7 steps to successful crisis management

How you manage a crisis is critical and may be the difference between a swift resolution and a prolonged public nightmare. Consider these seven lessons to help guide your clients successfully through their next crisis.

Jul 26, 2024 9:12 AM CDT

Hidden Talent Pool in Plain Sight: Corporate America wants you—for nonlegal roles

Management consulting firms and Big Four accounting firms have a secret weapon. It’s not particularly well-camouflaged. It’s there for anyone who bothers to look. Both of these thought leaders hire lawyers for a wide variety of nonlegal jobs. And they’ve been doing so for decades—everything from business development to crisis management to marketing.

Jul 25, 2024 9:14 AM CDT

A Law Clerk’s Transition: From umpire’s apprentice to fighter in the ring

As law clerks, we learn to write with a dispassionate tone and an air of neutrality. We write to explain. As lawyers, the same rules apply, but the goal changes: We write to persuade.

Jul 17, 2024 12:00 PM CDT

How Sullivan & Cromwell is scrutinizing potential new hires after campus protests

If you want to get hired by Sullivan & Cromwell, be prepared for an “extremely vigilant” review of your background for clues that you participated in or created “a climate of harassment, intimidation and discrimination,” according to the law firm’s senior chair.

May 9, 2024 12:23 PM CDT

ABA is committed to protecting sexual assault survivors in bar admissions process, letter says

ABA President Mary Smith is asking an ABA commission to study the prevalence and impact of bar admissions questions that require survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking to disclose their involvement in legal and administrative proceedings.

May 8, 2024 11:54 AM CDT

Less litigation, more practical skills in law school needed, junior associates say

Almost half of law school associates say law school didn’t prepare them for practice, with a lack of training in practical experience cited most often as the reason why, according to a new study released Monday.

Apr 30, 2024 10:55 AM CDT

ABA should consider impact of rape-disclosure questions on bar applications, 3 senators tell association

The ABA should study the prevalence of bar admissions questions that require the disclosure of campus sexual misconduct complaints and requests for orders of protection, according to a letter by three members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Apr 29, 2024 12:17 PM CDT

It’s a quick goodbye for many departing associates, new NALP Foundation report finds

Eighty-two percent of associates who left their law firms in 2023 did so within five years of hiring, a figure that is at “an all-time high,” according to a report released Wednesday by the NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education.

Apr 11, 2024 9:09 AM CDT

This state is creating a way to skip the bar exam and making it easier to pass for those who take it

The Washington Supreme Court has adopted alternative pathways to a law license, becoming the second state to do so in a little more than four months.

Mar 18, 2024 10:58 AM CDT

Justice Thomas hires clerk accused of sending racist text; was she set up by rogue employee?

A graduate of the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School will be clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, despite a prior allegation that she sent a racist text while working at a conservative group.

Feb 26, 2024 9:51 AM CST

New website will let law clerks judge their judges

A database is launching next month that will allow young lawyers to review the judges they worked for and give law students a way to learn which judges have good—or bad—reputations as employers.

Feb 26, 2024 9:40 AM CST

Small firm hiring deserves greater scrutiny

As a law professor, one of the most rewarding parts of my job is helping students navigate their burgeoning legal careers and find positions that bring professional satisfaction and success. I am always delighted when students appear in my office with an offer in hand or a story about an amazing case that they worked on over the summer.

Feb 23, 2024 1:17 PM CST

What to do when friends or family members ask for legal advice

“It’s never going to go well,” Arizona attorney Lynda C. Shely says about the prospect of representing anyone you are close to, including family members and friends. Shely, the immediate past chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, works in private practice and has advised more than 2,500 law firms around the country on legal ethics matters.

Jan 25, 2024 8:34 AM CST

The First-Year Switch: Succeeding after an early lateral move

Ten years ago, I was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young attorney, fresh from a federal clerkship and eager to start my litigation career. One year later, I was a sleepless, burned-out basket case on my way out the door asking myself, “Did I make an awful mistake when I went to law school?” Fast forward almost a decade, and I can answer that question with a resounding no.

Jan 3, 2024 1:45 PM CST

Now is the time to consider a lawyer exchange

As lawyers, whether we practice in a corporate legal office, a global law firm or an independent firm, we are all trying to position ourselves for success in a changing and more globalized legal landscape. We are also all facing challenges in recruiting and retaining the young lawyers who will help us get there. Lawyer exchanges are one tool that can be effective on both fronts.

Dec 12, 2023 12:22 PM CST