it in and wait. Right? Well, there may still be more to do.

Most law schools have a rolling admissions process that extends over several months. If you sent in your application early, and it is deferred, held or even rejected, you should update the law school with any new and significant information you think they should have to evaluate your candidacy. We spoke recently with George Washington University Law School's Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, Anne M. Richard, and she suggests you notify the law school and provide them with new and "material" information. "An improvement in your LSAT score, membership in Phi Beta Kappa, job promotions and awards." These are the types of things that strengthen and improve your application enough to merit notifying a school.

Dean Richard says that may even make sense if your application was already considered and rejected by a law school. Depending on what the new information is, it may be just enough to earn reconsideration and a spot in the incoming class. Dean Richard tells us that GW Law School wants to hear from an applicant with that type of new information.

Harvard too? The Official JD Admissions Blog at Harvard Law School recently offered similar advice to the first batch of applicants the school put on "hold". "Hold" status is where the admissions committee is "not quite ready to make a decision on your application yet and need[s] some more time to re-examine it in the context of the broader applicant pool." HLS Dean of Admissions, Josh Rubenstein, encouraged applicants placed on "hold" to send updates such as honors or awards you've recently won, a new job, or anything else that you think could materially impact our evaluation of you."

While LSAT scores and updated transcripts will need to come from LSAC or LSDAS, you might want to find out the best way to send other updates to a particular school (email or postal mail etc).

Listen to “Law School Application Strategy: What You Can Do Now To Help You Get Accepted” and "Creating the Killer Law School Application: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Best Application" to hear other tips from experts inside the admissions offices at several top law schools about the ways to make your application go from good to better, to getting that acceptance letter!

Summer Associate Offers In January? NALP Report Recommends Changes in Recruiting At Law Schools

2010-01-08T06:28:00.001-08:00

Ever wonder about the "logic" behind incoming 2L law students leaving their summer vacations in mid-August, heading back to campus, wearing their nicest business suits, to join the frenzied fray that is known as "on-campus interviewing (OCI)?"

Whether you look at it from the point of view of the students pressured to participate and decide early before fully considering the full range of employment options, the law firms trying to assess and anticipate future hiring needs two years in advance or the law schools pressured to schedule OCI just as the semester is starting, there's considerable dissatisfaction with the timing guidelines for law firm recruiting. Ashby Jones, Lead Writer for the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, observed in a recent Law School Podcaster show "the thing about law school and hiring is that it all happens in advance to a degree that a lot of people find sort of absurd."

These concerns, made worse by the economy, may finally lead to changes in the recruiting timeline. NALP's (National Association for Law Placement) Commission on Recruiting and the Legal Profession issued an initial report (PDF) this week recommending that law firms shift away from rolling offer deadlines to a framework based on specific dates ("Offer Kick-Off Days") before which offers for employment cannot be made. The ABA Journal reports that the NALP Commission recommends moving back the date for summer associate job offers until mid-January of the second year of law school (establishing an "offer kick-off day") and proposes "shortening the period of time during which offers remain open from 45 days to 14 days."

While this initial Phase I of the NALP Commission's report focused on potential changes that could be implemented as early as the 2010-2011 academic year, and thus focused mainly on timing guidelines, the NALP Commission also plans to look more closely at the topic of fundamental legal recruiting model changes. That could be pretty interesting.

While the American Lawyer reports that some law firms are worried the proposed changes will just mean they have to "wine and dine" candidates for a longer period of time, the NALP Commission suggests that a January Kick-Off Day might open up the possibility for employers "to experiment with more in-depth interviewing and assessment techniques" and "allow law firms to make decisions after receiving year-end financial data."

Jim Leipold, is the Executive Director at NALP, and was a recent guest on our Law School Podcaster segment, The Current Economic Envcironment: What It Means for Law School Applicants and Students. He gave us a bit of a preview of what we're hearing now and some insight into why the economy might be driving some of the possible changes in law firm recruiting. "Things were beginning to happen before the recession for a number of reasons but the recession accelerated most of those changes and I think will support those changes. I think, over time, we’ll see more firms drift toward recruiting later so, rather than the focus being on students as they return to school in the beginning of their second year, recruiting will probably begin to happen later in the second year, whether that’s late Fall or early Spring, and there too, different firms may choose to recruit at different times. So students are just going to have to be prepared for a much broader range of practices and understanding for each firm that they’re interested in what course that firm is choosing.”

To hear more on this topic, tune in to the full show, "The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants and Students."

Latest LSAT Logic Game Challenge

2010-01-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Our friends at Atlas LSAT have posted the most recent Logic Game Challenge #19 and invite our listeners to join in: Lab Projects

Lab Work

Envirolab will schedule three projects—F, G, and H—to their lab facilities over a five-week period. Exactly one project will be assigned to each of the five weeks, and each project will be assigned at least once. One of the projects is made up of eight researchers, one is made up of ten researchers, and one is made up of twelve researchers. The scheduling of the lab must conform to the following constraints:

• Project F is assigned to more weeks than project H.
• There are more researchers assigned to project H than project F.
• More researchers are assigned to week three than are assigned to either week one or week two.
• The project assigned to week two does not have eight researchers.
• Project F is assigned to week four.

1. Which one of the following could be an accurate schedule of projects for the five weeks, listed in order from week one to week five?
(A) G, H, F, F, F
(B) G, G, H, F, F
(C) F, F, H, G, F
(D) H, H, G, F, G
(E) F, F, H, G, G

2. If there are more researchers assigned to week one than week five, how many different possible schedules for the projects could be made?
(A) 2
(B) 4
(C) 6
(D) 8
(E) 10

3. If project F has ten researchers, then which one of the following could be a partial assignment of projects to weeks?
(A) week two: project F; week three: project F
(B) week two: project H; week three: project F
(C) week one: project H; week two: project F
(D) week one: project G; week two: project F; week five: project H
(E) week one: project G; week two: project F; week four: project F

4. Which one of the following weeks must have twelve researchers assigned to it?
(A) week one
(B) week two
(C) week three
(D) week four
(E) week five

5. If project G has twelve researchers, which one of the following is a complete and accurate list of the weeks to which project F must be assigned?
(A) four
(B) two and four
(C) one and four
(D) one, two, and five
(E) one, four, and five

6. If ten researchers are scheduled for week one, which one of the following CANNOT be true?
(A) project G is scheduled for week one
(B) project F is scheduled for week two
(C) project H is scheduled for week five
(D) project F is scheduled for week five
(E) project H is scheduled for week three

7. If the condition that more researchers are assigned to week three than are assigned to week one or week two is replaced with the condition that more researchers are assigned to week one and week two than are assigned to week three, and if all other conditions remain in effect, then each of the following could be true EXCEPT:
(A) F is assigned to week one
(B) H is assigned to week three
(C) G is assigned to week three
(D) H is assigned to week three and G is assigned to week five
(E) G is assigned to week one and H is assigned to week five

8. Which one of the following conditions, if substituted for the condition that project F is assigned to more weeks than project H, would have the same effect in determining the schedule of projects?
(A) Project G is assigned to one or two weeks.
(B) Project H is assigned to exactly one week.
(C) Project F is assigned to more weeks than project G.
(D) Project G is assigned to a maximum of two weeks, and project H is assigned to a maximum of one week.
(E) Project F is assigned to a maximum of three weeks, and project G is assigned to a maximum of two weeks.

Think you have the answers? E-mail them to logicmaster@atlaslsat.com. First person to submit the correct answers wins a $25 Amazon gift card. The best explanation posted on Atlas LSAT's forums wins $25 as well.

For more information about the LSAT, check out Law School Podcaster's full show, "The LSAT: Everything You Need to Know About the Test."

Tips On That Critical Law School Personal Statement

2010-01-04T06:17:00.001-08:00

If you haven't done so yet, it's time to tackle that law school personal statement. You've spent the last few years developing your GPA and you've given over months of your life to preparing for the LSAT. So how much does the essay part of your application matter?

Enough that we devoted an entire show to the topic! In "The Law School Personal Statement and Letters of Recommendation: Where To Begin?," we run down what you should know about putting together a winning personal statement -- where to begin, what to focus on and how law schools will use your essay to evaluate your overall application.

Aside from the hard numbers of your GPA and LSAT score, the personal statement and letters of recommendation really help admissions committees distinguish between applicants and it's the single most important part of your entire application which you can control. Accepted.com's Linda Abraham tells us “the personal statement is absolutely critical and letters of recommendations too, for that matter. It is absolutely critical when your numbers are competitive."

Are you wondering just how much weight your personal statement has in the admissions decision? Probably more than you think. Dean of Admissions at UC Berkeley Law’s Boalt Hall, Edward Tom tells us “if I had to quantify the weight I would weight it about one-third of what we look at, the other two-thirds being respectively the LSAT and the academic record. So if you look at it that way, the personal statement is the same weight as the LSAT score."

So, where to begin? Sounds obvious, but make sure you answer the question you are asked. Adam Hoff, Director of Admissions Consulting at Veritas Prep says “most people who read applications will tell you the one thing they wish people did with their personal statements is just answer the question that they have. Every application begs a question and the most important thing that you can do in your law school personal statement is to answer that question."

Accepted.com Senior Editor Paul Bodine authored the book Great Personal Statements for Law School and says “the first step in writing an essay is not really writing anything at all. It’s sort of asking yourself what is important to you, what experiences have influenced you most, what accomplishments you’re proudest of. Then the next step is developing stories that capture that self reflection.”

Emory University Pre-Law Advisor, Rodia Vance says that applicants should write about life experiences that reflect their interests, character traits and to find a way to connect those to going to law school. “You do want to be able to express to the committee why you feel that obtaining a JD is the right next step for you and one of the ways that you can do that is to think about those experiences that you’ve had that have been the most meaningful, what they have meant to you, what you have learned from them and then how those lessons connect to your interest in pursuing a legal education.”

So what is the admissions committee looking for when they read your personal statement? G. Todd Morton, Dean of Admissions at Vanderbilt Law says “a good personal statement really helps to demonstrate something about the individual as a prospective law student." He wants to see an essay that not only demonstrates "effective communication skills" but one that also reveals "candor and self-reflection" and "earnest engagement with the prospect of entering law school."

Tune into the full show to hear more. Also, learn how to prepare the people you chose to write your letters of recommendation so that your recommendations are consistent with your personal statement and help enhance the overall image you are building of yourself.

The February LSAT

2009-12-28T11:00:00.001-08:00

Around this time of year, some law school applicants ponder the question -- do I wait to complete my application and re-take the February LSAT or do I go ahead and submit a weaker score and get my application read earlier in the process?

On the one hand, if you take the LSAT multiple times, many law schools weigh most heavily your highest score and there are schools that will still consider your application with a February LSAT score. Rob Schwartz, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at UCLA Law tells us “many schools today will put a lot of emphasis on the high LSAT and we do that here at UCLA -- meaning if somebody takes it multiple times, we’ll put a lot of weight on the higher score. Many schools will accept the December administration of the LSAT and some schools will even accept the February administration of the LSAT, even in the year in which you are applying -- and we’re one of those schools."

On the other hand, we've also heard over and over again that the best strategy is to get the earliest possible consideration of your application. Andy Cornblatt, Dean of Admissions at Georgetown University Law Center, explains that "most law schools have rolling admissions and that means the sooner you apply, the better your chances are of being admitted." He tells us that "when" you apply is critical and communicates an important message to the admissions committee. “Someone who is on top of their game and who is applying early and who is in the mix sooner rather than later. That communicates to us someone who is organized and someone who is really interested."

In weighing your best option, keep in mind that, while some schools do "accept" February LSAT scores, this means your application necessarily will be considered later in the rolling admissions cycle -- most likely in March. By then, law schools will have already accepted many applicants and will have placed lots of others on the waiting list. Your February score will have to be good -- really good -- to earn you a spot in that school's class. In short, your application will have to show qualifications above and beyond those already on the waiting list. So, while some schools do accept the February LSAT, only the most qualified applicants are likely to get in at that point.

Bottom line? Unless you think you're going to have time to really prepare and nail that February exam, it might be better to complete your application and submit it with your current score(s). If you do elect to re-take, make sure you prepare and have a reasonable degree of confidence your score will improve enough to make it worth risking the delay in completing your application.

For more tips on the best application strategies, tune in to hear our podcast "Law School Application Strategy: What You Can Do Now To Get Accepted."

Law School Application Timeline: Early is Good; Stronger is Better

2009-12-23T06:25:00.001-08:00

Law school applicants often wonder when the best time is to submit their law school application. The timeline question focuses often on strategy and choices. In an earlier post "Best Time to Submit Law School Applications," we discussed that, since most law schools have rolling admissions, those inside admissions offices say it is best to get your application in "early," and "early" means between Thanksgiving and New Years. But is it better to get your application completed in this time frame or should you re-take the LSAT, polish that Personal Statement, or include the latest awards or achievements? What about applicants for part-time programs? Do the same strategies apply there?

We spoke today with Anne M. Richard, Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at George Washington University Law School. She tells us "early is good, but stronger is better." Dean Richard and the Admissions Committee at GW Law consider thousands of law school applications each year. And while it makes sense to get a strong application in early, she recommends that you take the time you need to make sure your application reflects the strongest, best case for admission that you can possibly make, rather than just rush to get it in now. If a little time might give you the chance to strengthen certain aspects of your application, it's worth taking that time to give yourself and your application the best chance possible with the admissions committee.

What about applicants to part-time law school programs? Does the same timeline strategy apply to law school applicants applying to part-time programs? Dean Richard tells us, "yes" and explains that, since most law schools consider part-time applications at the same time in the admissions process as applications for full-time programs, the same advice holds here as well -- "early is good, but stronger is better."

Tune in to our show, “Law School Application Strategy: What You Can Do Now To Help You Get Accepted” to hear more from Dean Richard on how to make your law school application stand out!

Letters of Recommendation: Another Part of Your Law School Application That’s In Your Hands!

2009-12-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

Putting the finishing touches on your law school application? Just starting to think about what you will need when you do apply? You’ll want to make sure you give some thought to those letters of recommendation that the admissions committee will look at. In our show, “Law School Personal Statements and Letters of Recommendation,” we hear from deans at top law schools about how admissions committees evaluate recommendation letters and we get some tips from experts who have successfully guided applicants through the admissions process about the best way to secure stellar letters from your recommenders. We hear that applicants who fail to take advantage of the opportunity to use the recommendation letter to their advantage are missing out.

In this segment, Law School Podcaster Host, Diana Jordan, speaks with UC Berkeley-Boalt Hall Dean of Admissions, Edward Tom and he tells us what the admissions committee wants to see in these letters. “I think all law schools have a 1st choice and that would be people who have taught you at the university level, whether it’s a TA (Teaching Assistant), a GSI (Graduate Student Instructor) or a professor. Those are the very best letters, because we are looking for a 3d party’s candid assessment of your potential to study law. The 2d best sorts of letters will come from colleagues at work, internship supervisors or your supervisor in a job, especially if they can, in their letter, talk about any kind of legal-related, writing-related or research- related experience.”

Vanderbilt University Law School Dean of Admissions, Todd Morton, says there is one thing in particular to keep in mind. “The key to recommendations are not necessarily what’s in them, but that they are from people who know the candidate well, because letters from people who barely know the applicant are usually not very helpful in assessing the kind of attributes [the admissions committee is evaluating].”

Adam Hoff, Director of Admissions, Consulting and Research at Veritas Prep, says that “the biggest mistake people make is that they go for title over the relationship.”

Unsure how you should approach a recommender to make sure you get the letter you really want? Author and Senior Editor at Accepted.com, Paul Bodine gives us a roadmap for the best way to ask a recommender to write a strong, detailed letter. Accepted.com Founder and President, Linda Abraham then details how applicant's can prepare their recommender so they can write a strong and enthusiastic letter.

Emory University Pre-Law Advisor Rodia Vance helps applicants with the timeline and talks about when to give your recommenders the letters to write, so that they have the time they need.

Stay tuned for the full show!

Due Diligence and Reasonable Expectations Before You Apply to Law School!

2009-12-21T07:35:00.000-08:00

There’s been a lot of attention focused recently on whether a law school education remains a worthwhile investment, given the ever-increasing rise in law school tuition combined with challenges newly minted law school grads face in today’s job market. Much of the discussion follows the release of a recent LexisNexis survey, revealing that “one fifth (21%) of law school students say that based on the changing legal marketplace, they regret attending law school.” The National Law Journal’s recent article, “Going to Law School? Proceed with Caution” adds to the debate by reporting that “[o]n the Internet and in academic circles, debate is flaring over the value of a juris doctor, and whether the degree is a wise investment for many of the thousands who flock to law schools each year. Law schools have always had detractors, but the rising cost of legal education and the dearth of jobs available to new graduates is prompting more people to urge prospective law students to think twice before they write their first tuition check.”

The irony, of course, is that all this debate seems not to have slowed the stream of applicants to the growing number of ABA-approved U.S. law schools. The National Law Journal noted that “applications to law schools accredited by the American Bar Association increased by 5 percent for this year's incoming class, according to the Law School Admissions Council, and the number of people taking the Law School Admission Test this October shot up by nearly 20 percent.”

So, what’s someone considering law school supposed to make of all this?

We share some words of wisdom from guests on recent Law School Podcaster segments. Their collective message is worth hearing. It’s not all bad, but applicants can no longer head to law school blissfully uninformed about what their career options might be after graduation, while simultaneously taking on enormous debt. Gone are the days when law school is the default graduate degree for those unsure of what it is they want to do or for those seeking a stable, comfortable living. Whether you choose law school, which law school you choose and how much debt you can afford to take on in light of potential job prospects has to be evaluated before you go.

Listen to what recent guests have to say on this topic:

•Johann Lee, Dean of Admissions at Northwestern Law: Those considering law school must “do some due diligence about whether a career in the law and a law school education is really for you and, if that’s what you really want to be doing, there’s a place for you in the profession.” He reminds applicants that “law school is a professional school, it’s very similar to medical school but no one ever goes to medical school without thinking about what it means to be a doctor. Well, a lot of people go to law school without thinking what it means to be an attorney. They don’t go through that particular due diligence. So I think, as an applicant, definitely I’d think about what it means to go to law school.”

•Assistant Dean of Enrollment Services at Fordham School of Law, Stephen Brown: Law school is an investment and you should treat it as such. “It can be a good or bad investment, depending on what you’re looking to do with your life, depending on your choices. So pay attention to this as you would at any other investment. You find people to do more research on cars than law school, so that’s important.”

•Washington University Law School’s Dean of Career Services, Michael Spivey: Applicants should think carefully about what they want to do with a JD before they start signing loan papers. “Do they really want to work for a law firm, for example, or would they be more interested in prosecutorial roles, as prosecutors. The starting salary there is $50,000 a year. That’s the 2008 medium starting salary, but even that has grown 51% since 1996, and some people are much, much happier in litigation roles than they are working for large firms. Judicial clerkships, that’s another position where people, some students really are excited about, and that starts at $50,000. So we try to couple, keeping up on financial burdens. We try to couple how much financial debt they have with what sort of lifestyle they want to lead, whether they want to work for legal services or they want to work for a judge or they want to work what I would call nontraditionally or asymmetrically, and we counsel them what the lifestyle is at a big law firm. Some people love that, some people don’t want to jump on that boat.”

•Jim Leipold, Executive Director of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP): Students should carefully consider the amount of debt they take on and how they will pay off that debt after graduation – even if they do not land the job they might want after graduation: “I think the biggest problem for law students who are graduating right now will be figuring out how to manage their debt, among other things, until such time as they can find a job and enter the economy. So I think careful financial planning is going to be really important.”

•Mark Kantrowitz, Publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.com says don’t just sign the stack of papers without knowing what you’re signing. This is important: Be meticulous. “A common problem that I encounter is students who figured that they’d worry about their loans after they graduated and ask them who your loan is with, what are the interest rates, how much did you borrow, and they just don’t know the answers. A mistake in which loan you borrow or how much you borrow can cost you severely after you graduate.”

•Johann Lee, Dean of Admissions at Northwestern Law: Students must combine due diligence with reasonable career expectations. “There was this thought that these huge law firm jobs were just growing on trees right outside the law school, you just go outside and you pick whatever job that you wanted. Now, it’s more like your regular job market. You have to work a little bit at it but still, the opportunities are still available. So in the end, it just means a little more due diligence is involved as a law school applicant but in the end, the careers are still out there. The sky isn’t falling really.”

Check out our full shows “The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants and Students,” and “”Financing Your JD” to hear more on this topic.

Giveaway Alert!

2009-11-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

“Financing Law School” Giveaway: Twitter Contest!

Enter for a chance to win a free copy of Accepted's essential guide to “Financing Your Future” in our Twitter contest!

We’re giving away three copies of Accepted.com’s new Ebook Financing Your Future: Winning Fellowships, Scholarships and Awards for Grad School, by Linda Abraham and Rebecca Blustein. In Financing Your Future, an instantly downloadable Ebook, Linda Abraham and Rebecca Blustein reveal practical, hands-on advice to help you complete your fellowship, scholarship, and award applications and obtain those critical funds. Linda Abraham is president and founder of Accepted.com, and has advised literally thousands of successful applicants over the last fifteen years. At UCLA’s Scholarship Resource Center, Rebecca Blustein assisted students at all levels with their essays and personal statements for scholarship, fellowship, and grant applications, from newly-admitted freshmen to graduate school, professional school, and Ph.D. students.

All you have to do is sign up to follow Law School Podcaster on Twitter (LAWPodcaster) and tweet about our new show “Financing Your JD,” mentioning LAWPodcaster! Then email info@lawschoolpodcaster.com with a copy of your tweet and your preferred contact information. Remember to put “Book Giveaway” in the subject line. You will then be automatically entered in our contest.

All entries must be received by January 4, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST to be considered eligible for this contest (but we welcome your tweets about our shows anytime after that too!). We will contact winners by email within 3 days.

This is a game of chance. Odds of winning are based on eligible number of entries. Winners will be selected at random using an independent auto-generated selection process available at http://www.random.org/integers/ .

Good luck! And thanks in advance for the Tweets!