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#BC Law: Impact

Editor’s Note: I’m a recently graduated, proud alumnus of Boston College Law School, a community I love with all my heart. This is the third and final post in a series aimed at helping rising 2Ls prepare for the on-campus interview process. The topic(s) of this post, specifically, address short term OCI alternatives and long term career planning-best practices. It is my sincere hope that you will find this both helpful and comforting as you move through this process. Most importantly it’s my wish that you never forget that you’re not alone. We re Eagles. We fly together.

My story:

“Is this a sick joke?” I stared at the screen in disbelief, laughed uncomfortably, and then excused myself from his Honor’s chambers to prevent myself from awkwardly crying in front of Alicia, the Courtroom Deputy.

Convinced I’d read it wrong, I put on a smile, tightened my tie, grabbed my jacket, and scurried down the hall to the John R. Bartels Library, my frequent third floor escape that summer when I just couldn’t even. “Mr. Quattrochi, 26(f) conference on my docket this morning, you said you’d wanted to see one. I trust I’ll see you there?” I looked up, reflexively. “Yes, Judge. Just going to grab a coffee before we start. Can I get you anything?”  With that aside, I entered the library and pulled out my cell phone.

Nope. I hadn’t read it wrong. Out of the more than fifty bids I’d submitted, I’d only been selected for one screener in Boston, and two screeners in New York. I walked out of the library, turned, went directly into the bathroom, and ugly-cried for a good ten minutes straight. Then my phone vibrated.

Editor’s Note: Cara Fonseca is a rising 3L and the incoming Co-Chair of the LSA Career Mentoring Committee, which organizes the 1L Boot Camp Career Prep Series each year. For the second in our series  of three posts geared to help rising 2Ls prepare for the on-campus interview process, Cara was kind enough to contribute as a guest blogger. The topic of this post is straightforward how to interview with law firms as well as you possibly can during OCI and callbacks.

If you re anything like I was as a rising 2L, you probably see the interview process as equally exciting and intimidating.  I truly believe the interview is the most important part of the recruiting process. A great interview can get you an awesome summer associate offer, even if your grades are not the best in the class. Although I am by no means an expert when it comes to interview strategy and skills, I ve provided a bit of my own advice and tidbits from interviewing attorneys, summer associates, and junior associates to compile a list of tips and tricks that I hope you will find helpful as you enter into your own interviewing process:

Editor s Note: This post is the first in a series of three geared to help rising 2Ls prepare for the on-campus interview process and provide prospective students with an inside look at the recruiting process during law school. The topic of this post is a general overview and breakdown of the logistics of the OCI process, and tips for navigating it each step of the way.

Leading up to your first round of interviews, it s perfectly normal to feel excited, impatient, and more than slightly nervous. One way we do not want you to feel is unprepared. As with any advice, the information that follows is not a one-size-fits-all, guaranteed recipe for success. Hopefully, however, you find the suggestions worthwhile and as a result feel more confident heading into the OCI process. Let s start by laying out the timeline: Continue reading

It defies our concepts of professional school, right?

BC Law was ranked #16 up 5 spots from last year in the newest Above the Law Law School Rankings. The ATL rankings focus on how a law school contributes to positive student outcomes (read: jobs and salaries), and are the only rankings that incorporate the latest American Bar Association data about employment for the class of 2014. ATL also incorporates a “debt per job” metric which measures how much student debt is accrued by a school’s graduates for every actual legal job obtained.

To read more about the ATL Rankings, and see the full list of schools, click here !

Editor’s Note : Kevin Curtin is the Boston College Law School Alumni Board President and a member of the BC Law Class of 88. He is Senior Appellate Counsel/Grand Jury Director at the Middlesex District Attorney s Office. He has tried approximately 100 jury cases and handled over 100 criminal appeals. Mr. Curtin is also an instructor in the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop and a faculty member of the national trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is also an adjunct faculty member at BC Law. All of us at Impact are pleased to be able to host his guest blog post .

But what about this? Dean Rougeau, University President Father William P. Leahy, David Simas and Lainey Sullivan also spoke about something else: the idea of a tradition shared in common with those who have come before them. Something that makes Boston College Law School special—an essential bond that cannot be seen, but which is continuously affirmed as true.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a Philadelphia girl. Born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love, I am a little obsessed with my hometown: the food (cheesesteaks! Wawa! water ice!), the accent ( youse is a word, don t question it), and of course, the sports teams (yeah, we threw snow balls at Santa Claus, so what?). My family is still Philly-based, and I knew when I was thinking about law school that I would ultimately want to practice close to home.

So when I started looking at BC, I faced something of a conundrum. The law school offered a ton of stuff geared towards my area of interest (juvenile rights and education law), which was hard to find, and my campus visit convinced that the people and professors had a lot to offer, too. But in case you didn t know, Boston College is, in fact, in Boston. BOSTON. Like, home of the Patriots, Boston. (Sorry, not sorry, Rob.) And I was really worried that going to BC or any law school outside of the Philly area would make it difficult to come back after graduation.  Continue reading

Editor’s Note : Erica Coray is the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the Boston College Journal of Law Social Justice.   Erica was kind enough to author a blog about the academic journals at BC Law, and why she chose to join  JLSJ . We are very pleased to present our fifth and final letter about the benefits of being on a journal and why 1Ls should participate in the writing competition.

You’ve just finished the last exam of your first year of law school, you’re exhausted and elated at the same time, not quite sure of what just happened, and you follow the crowd upstairs to pick up the writing competition packet for journals. And it is huge. And long. That’s when you start questioning, “do I really want to do this? Two more weeks of research and writing? And Bluebooking. But I just finished, don’t I deserve a break?”

Yes, you do want to do it, and not just because it looks great on your résumé (though it does), but because being part of a journal your 2L year is an invaluable experience like none other in law school. Continue reading