Vault Law

Bidding for on-campus interviews can be overwhelming. If you aren’t starting out with a lot of familiarity with the legal industry, firms will probably seem very similar to each other at first glance when you start trying to make choices.

Congratulations, first-year law students, you’re on the cusp of finishing your 1L year! You’ve successfully navigated vast quantities of statutes and case law, case briefing, legal writing and research, outlining, and cumulative exams with extensive (and sometimes inane) fact patterns.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere—from help desk chatbots to predictive text on our smart phones to Siri and Alexa. It’s used every day to make our lives easier, to shortcut once tedious tasks.

It’s a well-known fact that a legal education, while valuable (and essential to becoming a lawyer), doesn’t actually prepare you for a law firm career in a practical sense. Law schools largely follow very traditional curricula, with the first year of law school comprising highly theoretical subject matter; hence the purpose of law school often being described as “teaching you how to think like a lawyer.

It is an unfortunate fact of professional life that people will make mistakes and be punished for them. Depending on the severity of and intent behind the misstep, a full range of repercussions exists for on-the-job malfeasance—verbal warnings, written reprimands, reductions in pay, demotion, suspension, and termination.

Law school can feel out of reach for many individuals because of rising application costs as well as other barriers to access. The new Launchpad Scholars Program seeks to lower those barriers for the next generation — and you can help by getting the word out to friends and family.

Clerkships are an excellent way to begin your legal career. Taking a year or two to clerk before you work at a firm or for an agency can be a big benefit to you in the long run, both in experience and clerkship bonuses.

“Each generation wants new symbols, new people, new names. They want to divorce themselves from their predecessors.

You learn a lot of things during law school, but not always about the opportunities you will have once you join a firm. One of those opportunities is what’s called a secondment.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of “generational diversity,” you’re probably not alone. For all the focus on diversity and inclusion in the legal industry, this is one form that has received far less attention.

You’ve procrastinated to the point the deadline is looming and you ask yourself, “Why do I keep doing this? ” Waiting until the last minute to complete a task is commonplace for some—maybe you were sidetracked by another task; maybe something personal came up; or maybe you have deadline anxiety.

In a BigLaw career, much emphasis is placed on finding mentors, and for good reason. After all, building relationships is a powerful way to advance your career.

On October 3, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear arguments in a case regarding one of the most fundamental and sacred tenets of being a lawyer—the attorney-client privilege. In Re Grand Jury, a decision from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, came before the nine justices so they could address what communications are protected by the privilege.

Partnership. For many, many BigLaw associates, partnership is the holy grail of a BigLaw career.

During law school, when you think about your future career, it’s common to have aspirations of making it to the top—becoming a partner. If you are going into BigLaw, it’s even more natural to think that someday you will make partner.

As we reviewed earlier, many attorneys are behind technologically and reticent to adopt new tech tools, despite (1) ABA recommendations to stay abreast of relevant technology, (2) sophisticated clients who expect tech proficiency in their attorneys, and (3) competitors like alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) using technology to provide legal support work at lower costs. The bottom line is that law firms and lawyers need to keep current with technology because being deficient means losing business—or going out of business.

What goes up must come down, and the same is proving true with the legal market. 2021 saw law firms hiring at a frenzied pace and associates taking salary increases and bonuses to the bank.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your professional journey.

If you didn’t catch our previous post about BigLaw employee benefit packages, take a look here. In that post, we outlined “typical” benefits that BigLaw firms offer their associates, and highlighted some very important but often underutilized benefits that can greatly improve associate quality of life.

What is Experiential Learning? You may have heard the term experiential learning, but what exactly is it?

As an attorney, you’ve established yourself as a resource (and possibly an expert) in an area of the law where clients will seek your guidance and representation. And in this relationship, you need to instill confidence in your clients.

It’s the start of the second semester. Whether you have just survived your first semester as a law student, or you are on your way out the door as a third year, here are some ways you can make the most of your second semester.

There are two groups of people in the workforce:  those who can easily say no, and the rest of us. Saying no can be hard, especially early on in your career or when you are new to a job.

When it comes to diversity and inclusion in the legal world, few initiatives have been as successful, and as widely embraced, as the Mansfield Rule. In the five years since its inception, it has gained astonishing momentum among law firms (as well as other companies).