Summer associates--some really good etiquette advice from Corporette.

Here, from a cross-posting on the Law Firm Job Survival Manual blog.

Some thoughts on what you should wear for your summer jobs (and for your interviews).

Here's a post that we did over at our companion site, Law Firm Job Survival Manual, about what to wear.

Why you don't want to tick off a law professor by doing a poor job of editing her article.

Here. 

Good advice from Corporette on what to wear in law school.

Here. I'm pretty sure my buddy Lara Glaesman turned me on to Corporette.

Cross-posting: top 5 things that law students should know about jobs.

See here.

Your writing matters. Learn the rules of grammar.

Today's article in the Wall Street Journal, "This Embarrasses You and I [sic]" (here), is a perfect illustration of why good writing is so important.  Bad writing (poor grammar, poor spelling, poor analysis, verbosity) makes you look dumb. 

In today's job market, where there are far too many lawyers trying to get (or keep) far too few positions, you need to remember the three things good lawyers do:

1.  They're good at analyzing problems and coming up with viable solutions.
2.  They communicate well.
3.  They're ethical.

That's what you need to be a good--maybe eventually great--lawyer.  Fancy law degrees are great, but they'll only get you in the door.  Your own performance is what keeps you there.

Here's a comparison for you to remember:  I want my surgeon to be able to communicate well with me.  Surgeons cut.  They think about cutting; they cut; they think about the cuts they've done.  Writing isn't a job requirement, per se, but I sure want what my surgeon writes in my medical files to be accurate and understandable.  If my surgeon didn't know the basic rules of grammar, I'd start obsessing about what other gaps he had in his education.  And lawyers actually are supposed to write well, so it's even more important for you to prove that you know the writing rules.

To steal a line (or to do a jazz riff on it--I couldn't find the exact quote) from Oprah:  be your best self.

How to tick off a stodgy old law professor, part n.

Call her by her first name without her inviting you to do so.

What law students should know about us (professors and staff).

See here.

And now, a reminder about Facebook.

See here.

We're siding with Lucy Kellaway on this issue.

In today's Financial Times, Lucy Kellaway points out that Steve Jobs was right (and impressively--and clearly--terse) in refusing to do a student's legwork for her homework.  See here. 

The best lesson that you can get from her column today is that your need to get some information may not correspond with your target's obligation to give it to you (absent, of course, a legitimate subpoena).  The second best lesson is that asking for information respectfully is more likely to help you than is demanding it based on a sense of entitlement.

Dressing for success--in court or in interviews.

See here.  Remember, when you're dressing for an interview or for court, it's not about you.  It's about the comfort level of the people who will be judging you.

Law School Survival Manual gets reviewed over at The Faculty Lounge

We started the day by reading Prof. Laura Appleman's review of our book over at The Faculty Lounge (here).   That is a GOOD way to start the day.

1Ls: just how freaked out are you right now?

If you're feeling as though you're drinking from a fire hose, you're not imagining things.  Your professors are throwing so many concepts at you that you should feel overwhelmed.  (If you don't feel overwhelmed, you either come from a family of lawyers or you are excellent at repression.)

Now's a good time to pull out our book and read (re-read?) Chapters 3 and 4.

And don't forget to breathe.

Welcome back to law school, upper-level students!

The best thing about coming back to school is seeing the brand-new first-years wandering around and reminding yourselves how far you've progressed.  (No!  Even if you're tempted, do NOT hit on the brand-new first-years!  They have enough stress in their lives.)

We wish we could tell you that the job market has bounced back, but we can't.  Our buddy Scott Unger just passed along this link (here) demonstrating how disappointed many law school graduates are in today's job market.

What can you do to improve your odds of getting a (good) job?

1. Work on your writing skills.  If you don't write well, it's difficult to analyze issues well; sadly, if you can't analyze issues well, you can't write well, either.  If you don't have strong writing skills, figure out how to make them better, either by taking more upper-level writing courses or by working one-on-one with a professor to improve your skills.  (That's what NBR did when she was in law school.  She entered law school committed to using passive voice, and thanks to Bob Weisberg, she exited law school committed to destroying passive voice except when she intended to use it for a specific purpose.
2. Work on your teamwork skills.  Lawyers tend to work cooperatively in teams, if not with other lawyers (howdy, solo practitioners!), then with their support staff.  If you are a lone wolf, you're doing yourself a disservice.  Brush up on your "people skills."
3. Network, network, network.  Go to every law school event at which actual lawyers are speaking.  Chat them up.  Give them a (good) reason to remember you.  And for good measure, write them a nice follow-up email (which is fine) or note (which is better).  They're volunteering their time to come to your school, so make them feel appreciated.

Now go out there and have fun resuming your courses!

Two slices of life about the current law student job situation.

Hat tip to Above the Law for both of these stories (as well as to two buddies of ours who pointed them out to us).

First, Michigan Law is being direct with its students about the upcoming year's market for law students (see here). 

Second, if you're looking for a job, the story of one outrageous law student falls under the "don't try this at home" category (see here).   Not only did this student jeopardize his future career, he's likely going to have some explaining to do to the state bar before he is allowed to sit for the bar.

Great sense of humor, or just a little too picky these days?

You be the judge (here).  Hat tip to Above the Law.

Question from a blog follower:

In a comment to an earlier post, Anonymous said:

Any thoughts on how to handle unethical and/or unprofessional conduct by attorneys during a summer associate position? I don't feel lucky to have this position -- rather, I feel like I've made a mistake that will follow me around to future firms...

Our answer:  

hanks for your question, Anonymous. First question: do you have enough information to form an understanding about whether the conduct is in fact unethical? If so, does your firm have an ethics committee?

Here's what you might want to do:

1. IF you trust the mentor to whom you were assigned, raise the issue w/that mentor.
2. IF you don't trust that mentor (i.e., the mentor is the one behaving unprofessionally), what about the partner who interviewed you? Can you raise the issue with him or her?
3. If your firm has an ethics committee, you might consider raising it with that committee.
4. If there's no one at the firm whom you trust, then you know that you don't want to work there after graduation. If things are really, really bad and you can resign before the end of the summer--and do anything else to make money--consider doing that.

I'm so sorry that you're experiencing this problem.

BTW, there IS always the chance that you aren't seeing both sides of the matter. If there IS someone at the firm whom you trust, please do try to parse the issue with him or her. GOOD LUCK!

Update on job-search etiquette (in the "what not to do" category)

See here.  Hat tip to our buddy Kathleen Lyon.

A great comment from one of our readers:

Hat tip to Elena, one of our readers, for this great point:

Based off of what I saw during Fall OCI the last 2 years what to wear for an interview needs to be revisited once again.  Platform heels with a peeptoe?  Not a good idea.  Men:  the bottom of your tie should hit the top of your belt.  Also, get your slacks tailored.  Ladies: think about what shoes you are going to wear with your slacks, as you are then stuck with that height.  Also, ladies:  If a skirt hits higher than the top of the knee, it is too short for work.  Just a thought.

Elena, many thanks!  Students:  Remember, those TV shows with the "lawyers" wearing trendy, cool clothes?  They're actors, and the shows are fiction.

What not to do as an admitted student, part 1.

See here.  Holy cow!  At some point, law school is supposed to teach students how to communicate their arguments persuasively.  Apparently, this student missed those classes.

Hat tip to our buddy Bernie Burk.