Professional Development

2 bright spots in law-grad hiring: more BigLaw jobs, higher rate of JD-required employment

The job picture improved for law school graduates in the class of 2018, with increases in both the overall rate of employment and the percentage of graduates who secured full-time, long-term jobs requiring bar passage, according to the National Association for Law Placement.

Jul 31, 2019 10:06 AM CDT

First-year lawyer offers self-care tips and shares how he learned to quiet his mind post-law school

In this episode of Asked and Answered with the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward, Michael R. Anspach talks about his road to success after law school, his self-care tips and how he learned to quiet his mind.

Jul 29, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

State orders training for judges after rape comment controversies; ‘good family’ judge resigns

Judges throughout New Jersey will undergo enhanced training following media coverage of controversial remarks made by judges in sexual assault cases. The mandatory training will focus on sexual assault, domestic violence, implicit bias and diversity, according to a press release by Glen Grant, acting administrative director of New Jersey courts.…

Jul 18, 2019 1:30 PM CDT

Want to go to law school? This teen has some tips

In this episode of Asked and Answered with the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward, teen Haley Taylor Schlitz talks about her organization plans and how she’ll be spending the summer before starting law school at Southern Methodist University this fall.

Jun 24, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

ABA issues new guidance for splitting fees in contingency cases when a lawyer is replaced

On Tuesday, the ABA’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility released Formal Opinion 487, which addresses fee splitting arrangements when a lawyer in a separate firm replaces the first counsel rather than works together on a contingency-fee case.

Jun 18, 2019 4:45 PM CDT

What one thing do you wish you were told about legal practice?

Mark Herrmann takes on a flinty, severe persona to lay down the law on legal practice in the real world. But as law grads draft their first pleadings, the former Jones Day partner advises a light touch. “Law schools, they don’t tell you how ferociously busy judges are,” Herrmann tells…

Jun 12, 2019 3:34 PM CDT

ABA group offers $5K scholarships to support LGBT public interest work

Law students or recent law school graduates who plan to work in the LGBTQ public interest field still have a few days to apply for a new scholarship being offered by the ABA's Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Jun 6, 2019 10:12 AM CDT

Are law schools doing enough to help with student stress?

Few recent graduates think that their law schools made an effort to help students with school-related stress, according to a new survey from the test prep company Kaplan Bar Review.

May 29, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

Public speaking skills every lawyer should master

In this episode of the Modern Law Library, Ashley Alfirevic of ABA Publishing speaks to lawyer and author Faith Pincus about how to ditch notecards, engage an audience and ask the right type of rhetorical questions.

May 22, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

30% of young lawyers in this state wouldn’t go to law school in a do-over

Many young lawyers in Florida are having some misgivings about their choice of a legal career or their particular field of practice. A survey by the Florida Bar’s Young Lawyers Division, released earlier this year, asked the lawyers whether, if they had to do it over again, they would still…

May 9, 2019 10:56 AM CDT

Jobs for Class of ’18 overall see ‘modest increase’ but with fewer graduates than last year

There was a slight uptick in law firm, government and public interest jobs for the Class of 2018, according to employment outcomes released Monday by the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

Apr 29, 2019 4:36 PM CDT

Law school group helps first-gen law students get ‘a leg up’

Some say that law school is a game, and you’re at a loss if you come in not knowing how it’s played. “There are times when you don’t know how to associate with the people you’re associating with in the legal profession, and it can feel like a glass ceiling,”…

Apr 23, 2019 11:14 AM CDT

Newly released bar-pass rates show little movement; which law schools did best?

The bar pass rate for 2016 law grads who sat for the exam within two years of graduating is 88.57%, according to ABA data released Friday. The data is for graduates of ABA-accredited law schools.

Apr 19, 2019 3:37 PM CDT

New bill would end ‘bureaucratic nightmare’ for Public Service Loan Forgiveness program

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., have introduced the What You Can Do for Your Country Act of 2019 to bolster the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which Gillibrand says is “failing to meet its obligation” to ease student debt.

Apr 11, 2019 3:59 PM CDT