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#Career in Law - Legal Career Strategies for Law Students

HG.org Legal Employment Center

Legal Career Strategy

Want to take your career to the next level? Here are 20 tips to advance your legal career.

So, you are considering a legal career but don't know where to begin. Here are eight tips for jump starting a career in the legal field, whether you are a student evaluating career opportunities or an experienced professional transitioning into the legal field.

Most law students and graduates aspire to be outstanding, not merely good, attorneys. And they learn that, although their employers will provide training, they bear ultimate responsibility for their own professional development. While learning the law is relatively straightforward, it is much harder to cultivate the other qualities and skills that lead to success.

If you�ve been working as a lawyer for a year or two, you�re probably starting to gain confidence in what you are doing. You�re thinking about advancing your career. What would you like to be doing in five or ten years? Whatever your ambition, now is the time to build a foundation for the future.

Nearly every professional person�whether Brain Surgeon, Dentist, CPA, Human Resources Manager, or Vice President of Sales and Marketing�reaches a point I call "repetition burnout." That's burnout from doing the same thing again and again.

Once upon a time, law school graduates could join a firm right out of school, work hard for several years, do great legal work and expect to become a partner at the same firm.

I'm building a high-performance career, and don't want to settle for second best. What questions should I ask myself to be sure I'm on a fast-track, upward trend?

I had not taken responsibility for my career. I wasn�t sure why I was practicing law or what I wanted in my life. I didn�t have a vision of what I wanted to become as a lawyer.

Maybe you�ve made the Right Job Decision and maybe you haven�t, but either way, now is the time to begin mapping out Long-Term plans and goals.

Job Success

Since the late 1970s, I've spent more than 20,000 hours as a career consultant listening to people talk about their work. My clients have included CEOs, law firm partners, professional athletes, engineers, factory workers--you name it. They've shared their highs and lows, and their innermost secrets.

For the last three decades, many of the nation's most talented women have chosen career paths in law.

Unless your job requires you to wear a uniform, choosing clothing for work can be difficult. Of course there are industry standards, such as the navy blue suit for accountants and bankers. What do you wear, however, if you work in an industry where there really isn't a typical style of dress?

Today's work place is very competitive. You will need to have a variety of skills that will give you the competitive edge you need to succeed.

On Stephen Engle's first day as an associate at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass, a partner came into his office with three big boxes of documents and asked how he'd like to work on an eminent domain case.

Your relationships with your colleagues are important. Good workplace relationships can help you do your job better. They can make going to work everyday enjoyable. Bad relationships with colleagues can distract you and can turn a so-so job into a nightmare. These resources will help you have good relationships with your colleagues.

In the movie 'Erin Brockovich', the title character wears revealing clothing, uses foul language, and is outspoken. While expressing your individuality is important, it can get you into trouble at work. Here's how to avoid sending the wrong message.

Your employer doesn't care how you dress for work on a daily basis. But what happens when you have to make a presentation or attend a conference? Find out how to dress professionally when you have to.

Why are some people promoted to positions that bring out the best in them, while their peers, who are equally talented, get left behind in positions that do not allow them to flourish? Are there secrets to a rewarding and satisfying career in the corporate or legal world?

Every workplace has some difficult people. Here are the different types of people you may encounter at work and advice for dealing with each one.

In the United States, equality before the law only now is beginning to be matched by equality in the law, as U.S. women in ever-larger numbers are entering and succeeding in legal careers.

Legal Career

The new buzz word is virtual. From virtual games, virtual seminars, virtual phones and virtual everything else, the word is becoming a part of our everyday language. Now virtual has extended to service providers. There are millions of virtual assistants who work for doctors, lawyers, small and large business owners every day. In fact, the latest buzz is virtual bankruptcy assistants who are trained professionals specifically working for debtor bankruptcy attorneys. Here are 29 advantages for attorneys hiring a virtual bankruptcy assistant.

Thousands of young attorneys will sit down to take their first deposition every year the same way I did, with roughly the same amount of dread and exactly the same amount of training.

How suited are you to the practice of law in a large law firm?

What can you do with your law degree and practice experience besides practicing law? The options are astonishingly wide. Here are just a few of the most common nontraditional ways lawyers and recent graduates make use of their legal background without practicing law.

The latest edition of Women Lawyers Journal has a speech by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita B. Garman. In it, she laments the public's perception of attorneys and talks about why lawyers may be held in such low esteem.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a business is neglecting to define a clear strategy. This guide sets forth goals and communicates to stakeholders where you are headed and how you plan to achieve results. From selecting a strategy to developing a unique marketing plan, the future success of your firm starts here.

Build your practice with a marketing plan focused on client development and retention. In this article, you will learn the key successes and marketing tools to formulate this plan, in addition to an accounts receivable criteria � all bringing you closer to future success in your firm.

Paralegal Career

There's a basic truth about working with tough clients: the paralegal who interacts directly with them determines whether that client perceives that he or she is receiving good client service, poor service or somewhere in between.

If you are thinking of leaving your present job, there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. The time between the announcement of your resignation and your last day is a prime opportunity to ensure that today's coworkers become tomorrow's dependable references and contacts. Here are just a few suggestions.

Songwriters, instrumentalists, record producers, sound engineers, backup vocalists � a platinum-selling record is a collaboration of numerous creative and talented professionals. Unbeknownst to most, the backbone to every record deal launching a successful talent is a first-rate legal team.

If watching TV shows like Law and Order or old Ally McBeal re-runs has you thinking you would love a career as a legal assistant, you may want to look into the real world of one before entering the paralegal job market.

In order to be a successful paralegal, an individual should possess not only a common core of legal knowledge, but also must have acquired vital critical thinking, organizational, research, writing, oral communication, and interpersonal skills.

How many of you have ever felt like there has to be more to the paralegal profession then what most people see on the surface? What new and wonderful things could you do with the knowledge and experience that you have developed throughout your paralegal career? How can you apply what you already know, along with your many talents and abilities to make even more of a difference in society?

Ever wonder what it takes to be a successful paralegal? Well, imagine being a "paralegal hunter." Penny Cierzan knows all too well how that part of the legal world works, and she knows what it takes to be a top-notch legal staff member.

Choosing the "right" expert witness can be one of the most crucial decisions made when preparing a case for settlement and/or trial. Experienced and successful paralegals follow a mental checklist in determining who to select as an expert witness.