Feedback on LCS Programming

Law Career Services is seeking three minutes of your time to complete a brief survey about our programs (see list below). We will be relying on your feedback as we plan our Spring 2010 program calendar, so we are asking you to complete your survey no later than December 1, 2009.

The link to the survey was emailed to all current JD students on Tuesday, November 24. Please email LCS if you did not receive the email.

We wish you well on your final exams and look forward to welcoming you into our new offices on the 5th floor of 40 Jessie Street, as of December 16. Please note that our office will be closed between December 9 and 15 in preparation for the move.

Fall 2009 LCS Programs:
3L & 4L Job Search Workshop
ACLU Youth Law Clinic Program
Alternative to Incarceration
Brown Bag Lunch to Prepare for DA Interviews
Brown Bag Lunch with Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Careers in Family Law
Careers in Tax Panel & Reception
CIA Program
Elder Law Presentation
Fall Recruitment Orientation
Finding a Judicial Externship
Halloween Open House
Hanging Up Your Own Shingle
Interview Skills Workshop
IP Careers with Kate Patterson
Job Applications Materials Workshop
Medical Access for Trans People, Economic Marginalization, Sex Work & Criminality
Obama’s Top Campaign Aid Michael Robertson
Patent Bar Program w/Mark Dighton
PI/PS Day Orientation
Pro Bono Open House Celebration
Public Interest Welcome Reception
SF Teen Court Attorney Mentor Training
The Impact of Today’s Economic Crisis and the Future of Corporate Practice

SLATE: Why Employment Will Rebound Sooner Than You Think

"Just as investors and businesspeople don't believe things could ever go wrong at the peak of the boom, they have difficulty imagining things can get better at the trough of the bust. And so they respond to rising demand not by hiring new employees but by coaxing existing employees to work harder. But just as hamsters can run only so fast on their treadmills, there are limits to productivity growth. ... Should the economy expand in the fourth quarter at the same 3.5 percent annual rate it did in the third quarter—as it shows every sign of doing—companies won't have any choice but to hire."

• Read the entire article at Slate.com.

Pro Bono Honor Society

To acknowledge and reward those students who dedicate a significant portion of their time to helping others through the Law Student Pro Bono Program, GGU has established a Pro Bono Honor Society.

Membership in this society will signify that a student has performed at least 10 hours of pro bono work in his/her first year and at least 25 hours of pro bono work for each of the upper-class years. Any student completing more than 60 hours of pro bono prior to graduation will receive special recognition from Dean Ramey.

Students inducted into the Society will be honored at the Public Interest Graduation Reception in April. Inductees will receive a certificate stating their membership, and can note membership on their resumes. Graduating inductees will receive a gift to recognize their contributions.

The entire GGU community is excited about the new Pro Bono Program and Honor Society. GGU looks forward to motivating its students to volunteer and make justice accessible for society's most vulnerable members.

In Your Own Words:

Philip Batchelder (JD 09)

We keep hearing it: connections, and not Craigslist postings, are what will land us a job in this tight market. I'm not employed yet, so I can't swear that this is true. What is certain is that the more networking I do, the more I learn what I want to do and who is doing it (as well as what I don't want to do). I also meet interesting professionals, some of whom have taken time out of busy practices to answer questions over coffee and to recount their own triumphs and difficulties. This is a truly worthwhile way to inspire and clarify one's goals - and to keep gathering nuggets of legal knowledge while we await bar results.

That doesn't mean, though, that it's easy. Almost every letter I've sent, every call I've made, and every event I've attended has felt oddly risky, as if I'm asking too much or somehow getting overexposed. Also, if an interaction goes awkwardly or a request for an informational interview goes unanswered, it's not especially encouraging for the next round! It's a good time to tune up a personal "reset" button so we can forgive our stumblings and keep letting the world know we're interested.

Go to as many events as possible that relate to your professional interests. Send out requests for chats over coffee. Introduce yourself to the lawyer who just addressed the gathering. Contact your professor. When you put yourself out there and it goes well, it's nothing short of energizing - and sometimes it's the way to employment. So do it!

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In Your Own Words is an opportunity for GGU School of Law students and alumni to share the wisdom you have gained from your experiences. If you would like to contribute a blog entry regarding your job and/or externship experiences or your job search, please email Amanda Vassigh Sigal.

Celebrating Pro Bono at GGU

by Elana Konstant
Assistant Director of Public Interest Programs

The Pro Bono Open House Celebration on October 27 was a great success! Thank you to all of the students who turned out to hear Dean Ramey, Julia Wilson and Steven MacDonald speak about the value of pro bono work. Over 100 students also came to mingle with twelve pro bono project representatives from various organizations, including Bay Area Legal Aid, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach and Volunteer Legal Services Program. The event was an impressive kick off to the new Law Student Pro Bono Program that we are running with the Public Interest Clearinghouse (PIC).

For those of you who were not able to make it to the open house, the pro bono program will connect GGU students with short-term and long-term volunteer projects all around the Bay Area. As volunteers, students can staff client intake clinics, engage in legislative advocacy and policy work, and represent low-income families in a variety of substantive legal areas. The diversity of available pro bono opportunities is designed to be flexible to fit your busy schedules. Performing pro bono work allows you to contribute to the betterment of your community while simultaneously developing your legal skills.

If you have any questions about pro bono projects or about PIC, please feel free to contact the coordinator of the Law Student Pro Bono Project, Doan Nguyen, who is also the Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow at PIC. You can reach her by email (dnguyen@pic.org) or telephone (415-834-0100, ext. 311).
To gain access to the online database of pro bono projects and sign up to receive the pro bono e-newsletter, please visit www.lawstudentprobono.org. Doan will be updating this site continuously and you can access the latest postings once you sign up. The site also provides a calendar of events and trainings.

Please get involved today to start paving the way for justice.