A few attorneys get in-house positions by responding to ads on job posting boards or in classified sections of legal newspapers. The problem with job posting boards and legal classifieds is that most in-house employers posting positions on job posting boards receive well in excess of 1,000 emailed resumes in response to their ads. In-house employers are simply flooded with resumes of top attorneys seeking a better lifestyle, more predictable hours, and no billable hours. Indeed, many attorneys inside law firms have been looking for an in-house position for years. An in-house job is something that is coveted by many attorneys as the best environment for practicing law. For many attorneys who practiced in law firms before going in-house, this has often proven to be the case.

Probably the least common way for attorneys to get an in-house position is through a legal recruiting firm. The legal recruiting firm typically conducts an in-house search as follows:

First, the recruiter “cold calls” numerous General Counsels or corporate officers to induce them to allow the recruiter to fill an opening. More often than not, the recruiter demands a meeting and goes to the meeting with brochures and other propaganda about the search firm. The General Counsel then will often speak with other search firms to negotiate fees before choosing a search firm. The few national search firms that do in-house searches typically have a dedicated recruiter that spends their days soliciting companies for in-house opportunities (and potential placement fees).

Second, most of the times, the recruiter will demand an “exclusive” from the company to perform the in-house search. By an exclusive, the recruiter will seek to prohibit the company from using any outside sources to fill the position for a minimum length of time (usually six months to a year). When granted an “exclusive,” recruiters also require the corporation to forward to them all resumes they receive for the attorney position for the length of the exclusive. Because recruiters want to use the name of the company in advertising the company’s position, candidates are prevented from contacting the company directly (in which event the company would not have to pay the recruiter any fees).

Third, the recruiter will typically demand that the company pay them a “retainer”. The “retainer” is generally set at between 1/3 and 1/2 of the placement firm’s expected placement fee. Attorney placement firms typically charge corporations and other employers a fee to introduce you to the employer that is between 25 and 40 percent of your annual salary. The “retainer fee” is used by the placement firm to pay for advertising and other incidental expenses associated with finding candidates for the position. For example, if a recruiting firm receives a $15,000 retainer they may (1) pay $5,000 to the recruiter who “brought in” the in-house job (the recruiter who fills the position itself will be compensated individually out of the 25 to 40 percent fee which deducts the retainer), (2) spend $5,000 on advertising, and (3) keep $5,000 to cover the overhead associated with the work they did on the search.

Just like employers, when a placement firm places an ad for an in-house position, they typically receive numerous, numerous inquiries — that is why their advertising budgets are so high. Out of what is often well in excess of 1,000 inquiries (and sometimes a multiple of that in larger cities), the placement firm will very quickly whittle down the inquiries to less than 10 candidates to introduce to the corporation. A placement will then hopefully be made.

As you can see, from a recruiter’s standpoint, the beauty of doing in-house placements is that they very quickly provide them with hundreds of candidates they know are interested in alternative employment. Accordingly, while the recruiter will rarely have suitable in-house positions for these attorneys, there are far more potential law firm opportunities than in-house opportunities, and the recruiter will attempt to interest candidates in law firm positions — even if they do not want to go to another law firm.

We believe that the best method for finding an in-house position is by using Legal Authority. Legal Authority counteracts most of the traditional obstacles to getting an in-house position, which are (1) recruiters, (2) job boards, and (3) the traditional reliance upon a “network”. If you are playing games with these three methods for trying to get a position, you may be waiting a very long time indeed.

Legal Authority assists attorneys in contacting every potential in-house employer they choose in the area of the country they are interested in. The benefit of this is that your materials will arrive on the desk of every potential employer you could possibly ever want to work for. Also, most in-house employers do not use recruiters to fill attorney positions. Using Legal Authority can help you contact the employers you are most interested in, regardless of whether or not they use recruiters or typically advertise their openings on job posting boards.

Legal Authority also helps you focus your in-house search in the most appropriate way possible. For example, if you are seeking a position as in the General Counsel’s Office of a biotech company (because you have a background in doing biotech patent prosecution), Legal Authority can assist you in contacting all of the companies that do biotech in a given area. Also, we have the most appropriate information. For example, if you are a senior attorney who is currently a General Counsel, it would likely not be most appropriate to contact the General Counsel about replacing them. Instead, you would be better served by contacting a high level executive within the company. This is something that Legal Authority can assist you in doing.

We believe Legal Authority is the most effective way for getting an in-house position. Indeed, given the breadth of exposure we give attorneys — and the number of offers many Legal Authority clients receive in-house, we believe Legal Authority is the only way to get an in-house job that actually makes sense. In fact, we are aware of no other company in the world that gets more attorneys jobs in-house than Legal Authority.

Part of the answer probably lies in the simple fact that indoctrination regarding pro bono work begins early. From the first day of law school, students are told that with the degree comes an obligation to donate time and services to those who otherwise would not be able to afford it. They are told that it is not only a moral responsibility, but a rewarding process that will contribute to their overall practice in many ways.

While students may agree pro bono is equally rewarding for both sides, they may find it difficult to put these thoughts into action. Many choose the practice of law with aspirations of providing a needed service-changing the world so to speak-and a commitment to “righting wrong.” Those individuals may not feel the pressure to donate their time and services, as it is probably incumbent of their practice. There are others, however, who practice for the intellectual challenge, power, prestige, and/or the lure of the almighty dollar. While they don’t blame others for wanting to donate their time freely, quite frankly, it is not on the top of their priority lists.

Nonetheless, look at the law firms of the attorneys who pursued private-service careers over public-interest ones and you will be hard pressed to find a firm that does not have pro bono prominently displayed on its agenda. The question is, how focused is the firm on making pro bono work an integral part of its culture and structure?

One example of a pro bono program may provide some clues. One of Atlanta’s largest and most respected firms, Powell Goldstein LLP, recently established the Powell Goldstein Fellowship, sponsored by the firm to serve the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. At Powell Goldstein, the Fellowship is viewed as an honor, and the recipient is carefully selected by the firm.

Leah Fisher, Manager of Recruitment for Powell Goldstein, stated, “Powell Goldstein established its fellowship with Atlanta Legal Aid as a way for the firm to show its continued commitment to pro bono work while also providing an incoming associate with a demonstrated interest in pro bono work, the opportunity to work fulltime as a staff attorney at Atlanta Legal Aid for 4 to 6 months. The benefit is that the fellowship gives the associate the opportunity to develop client counseling and advocacy skills early on in his or her career while also providing valuable legal services to clients with low incomes.”

Still, fellowships and other pro bono activities appear focused on those already dedicated at some level to the work. And we know the work is important at least because of the obvious obligation to better society. Yet, given the tension between billable hours and non-paying, public-interest endeavors, one must wonder what drives firms to include pro bono commitment in their compensation and evaluation structure, initiate the creation of special committees, and sometimes create a management position dedicated solely to its pursuit? Plus, when pro bono work is integrated with the firm’s requirements for associates, why should you be forced to take part? Several areas offer answers.

For our second case example, we examined a firm with a slightly different picture. Though this firm certainly scores high marks regarding large-scale transactions and marquis clientele, it is not considered one of the more traditional firms in New York. In addition to an undeniable New York presence, this firm is more notable for significant growth in other major United States cities and metropolitan locations across several continents.

Public perception is key to the success of any law firm. What better way to market a firm and attract clients than by having your firm name associated with activities that improve the community? Pro bono is an excellent way to build rapport and be viewed as a leader by the public.

Professional Development
Given the nature of a large-firm environment, work assigned to junior attorneys can be limited and at times tedious. Pro bono offers an associate the opportunity to get autonomy and experience, not typically found early in a big-firm career. Pro bono is an excellent way to increase knowledge and develop legal skills quickly.

Recruiting
Students are very interested and will heavily research a firm’s commitment to pro bono. They look for firms who not only announce they are strong advocates of pro bono, but can demonstrate that it’s an integral part of the firm’s framework. Firms that work to create atmospheres in which the value of pro bono service is recognized and appreciated will most often attract future associates who may be the next big rainmakers.

Client Interaction
Low client contact is endemic to law firm life and often a major source of job dissatisfaction. Effectively handling a client is a key to the successful practice of law. As a result, partners are cautious about the amount of client face time associates receive. And there is the problem. Interaction with clients is a skill that has to develop right along with technical skills, but partners loathe to let junior attorneys near the firm’s valuable clients. With pro bono, young attorneys deal with the clients immediately and are viewed as project leaders.

Diversity of Practice
In mid-to-large firms, attorneys typically spend their careers focused on a specific practice area. While there are definite advantages to being an expert in one area of the law, taking on a project outside the usual realm of one’s practice can be a refreshing change. Indeed a pro bono project may be just what an attorney needs to keep the practice of law from becoming routine and stale.

So great, pro bono work will increase firms’ places in the community and how they manage their associates, but what is in the work for you as an individual?

Simple. Roll all of the above into one, and you are likely to end up a much happier, more gratified attorney. By doing pro bono work, you will service your community, your firm will prosper (and, yes, when the firm is happy, your life at the firm improves), you will deal directly with clients, your skills will broaden, and your practice will be more diverse. In the end, it is difficult to argue that committing yourself to pro bono projects will not actually benefit you more than the other party.

Indeed, firms must understand that the work benefits them and their associates because although pro bono and the law have always gone hand-in-hand, firms’ commitments to institutionalizing formal pro bono policies are becoming more common. True, firms may have offered some recognition to attorneys for committing their time to pro bono in the past, but written policies and stated goals are surfacing more and more. So for those who wonder why pro bono should be an obligatory component of your practice, just remember that not only is it for the public good, it’s good for you too.

A: An LL.M. degree is very helpful, and sometimes required, for international students who already possess a law degree from their country of origin but want to practice law in the United States. For example, in California, law students who received their legal education outside of the United States must establish their eligibility to take the California bar by showing they have successfully completed the equivalent of two years of undergraduate studies and four years of legal studies in the United States. If the student received his/her legal education from a country that does not utilize the common law of England as its basis of jurisprudence, then the student will only receive credit for the undergraduate requirement and not receive any credit for the legal studies requirement. Some international students find that having an LL.M. from the United States is a very helpful way to increase their marketability.

For U.S.-educated attorneys, an LL.M. degree is most valuable for those who are interested in certain practice areas such as tax or trusts and estates. In these cases, an LL.M. in Tax from a prestigious university such as Georgetown or NYU is very helpful and will give you a definite edge over the competition. Otherwise, obtaining an LL.M. from a more prestigious school simply in order to enhance your academic credentials and help you get a job may not be the wisest of choices.

There are several methods for finding an in-house legal position. The most common way that attorneys have traditionally gone in house is to accept a position with one of their clients. We would estimate that throughout history this is the most common way attorneys have gotten positions. Nevertheless, unless a client specifically asks you to come and work for them, the problems with getting a position this way can be quite pronounced. For example, if you ask your clients if you can come work for them, how does that make your current firm look? What’s more, what if word of your inquiry to the client leaks back to your law firm. You would be surprised how many attorneys this has happened.

Another strategy for getting an in-house position is by responding to ads on job posting boards. The problem with this way of looking for a position is that most in-house employers who post positions on job posting boards receive well in excess of 1,000 responses. In addition to often being confused about what to do with all the responses and frustrated with having to respond to them all, in-house employers are flooded with resumes of top attorneys seeking a better lifestyle, more predictable hours and no billable hours.

Probably the least common way for attorneys to get an in-house position is through a legal recruiting firm. The legal recruiting firm typically operates in the following manner in conducting an in-house search:

First, the recruiter cold calls numerous General Counsels or other corporate staff in an attempt to induce them to give them an opening. More often than not, the recruiter demands a meeting and goes to the meeting with a great deal of propoganda about the search firm. The General Counsel then will often speak with other search firms in an effort to negotiate fees and decide whom they believe will provide the best possible service. As you can imagine, it is a great deal of work for recruiters to get in-house positions; however, as discussed below, the benefits of the recruiter getting an in-house position can often pay dividends far greater than simply filling the in-house position.

Second, most of the time the recruiter will demand both an “exclusive” and a “retainer” to perform the in-house search.

By an exclusive, the recruiter will seek to prohibit the company from using any outside sources to fill the position for a minimum length of time (usually six months to a year). When a recruiter is granted an “exclusive” they also require the corporation to forward to them all resumes they receive for the attorney position for the length of the exclusive. Because recruiters want to use the name of the company in advertising the position, this prevents candidates from contacting the company directly (in which event the company would not have to pay the recruiter any fees).

In addition, the recruiter will typically demand that the company pay them a “retainer”. The “retainer” is typically set at a dollar amount which is between 1/3 and ½ of what the placement firm’s expected placement fee will be. Attorney placement firms typically charge corporations and other employers a fee to introduce you to the employer that is typically between 25 and 40% of your annual salary. The “retainer fee” is used by the placement firm to pay for advertising and other incidental expenses associated with finding candidates for the position.

When a placement firm places an ad for an in-house position they typically receive numerous, numerous, numerous inquiries. Out of what is often well in excess of 1,000 inquiries, the placement firm will very quickly whittle down the inquiries to less than 10 candidates and introduce these candidates to the corporation. A placement then, hopefully will be made.

From a recruiter’s standpoint, much of the beauty of doing in-house placements is that it very quickly provides the recruiting firm with hundreds and hundreds of candidates the recruiting firm knows are interested in alternative employment. Accordingly, while the recruiter will very rarely have suitable in-house positions for these attorneys, there are far more potential law firm opportunities than in-house opportunities and the recruiter will attempt to interest the candidates in them.

At Legal Authority we believe that the best method for finding an in-house position is by using our service. The beauty of using Legal Authority is that it counteracts most of the traditional obstacles to you getting an in-house position, which are (1) recruiters and (2) job boards. If you are playing games with these two methods for trying to get a position you may be waiting a very long time indeed.

Legal Authority assists attorneys in contacting every potential in-house employer in the area of the country they are interested in. The benefit of this is that your materials will arrive on the desk of every potential employer you could possibly ever want to work for. In addition, most in-house employers do not use recruiters to fill attorney positions. Using Legal Authority can help you contact the ones you are most interested in regardless of whether or not they use recruiters or typically advertise their openings on job posting boards.

In addition, Legal Authority can help you focus your search in the most appropriate way possible. For example, if you are seeking a position as a General Counsel, it would likely not be the most appropriate to contact the General Counsel about a potential position. Instead, you would be better served contacting a high level executive within a firm. This is something that Legal Authority can assist you in doing.

Legal Authority is the most effective way for getting an in-house position and when an attorney is switching positions it is often the only way that actually makes sense. Are in-house positions easy to get? We are the first to admit that an in-house position is not easy to get. However, using Legal Authority hundreds of attorneys have successfully gotten in-house positions and we believe that we get far, far more attorneys in-house positions each month than any recruiting firm in the United States.

A. A State Court Clerkship Will be Most Likely to Make You Marketable if You Are Considering Working in the State Where You Will be Clerking.

It is useful to examine some of the differences between different types of clerkships. Each type of clerkship has its advantages and disadvantages. In order to help you understand the role a clerkship will have in your marketability, I believe it is useful to examine the differences between federal and state clerkships.

1. Federal Clerkships

At the Federal level, the order of prestige of clerkships is typically: (1) the Supreme Court, (2) Circuit (Appellate) clerkships, (3) Federal District Court (trial court) clerkships, (4) clerkships with United States magistrates (who do a lot of the “grunt work” for Federal District Judges). There are also several specialized courts (such as Federal Tax Court) which are of approximately the same prestige level as Federal District Court clerkships.

Appellate clerkships involve mainly research and writing about issues the trial court has already ruled on. This involves reviewing the lower court’s rulings for errors the District Court may have made when it ruled. Appellate clerkships typically involve more arcane and novel issues of law than are typically litigated at the trial level. In an appellate clerkship you are less likely to get to know the lawyers involved.

District Court clerkships involve actual issues being litigated at the trial court level and typically have more in-court action. In a district court clerkship you may see many of the same lawyers in court day in and day out. In a Circuit Court clerkship, you are likely to see the attorneys involved only when they present their appellate arguments in court.

There are also numerous distinctions between clerkships at the Federal level. For example, clerking for the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court is generally considered the most prestigious clerkship there is. Similarly, a clerkship with a federal district judge in the Eastern District of New York is more prestigious than a clerkship with a federal district judge in Bay City, Michigan, for example. Attorneys who clerk for the most prestigious judges are typically those whose “marketability” is likely to be increased as a result.

Typically, the most prestigious clerkships have been those with federal judges. At top national law schools, students compete very aggressively for federal clerkships and do so more so than they do for state judicial clerkships. Given the prestige of a federal clerkship, it can often make you marketable far beyond the geographic area where you are clerking.

2. State Court Clerkships

There are different distinctions in the state court system; however, in general, you also have a supreme court, appellate courts and trial courts. The same prestige distinctions are also present at the state level, with a state supreme court clerkship being the most prestigious. Just as certain federal district courts in various geographical locations are considered prestigious places to clerk in, so too are the state courts in different states. In general, if you are clerking for an appellate court in a major state, this will be more prestigious than if you are doing the same thing in a smaller state.

The problem with a state court clerkship is typically something that is also an advantage. While a state court clerkship will not necessarily increase your chances of being marketable anywhere throughout the United States, it can do you a tremendous amount of good in the area where you are clerking. Clerking for a state court will make you a candidate with important local contacts. The fact of the matter is that most litigation is actually conducted in the state courts. Accordingly, a state court clerkship will most likely provide you with a better understanding of state law than you would ever get as a federal clerk. If you are planning on working in the area where you are clerking, the state court clerkship should be enormously valuable.

You need to remember that accepting a clerkship is much like the decision of where you decided to go to law school. There are major national law schools that vary in prestige and there are smaller local law schools that vary in prestige. For example, attending a law school like Yale is going to give you a serious advantage when you are applying to positions throughout the United States. A law school like Yale might be compared to clerking on the Supreme Court. Conversely, a smaller more local law school like the University of Toledo is not going to give you as much an advantage throughout the United States. This school will, however, probably give you good options in Toledo, Ohio.

Accordingly, before you accept your clerkship, I would recommend having a good understanding of whether or not you want to work in the area where you will be clerking. The clerkship is most likely to make you marketable if you are seeking to work in the state where you are clerking. I would also do some research into where the judge’s former clerks ended up working. By learning this you can also get a decent idea of what your marketability might be following the clerkship.

Additionally, you have stated a concern about being “marketable”; nevertheless, you have not told me where you would like to be marketable. Do you want to be marketable in the area you are clerking in? Do you want to be marketable to a law firm, corporation, public interest group, prosecutor’s office? You get the idea. You should also think through the answers to these questions as you are deciding whether or not to clerk.

B. The Value of Your Clerkship Should Not Necessarily be Viewed as a Tool to Make You Marketable

Clerking is something that gives you tools and memories that most clerks carry with them throughout their careers. When you sit on the judge’s side of the bench, you get the feeling that you are really part of the legal process and have the idea of how decisions are made and the implications these decisions have on peoples’ lives. Most clerks describe the year they spent clerking as the most relaxing, intellectually challenging and interesting year of their lives. And this is really the essence of a clerkship. It allows you to see the inner workings of the legal system, work closely with a judge and will provide you with a level of illumination about the legal system itself that you will carry with you throughout your legal career.

My belief is that you should not clerk simply because you think it is something that will get you a better position. A clerkship is something that you should do because it will add depth and meaning to your future legal career. I do not believe that a state court clerkship (especially with an appellate judge) can possible hurt you in your marketability. Indeed, the skills and understanding you pick up during your clerkship will be something you can carry with you throughout your career.

C. Conclusions

In order to determine whether you should take a state court clerkship, it will be important that you analyze whether or not you want to work in the area of the country where you may be clerking. While a state court clerkship is typically not as prestigious as a federal one, it is something that can provide you with important local contacts and knowledge of state law. More importantly, I seriously doubt that a state court clerkship will hurt you. Instead, a state court clerkship will provide you with tools and an understanding of the legal system you can carry with you throughout your career.

While I have saved this for last, I believe that an important component of your question involves a brief discussion in this conclusion. You are a second year law student and it is only December. If your goal is to be marketable to a law firm, you may be “barking up the wrong tree” at this point by simply seeking a clerkship. Instead, you should accelerate your job search and apply to more law firms and look at more sources of information if working in a law firm is something you want to do. If you are considering accepting a clerkship just to make yourself more marketable, you are not doing yourself, the judge you will be working for, or the justice system itself any favors.

Law firms typically bill out by the hour for their services. Lawyers can only work a certain number of hours per day. If a law firm has more work than it can handle, or could be billing more to cases and matters, the work simply doesn’t get done and the law firm loses money.

When you send out resumes in an unsolicited manner, you are essentially presenting law firms with a business proposition. If they have work you can do, they can bill out your work. The amount a law firm bills for generally exceeds what the law firm pays you and the law firm makes money.

Law firms often get so busy that they don’t even take the time to advertise their jobs. If they see your resume when they’re busy, they’ll often choose to bring you in because they can make money from hiring you. When you mail your resume to a law firm, you’re more likely to stand out and catch their attention. Letters are personally delivered, have to be opened, and generally people are flattered and like to receive mail. This is especially true in today’s day and age when people are emailing resumes and applying through databases.

Simply stated: Law firms will hire in response to an unsolicited resume, because they can make money from your work.

Companies are the same. Companies rarely receive unsolicited resumes from attorneys. Companies typically pay outside counsel very high legal fees. The average law firm charges over $300 an hour. The law firm also charges for faxing, photocopying, research, paralegal support and more. The result of hiring outside counsel can be extremely expensive for law firms.

When you apply to a company, the first thought that crosses their mind is can you help them save money. In today’s economy, companies are extremely interested in saving money and bringing in an attorney can help. Companies are also very inexperienced in their ability to recruit attorneys and many don’t know where to start–they’re concerned about the business they’re in. They may be experts in hiring engineers or executives, but don’t know the first thing about hiring attorneys. I have seen numerous attorneys get some pretty incredible positions due to this knowledge gap.

Both law firms and companies LOVE unsolicited resumes. This is an incredibly effective way to get a job. They like it for business reasons that have nothing to do with whether they have openings or not. One of the best ways to get a legal job is just to be there at the right time. This is what we help you do at Legal Authority.

As an attorney seeking a job, you should go where forests are the greenest. You need to be where people want you. The demand I am seeing for labor and employment attorneys is very high.

When people talk about the legal market being poor, I know it is a gross generalization. Certain practice areas in the legal market are poor–the whole legal market is not poor. When you look at the economic performance of law firms in good and bad times, there really is never much difference– total revenue numbers are generally pretty stable. The reason for the stability of revenues is because work simply shifts between practice areas. Corporate work may grind to a standstill, while labor and employment work goes through the roof. I have seen this pattern for years.

If you are looking for a legal job in this market, I highly recommend you look closely at labor and employment.

The best thing about this economy is the results our clients are getting. While our clients’ classmates, peers and others are not getting jobs, our clients are going out for interviews and getting jobs. This is because our service works.

The fact is that targeted mass mailing works. It provides the absolute best market coverage and the best results of any job finding method. There are a lot of people out there who will try and tell you the opposite; however, you need to simply think about targeted mailing in a rational and logical way.

First, there are a limited number of employers in a given city. At any one time, these employers could be advertising on any one of thousands and thousands of websites, newspapers and other publications. No matter how diligent you are in searching for these openings, there is a good chance you are not going to find them all. When you use Legal Authority, you track down these openings by mailing letters and ensuring that you are approaching all the correct employers at one time.

Second, many employers do not advertise their openings. Many openings in the legal field especially are spread by word of mouth, for example. When you are approaching these employers, you are applying for positions that are also not advertised.

Third, many employers make hiring decisions simply by seeing a good candidate cross their desk. In the legal field, you can get jobs whether or not employers have openings. There is a reason you can get hired when there are no openings: Law firms charge by the hour. If a law firm has more work than it can do, they are losing money. By bringing you in to do the work, they can bill out at a lot more than they are paying you and make money. This is one reason that Legal Authority is so effective–law firms are opportunists like any business and you represent a business opportunity for them.

Are you an attorney or law student who has just started your job search or is interested in transitioning to a new job? If you are, then don’t forget to include networking as part of your job search.

Some attorneys and law students feel that networking is not beneficial to their job search and career. However, networking is actually one of the most important and effective ways to land a job. It is also a skill that will help you long after you’ve obtained your new job (i.e., it will help you acquire and maintain relationships with clients). Other attorneys and law students feel that they just don’t have time to network. However, you should make time to network. After all, it is a great way to make connections that could possibly open up new opportunities and allow you to learn more about your areas of interest.

Preparing for Networking

Before you begin networking, you should think about what type of people you want to network with. Also, you should think about what type of job you’re interested in. Prepare answers to questions about your career and your interests. Also, make sure that you have business cards, resumes, cover letters, and references prepared. You want to be present yourself in a professional manner, and you want to be ready when the potential opportunity presents itself.

Ways to Network

1. One of the easiest ways to network is through local city, county, and state bar associations. If you are a law student, you can join the student membership section of the Bar association. Typically the different bar associations have meetings, seminars, and other gatherings where you can meet attorneys and other legal professionals in your areas of interest.

2. Another easy way to network is through your law school. Law schools have many social events and legal seminars that bring an array of legal professionals together. Additionally, ask your law school’s career counselor for a list of alumni who work in fields that interest you. While you’re at it check out the alumni from your undergraduate college too.

3. Also, don’t forget to network through those you interact with everyday, such as your friends, colleagues, and classmates. You’d be surprise of how resourceful your close associates can be.

4. Social networking sites are another great source for networking. It is the waive of the future. It allows you to display information about yourself and it allows you to learn about others. Some social sites many people are already members of are Myspace and Facebook. Myspace and Facebook are great for fun and social networking, but sites like Likedin and Lawlink.com are great for professional networking. Remember, when you become a member of these professional networking sites, to make sure all the information you display represents you in a professional manner. You don’t want to give the wrong impression.

Don’t Forget to Give Back

Once you’ve landed your job through networking, you should help others. Networking isn’t a one time event. It is a continual process. So, just like someone gave you a helping hand, you should give someone else a helping hand. Incidentally, by helping others, you will be building new relationships that could be beneficial to you in the future.

Remember, networking is a tool and skill that allows you to establish relationships where both you and your contacts benefit in some way. Just as the saying goes, “It’s not about what you know, but about who you know.” So, make sure you maximize your success by networking.

One criterion which, for many, seems to be of high priority is the annual salary. Even though the dollar amount is what you were looking for, it is important to consider a variety of related requirements an employer may have. For example, if this position requires a 70-80 hour work week, it is important to weigh this issue thoroughly. With any high-paying position come certain sacrifices. If an equally balanced quality of life is your top priority, then this position, although tempting, will have no long-term future.

The quality of the firm is also another area to consider, as it relates to your future job satisfaction. Will this position allow you to successfully demonstrate your skills and areas of expertise? Even though a firm’s status and prestige can be attractive, if their practice is not consistent to where your true passion lies, then this will become another obstacle you encounter in the near future. Analyzing and exploring your growth potential within a certain firm or corporation should be evaluated well before you accept an offer. The most important thing to remember is– love what you do… if this is accomplished than success will ultimately follow.

Many times attorneys often refer to ‘what if scenarios’. This notion can be useful in certain situations; however, deciding whether to accept a new job should be based on real- life scenarios and your present situation. It is impossible to know what lies ahead–but by being able to make accurate and precise decisions given the information at hand, will enable you to find the best possible fit for you and your future. The bottom line…know what you want. Only you know what is best for your career. While it is common to ask others for advice regarding one’s career path, your final decision should ultimately lie with you.

Finding that ideal position can be a grueling task; once you have determined the type of opportunity you are specifically looking for, you are then more well-equipped to decide which offer is best suited for your career. Accepting an offer is not an everyday event and shouldn’t be treated as such. A thorough assessment of your goals and priorities should be well-examined at the beginning of your job search. It is then, you can rest assured knowing you made the right decision.