Novalawcity

Your Law School's Ranking? Not as Important as You Think!

Law school success, as measured by grades, is more important for lawyers’ career success and satisfaction than the ranking of the law school they attended, according to a recent study reported by the ABA Journal’s blog.

The study was encouraging news for lower-tier law schools and their students. The ABA article said:

[T]he salary boost for achieving high grades more than makes up for the salary depreciation associated with attending a lower-ranked school. The study also found that lawyers who left law school with the lowest grades felt the least secure about their jobs.

The authors of the study, “The Secret of My Success: How Status, Prestige and School Performance Shape Legal Careers,” summarize how its findings contradict “conventional wisdom”:

The consistent theme we find throughout this analysis is that performance in law school--as measured by law school grades--is the most important predictor of career success. It is decisively more important than law school "eliteness." Socioeconomic factors play a critical role in shaping the pool from which law students are drawn, but little or no discernible role in shaping post-graduate careers. Since the dominant conventional wisdom says that law school prestige is all-important, and since students who "trade-up" in school prestige generally take a hit to their school performance, we think prospective students are getting the wrong message. (p. 2)

Those of you who chose law schools to be closer to home, or because you wanted more practical preparation for practice (a demonstrated strength of NSU's), feel good about your choice! You're likely to be more satisfied with your law school, and over a lifetime, you may well do better.

The yet-to-be-published study is by Richard Sander (UCLA Law) and Jane Yakowitz (Brooklyn Law). It looked at beliefs about the effects of the ranking of the students’ law school, grades in law school, and societal position. It then reviewed the literature and statistics on the effects of these three variables on lawyer career success. It also compared the effects of the factors using a regression model.

Million Dollar Advocates Forum

Winning a million dollar verdict will qualify a lawyer to join this exclusive trial advocacy group. $$$

They're gonna find out who's naughty and nice

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners will be checking the Facebook and other social networking sites of bar applicants who:

•  are required to establish, under 3-13(d) of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar, that they have been rehabilitated from prior conduct adversely affecting their character and fitness for admission to the bar, to ensure that they display no malice or ill feeling towards those who initiated the proceeding against them;
• have a history of substance abuse or dependency;
• have "significant candor concerns;"
• have a history of unauthorized practice of law allegations;
• present the possibility of having held themselves out as attorneys; or
• have been involved with an organization advocating the overthrow of the government.

Read the whole story in The Florida Bar News.

FreelanceLaw.com

Still in beta, FreelanceLaw.com is "A national database of freelance attorneys, paralegals, and other legal professionals, offering their services to law firms on an independent contractor basis."  It was founded by San Diego lawyer Melody A. Kramer, and reports over 1000 beta testers among freelance attorneys and law firms. The site is offering free introductory webinars on August 5 and 6. Thanks to Joe Hodnicki's Law Librarian Blog post.

Can't Find a Job? How Does Agency Administrator Sound?

Despite the chilling news about the lack of jobs in academia in our current hard times, it appears that there are still opportunities for legal academics.  This article in The National Law Journal  details the nomination of JD's with academic cred for various positions in the new administration, including deputy secretary of the Department of Labor, deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, head of the Department of Homeland Securities' Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and deputy assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security.

Looking for a "Plum" Job? Check This Out!

The 2008 Plum Book, which lists federal government positions appointed by the President, is now available online via GPOAccess.  Officially know as the United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions, this publication is compiled every four years, following the Presidential election. 

These are the major categories of positions, listed on p. iii:
• Executive Schedule and salary-equivalent positions paid at the rates established for levels I through V of the Executive Schedule;
• Senior Executive Service (SES) ‘‘General’’ positions;
• Senior Foreign Service positions;
• Schedule C positions excepted from the competitive service by the President, or by the Director, Office of Personnel Management, because of the confidential or policy-determining nature of the position duties;
and
• Other positions at the GS–14 and above level excepted from the competitive civil service by law because of the confidential or policy-determining nature of the position duties.

Even if you're not looking to try for a Presidential appointment, the Plum Book provides a wealth of information about those positions!

ABA's Secrets of Superstar Associates podcast

What sets "superstar" associates from the rest? Your ABA, the ABA's Media Relations e-newsletter, has a brief review of the Section of Litigation's podcast episode that tries to answer this question by interviewing twelve partners who were identified as "superstars" when they were associates.Some of the tips:

• Build a great reputation. Good reputations are set early. Recognize that your reputation will follow you your whole career.
• View everyone as a client; anticipate partners’ expectations and deliver on them.
• Treat professional development like a case on a docket. Plan ahead, set goals and recognize how your current activities fit your future plans.
• Have fun with litigation. “People who love what they do are happy to immerse themselves in it,” says Hentoff.

Law Librarian (Alternative Careers for JDs)

Above the Law recently blogged about law librarianship as an alternative to legal practice for JDs. A little tongue-in-cheek, but true on most points. ATL

Want to be an academic?

Concurring Opinions features tips for students interested in entering legal academia. There's also a lively debate about the teaching market and law school hiring in the comments.

Want to be a law clerk?

If so, you may be interested in a post by Professor Paul Cassell, recently retired from the Federal bench, about what judges look for in law clerks.  Strong writing skills, good judgment, and a good fit are the essential elements.  Cassell also recommends taking a course in Federal jurisdiction, or state constitutional law, if the prospective clerk is hoping to work for a state supreme court justice. 

Hat tip: BoleyBlogs!