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Preparing for Spring Semester Finals
So, first—work. Again. There’s so much ebb and flow with deadlines and projects that it’s difficult to maintain a steady schedule here, which sucks. I apologize. I have one more big thing this week and then I’m “free” as in, back to regular programming. Thankfully. Anyway, as I’m winding down—those of you in schools are starting to gear up for finals. Ugh. Sorry about that too. I remember how finals time basically meant life was at a standstill—it was such a hectic time because I know there’s other things happening (readings, family obligations, moot court try-outs, etc) that make the idea of finals like a kind of far off thing…
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Learning to Love Networking
The number one piece of advice all students receive to help land a job is to network. I’ve spoken before how unnatural networking has felt for me. It’s awkward and weird and it feels odd to try to make superficial connections just in case one day in the future they can help me. It feels icky. I think for many this runs counter to how we normally tend to socialize—in fact there are many articles on what women do wrong while networking that tries to shame us from doing what comes naturally to us. FYI, I just googled “things men do wrong while networking” and one (1!) article appeared…. Anyway,…
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More than a Brown Face: Making Your Voice Heard
Ok first, if you’re not watching the People vs. OJ Simpson you need to get your life. That’s the first thing. Seriously, it so accurately touches on race in the law and what it feels like to be an attorney of color. It’s no secret that this profession has a diversity problem. It’s no secret that students of color feel isolated, and that it often gets worse once they’re actually practicing. Then we feel the pressure of feeling like a token—constantly questioning if we’re actually valued, wanted, or just there for show? The scene that really spoke to this was in this week’s episode where the prosecution is dealing with…
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Summer Dress Code: Looking the Part as a Student Intern
When you’re new to the legal profession one of the surprising things can be just how conservative it really is–and I don’t mean politically speaking, rather how stuffy, traditional, and serious it can be (especially in firms). So it can take time to get used to understanding the business etiquette and expectations when you’re beginning a new internship. You really want to be able to look the part as soon as you can, by dressing appropriately because it will 1) make you look like you belong; 2) not call into question your judgement; 3) not make you stand out in a negative way. I know that in a perfect world,…
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When Familia Needs Free Legal Advice
One of the first rules we learn is to not give legal advice out to family/friends because it can come back to haunt us. I remember reading an article about this while I was still in law school where the author, a white man, wrote that even his mother knew to not ask him for advice because he would never give it to her. It though, wow–that’s intense. I thought of my own family that often needs legal help (for immigration, real estate, etc) and how crappy it would be to have knowledge and tools to navigate the justice system but instead just tell them, “sorry I can’t.”…
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Still Searching: Late Start to Legal Summer Jobs
If you have not been able to secure a summer job yet (especially as a 1L), I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s really time to get to it. Perhaps you missed my tip to get your hustle on in the late fall, but what’s done is done and you’re still looking somewhat late in the game. Before I move on, I just want to sympathize because I didn’t get my first summer job until April (!) my 1L year. So I get that life happens, and when you’re not in the know about how this process works you don’t realize what needs to be prioritized. But regardless, you…
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Be Fearless: Try Out for Moot Court
I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I think it’s super beneficial to remind all students the importance of trying out for moot court and other trial advocacy teams. I’ve spoken to so many rising 1Ls that don’t even attempt to try out and that is such a disservice to yourself. I know not all of us will be trial lawyers (myself included), but these opportunities provided by your school aren’t made to create trial lawyers–they are so much more than that! Here’s what you lose out on when you don’t participate in these activities: one. Connections. You meet countless practicing attorneys and judges through these programs. You can gain mentors…
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Negotiating while Latina
I went to a fantastic Latina blogger summit last weekend and there was a ton of great lessons and activities, but what I really appreciated was the mission to empower and encourage other Latinas pursuing careers in a still somewhat novel and alternative industry. During one of the breakout sessions on negotiation,the instructor–a dynamic Latina with a background in business–mentioned how the fear of the female penalty often holds us back when we try to advocate for ourselves. The penalty being that women are often labeled as too aggressive when we participate in salary negotiations; or give ourselves strong self-evaluations; or hell, just while leading, in general. So instead we may demure because we don’t want to be dinged with that…
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Fair Pay: International Women’s Day 2016
We discussed this last year, but the theme of International Women’s Day 2016 is parity: What can we do as individuals and a community to close the pay gap so that women are paid their worth? One of Latinas Uprising’s focal points, when it comes to discussing women, equality, and progress is almost always on women and the workplace; most importantly, women and the income we earn. The sad reality is that we earn a pittance compared to other groups and that impacts our quality of life (and that of our families), our earning potential, and our economic capital. So any raised awareness on the income disparity and how to close gap…
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Celebrating the Bar Exam
Way back when I was researching and planning my law school applications (so a while ago), I remember reading about post-Bar exam trips. This was pre-recession, and what seemed like truly gilded times. The idea was that you had a job lined up pre-graduation and so after you took the Bar, you wouldn’t start until September, giving yourself a month’s time to do something awesome, like travel to Europe. As I write this, it seems so laughable to me. These ridiculous standards that were set (and sometimes are still set) by the status quo just seem so out of reach for most of us. But regardless, that was how it…