How should the legal profession navigate a post-COVID-19 world? ABA group has recommendations

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ABA initiated one of the largest national surveys of its members, seeking to understand both how they had been affected and how they expected their practice to evolve in the future.

Apr 26, 2021 8:00 AM CDT

ABA calls on volunteers to help with ProBAR video project

Do you want to assist the ABA with its efforts on the border without leaving your home or traveling across the country? The ABA Section of Litigation’s Pro Bono Task Force is offering members a new opportunity to record short videos to help attorneys at the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project improve their litigation skills.

Apr 23, 2021 12:33 PM CDT

NALP executive director talks empowering careers, recruiting and professional development

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Jim Leipold, the executive director of the National Association for Law Placement—an organization focused on career counseling and planning; recruitment and retention; and the professional development of law students, lawyers and its members.

Apr 23, 2021 9:06 AM CDT

2020 law school grads having harder time finding jobs, data shows

For 2020 graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, 77.4% had long-term, full-time jobs that required or preferred bar passage, compared to 80.6% for the class of 2019.

Apr 20, 2021 3:57 PM CDT

Florida Supreme Court’s order blocking diversity quotas for CLE instructors could impact ABA programs

The Florida Supreme Court’s recent decision to prohibit diversity quotas for continuing legal education programs may reverberate beyond the borders of the Sunshine State.

Apr 19, 2021 12:21 PM CDT

How to make a professional transition during the COVID-19 pandemic

Do you find yourself living with the stark reality of having to make a transition during COVID-19? Are you looking at changing practice areas or making a move to a new firm? Change in the best of times can be daunting. Add to that the various challenges we are currently facing with restrictions and lockdowns, and it may seem insurmountable. But it doesn’t have to be.

Apr 13, 2021 9:07 AM CDT

11 tips to survive your freshman year as an associate

Concerns about starting your first job after law school are justified. It is terrifying. For many, the first year as an associate will be your first professional job. Little has prepared you for the difficult, confusing and stressful first year ahead.

Apr 8, 2021 9:04 AM CDT

Law firm leadership and facilitating meaningful conversations about diversity and inclusion

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Esther Cho, a shareholder and the chair of the executive committee at Keesal, Young & Logan, who also serves on the firm's diversity and inclusion committee.

Mar 26, 2021 10:23 AM CDT

What is holding women lawyers back?

Women’s history and progress for women lawyers have been on my mind a lot these days, particularly in March, which is Women’s History Month in the U.S. On March 8, which also is International Women’s Day, I delivered a Zoom webinar to a group of women law students at Durham University's law school in the U.K. It was a perfect way to celebrate the day.

Mar 25, 2021 9:27 AM CDT

Hiring decisions based on first-year grades miss ‘exceptional students,’ according to new paper

Selective opportunities for law students, including law review membership, judicial clerkships and large law firm association positions, are largely based on first-year grades. And the tradition leaves out many "exceptional students," according to a March 22 working paper that studied classes between 1979 and 2019 at an unnamed top 20 law school.

Mar 24, 2021 11:07 AM CDT

Most dissatisfied lawyers work longer hours and report more burnout

Burnout and long hours appear to be making life miserable for the most dissatisfied lawyers.

Mar 18, 2021 9:32 AM CDT

What’s ‘netiquette’ for lawyers on Zoom?

Even if you are on mute, talking during a Zoom meeting is rude because it shows you are not listening. It’s also a bad idea to drive your car while using the platform. And if everyone else has their camera turned on during a Zoom meeting, you should too, so work flow is not interrupted.

Mar 9, 2021 1:41 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: California opens process for retroactive bar admission; judge suspended after election-fraud charge

California opens applications for retroactive bar admission

Provisional licensure applications, for people who recently did not pass the California bar exam but would have with the new cut score, are…

Feb 25, 2021 3:39 PM CST

How lawyers can reengineer our profession from the bottom up

Sometimes you just have to tear something down and start over again—like when you were a child and built a house of blocks or constructed a bridge with your Erector set, and it came tumbling down. You discovered too late that the foundation was not strong. It needed a redo.

Feb 24, 2021 9:23 AM CST

ABA’s Practice Forward group puts focus on members’ needs, well-being

The challenges confronting the legal profession as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a prime focus of the 2021 ABA Midyear Meeting.

Feb 22, 2021 4:51 PM CST