Law Schools

Professional Development For Law Students

How can students best take advantage of their school’s professional development programming?

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Unlike much of the recent content here on Above the Law, my column this week will not focus on the recent confirmation of Justice Brett to the Supreme Court — an elevation that came by the smallest margin in American history.

This is not because I believe that what’s done is done and it is time for everyone to move on.  In fact, nothing could be further from the truth and the issues of sexual assault and misleading Congress are ones that should be brought up each and every day (see, e.g., www.brettkavanaugh.com — remember dear readers, if you ever find yourself caught up in a national scandal, buy every domain name you can think of).  Instead, the reason I will not focus on Kavanaugh this week is that I am not sure how I would translate never-ending screaming into the infinite abyss over 1000 words.

Instead, I will use this space to talk about something equally important as the fate of the nation’s highest Court for the next several decades: professional development programming for law students.

Almost every law school, regardless of size, has some sort of professional development programming for its students, designed to provide insight into the various aspects of being a lawyer.  Oftentimes, this programming is focused on 1Ls and, depending on the school, attendance can be “mandatory”[1] or even graded.  The rationale behind this type of programming is relatively straightforward — the academic classes which law students take are remarkably good and teach participants how to practice law, but are not particularly focused on the logistics of being a lawyer.  Whether it be describing the daily activities of a litigator, discussing how to make the most out of a summer associate experience, or even pulling back the curtain on the economics of law firms, these events can provide critical insights that students will get nowhere else.

So how can students best take advantage of their school’s professional development programming?

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First, show up.  This might seem so obvious as not requiring a mention, but a look at the attendance lists from these events at many schools would disabuse you of that notion.  If you attend a school where student participation in professional development is graded, then the reason for going is an obvious one of self-interest.  There is no need to negatively impact your GPA — which will have an actual, and potentially sizeable, effect on your job prospects — because you cannot bring yourself to attend what is typically a lunchtime event that might feature free food.  Even if there is no negative repercussion from non-attendance, I can tell you with confidence that there was a GREAT DEAL of time and energy invested by your CSO staff to develop the programming series.  The least students can do is reward that investment with attendance.  Plus, if law firm partners, governmental attorneys, or non-profit heads come in from out of town to speak to a room of seven students, they might conclude that the recruiting relationship between the organization and the school is not particularly strong and cross it off the list for the upcoming recruiting cycle.  Once again, all this does is harm student job prospects, which no one wants.

Once you are in the room, make sure to pay attention.  Again, a good amount of care is taken into putting together these programs and there will be something that everyone in attendance can learn. One of my favorite professional development events at Vanderbilt each year is an explanation of the economics behind law firms.  While I did spend a bit of time in Biglaw, perhaps not surprisingly, a second-year associate is not granted unfettered access to the financials of a multibillion-dollar enterprise.  Students who attend this particular Vanderbilt presentation learn that law firms actually lose money on associates during the first several years of employment.  This is because between summer associate salaries, associate salaries, and any applicable bonuses, firms are spending a good amount of cash without getting enough back from a junior associate in billings.  The deficit does not stem from the fact that all recent law school graduates are terrible lawyers, but rather, because they tend to work inefficiently.  For example, a first-year associate might bill eight hours to draft a memorandum that an experienced fifth-year associate could have done in two.  When the bill is presented to the client, even though the first-year associate has a lower billable hour rate, an objection will be lodged for overpaying for eight hours of work when it could have been completed in two.  Since law firms like to keep their paying clients, a deal is often made whereby the client only has to pay for two hours of the first-year’s work.  However, the firm still gives the first-year associate credit for eight hours of billable work.  Therefore, the attorney is getting paid for six billable hours from which the firm did not generate any revenue.  While interesting from a budgeting perspective, that information is vital for 1Ls because it provides an insight as to why law firms are very determined to find first-year associates who will stick with the firm for several years and will thus try to suss out what connection a student has to a particular market during an interview.

Finally, talk to the speakers after the program is complete.  As avid readers of this column know, I have spoken before about the importance of networking.  When I speak with students, I explain how they can network with Vanderbilt Law alumni across the country through an assortment of methods, but I also let the students know that the response rate can be relatively low, as attorneys are often rather busy.  Professional development programs provide students with a unique opportunity to speak with attorneys and recruiters (many of whom are alumni of your school) when they are standing right in front of you, no need to wait for a seemingly interminable time to get an email response.  Take advantage of the opportunities to make networking a much less exhausting and time-consuming process.

The first year of law school can be exhausting time and any respite, even if it is just the lunch hour, can be a welcomed opportunity to put one’s head down and not have to think about the law for 60 minutes.  And while that is perfectly acceptable most days, if there happens to be a CSO professional development program one day during lunch, pick your head up and head on over.  Not only will you learn something and have a great opportunity to network, but there might even be some free pizza, and that makes any day a bit better.

[1] Quotes are necessary here because the enforcement mechanisms for mandatory attendance can, oftentimes, be non-existent.

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Nicholas Alexiou is the Director of LL.M. and Alumni Advising as well as the Associate Director of Career Services at Vanderbilt University Law School. He will, hopefully, respond to your emails at abovethelawcso@gmail.com.

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