Law Student

For years, law firm software has been overly complex, frustrating, time consuming, and difficult. Today, solo attorneys and small firms have better options. Non-law companies are offering software online, like Gmail and Zoho.  And now, even law firm software is available online.

The two big players in the online law firm software niche are Clio and Rocketmatter. This is a review of Clio, followed by a comparison to Rocketmatter and traditional law firm software. Read the rest of this Law Student article »

This video explains tips for law students seeking to build their law school resume. Law firms and legal job employers often look beyond grades to determine whether a law student is the right fit for a job. The video goes beyond grades to discuss practical tips and creative ideas for building a strong law student resume.

Sure, grades are important. But students with high grades still need a good resume. Law students with medium or low grades are especially position to benefit from building other areas of their resume.

The video is encouraging for students who don’t have good grades. There are many things that law students can do to have their CV represent their strengths.

In this video, Thomas Jefferson School of Law Professor David Steinberg gives advice to law students on building the law school resume and networking for jobs after law school.

A good list of tips or advice for law students is hard to find, even on the internet. Job Profiles published this list of 100 Tips and Resources to be a Happy, Successful Lawyer. These tips and resources are a great, especially for some easy summer reading before law school starts again for the school year.

The tips excerpted below are from the tips for law school students and new lawyers. However, check out the entire list if you are interested in a number of good tips for lawyers and life as an attorney.

84. LSAC: College students and law school students who are starting to plan their legal careers need to go over the resources on this official site.
85. About Law School: The Princeton Review: Get an overview of what to expect in law school, from applications to the first year experience to picking a specialization to legal clinics.
86. There’s No Competition in Law School: A group of 3Ls shares advice for younger law students while also doling out the real-life misery and fun of being a law school vet.
87. Tips for Summer Associates: Lydia R.B. Kelley stresses the importance of knowing deadlines for summer associates.
88. JD Law Students Blog: Various law students “share their thoughts and experiences” for the benefit of other students and future law students.
89. Links for New Lawyers: Get survival tips and help choosing a firm with this guide.
90. Marketing and Networking: A Conceptual Framework: New lawyers get a crash course in networking and promoting themselves and their practice in this article.
91. Five Indispensable Tips for Law Students and New Lawyers: The Legal Underground shares tips like “learn to use legal technology” and “don’t be an asshole” to give new lawyers’ careers a boost.
92. Firm Attorneys Offer Tips for Summer Associates: The Virginia law school site posts this article that will help summer associates land a job at the firm.
93. 10 Survival Tips for New Associates: Tips like “don’t be afraid to be a new associate,” “know the rules,” and “stay in touch with friends” will help new associates adjust to their new life.

As a law student, what is the most challenging aspect of law school for you? What makes life during law school difficult?

Is it that you have no time, you have little money, the competition in law school is stressful, relationships are difficult during law school, attorney job hunting is competitive, or the constant criticism in law school becomes too much to bear? Here is a list. Which one has been your biggest challenge? Read the rest of this Law Student article »

Student loan consolidation has always been confusing for me. So I sat down with my law school student loan coordinator recently to find out the benefits of consolidating student loans, the disadvantages, and other things to know before consolidating student loans. This is what I learned. Read the rest of this Law Student article »

The holidays are almost here! Many of you are already done with finals. It’s time to relax, sit back, and enjoy the break. You’ve worked hard; you earned it.

Brain-Free Reading

As you kick into relaxation mode, here are some news stories that don’t require any thinking. While you were preparing for finals and in finals, some law students and law schools were making the news. Read the rest of this Law Student article »

A while back, I asked why some law students decided to start a blog.* Two law students posted excellent answers to the question.

Part-time Law Mom wrote her answer here. She explained:

I had spent months combing law student blogs trying to find blogs by part-time law student mothers with kids. The only great blog I found existed through the author’s first year before she ended it. I decided that I would start a blog in order to both chronicle this adventure and also to help other mothers who might be considering law school in addition to a full-time job.

The Frugal Law Student wrote his answer here. He explained his reasons for starting a blog:

After a few years of being an avid blog reader, I decided to start my own. Because I was big fan of personal finance blogs and law school blogs, I thought I would marry the two and create a blog dedicated to helping law students mitigate their crippling law school debt. I figured it would be a good way to keep track and hold me accountable for how I managed my finances in during law school

My reason for starting a blog was similar. I wanted to read a blog by other law students and couldn’t find any. In particular, I wanted a blog with tips for doing better in law school.

Learning Law School Success from Others

As a 1L, I was constantly finding ways to improve my performance. I wished I could have learned these law school tips from the beginning rather than through the “school of hard knocks.”

Law School Tips

Since that time, I have happily encountered many law student blogs. Some of those blogs had law school tips, but none of them focused exclusively on law school tips. If you search the archives here, you will find many of the law school tips I found along with some of my own.

Publicize Your Law Student Blog Here

If you want your law student blog featured here, stay tuned. My next plan with Law Student .TV is to find a way to promote the blogs of other law students.

You can already promote your law school blog posts at School Blog Vote using its law school student section, but I’m working on another option that could further promote law students’ blogs. Come back soon for more details.

In the meantime, you could add some more interesting blog posts to your law school blog, so that when visitors arrive in a few weeks, they have more interesting material to read.

*NOTE: I promised to link to the blogs of whoever answered. My delay is inexcusable, but it relates to having a baby and taking the bar exam. I am finally making good on that promise. Thanks to the authors of these great law school blogs for their patience.

Here is some great news for law students and law school graduates entering public interest law jobs (government, non-profit, etc.).

This includes public defenders, city prosecutors, federal government lawyers, attorneys at non-profit and charity organizations, and a variety of similarly situated law school graduates.

In short, this new law will provide law school loan repayment assistance to students taking public interest jobs.

The following was provided by Philip G. Schrag of the Georgetown University Law Center:

This morning, President Bush signed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (H.R. 2669), which includes two provisions that will make it much easier for law students who graduate with high educational debt to have long-term public service careers. The bill includes a section creating an income-based repayment (IBR) plan that enables graduates to make much smaller monthly payments when their incomes are low: the IBR formula caps repayment at 15% of (AGI minus 150% of the federal poverty level). Interest not paid Read the rest of this Law Student article »