Trends Affecting Practice of Law Like other businesses and professions, the practice of law has changed dramatically in recent years. A revolution in technology has swept the business world. Computers have altered the way law is practiced in countless ways, including how lawyers relate to their clients. Technology has even altered the dynamics of how lawyers relate to each other in organizations. (1000 views)
The Myth of the Monolithic Law Firm Many associates expect their firm to be consistent in its policies, its expectations, its treatment of associates, and the quality of its work. Maybe larger firms cannot be stereotyped by such reputations anymore, but the people with whom you work are often more important to your experience there than the type of work you do. The working style of one partner may drive you... (44 views)
Life at the Law Firm Don't let anyone fool you. Law firms and lawyers are not all alike. Rather, firms are groups of individuals, each of whom has a different personality, a different perspective, and different expectations. Your life at one firm may not even resemble your friend's life at another. (87 views)
All That You Must Know about Litigation Practice Courtroom gladiator and proud of it, Michael J. McManus gives you a glimpse of what litigation practice is all about. His account of the incredible ups and downs that go with the job is replete with the high level of humor that is the hallmark and the respite of many a good litigator. (2190 views)
The Pace of Litigation Practice The pace can be hectic, even frantic. In the span of one day you may receive that box of documents from your own client that, despite several assurances in response to all of your careful and precise questions about its business dealings, demonstrate that things aren't quite as the client represented-in fact, you wonder if you are even dealing with the same company! Then,... (128 views)
Law Firm Economics and You Why is this analysis important? It is so because all the components of this process affects your life as a lawyer in a law firm. How many hours your firm expects you to bill will dictate how long your workday is and whether you must work evenings or weekends or both to meet expectations. For example, 1,800 billable hours a year are achievable by billing an average per day... (115 views)
Practice of Business Law Here's what it feels like to be a deal maker. Less well understood than their colleagues in litigation, transaction-oriented business lawyers get the satisfaction of putting a deal together rather than taking it apart. High-lighting the day-to-day aspects of the practice, author Feis debunks the myth that litigators have more fun. (924 views)
Is Deal Making in a Law Job for You? To answer the question of whether you would enjoy doing corporate or securities work in the deal making area, begin with this understanding: as a deal maker, you may never in your career see the inside of a courtroom. So, if you have always dreamed of swaying a jury or dramatically finding a fatal flaw in an opponent's case, then transactional work is probably not for you. (41 views)
The Big Firm Scenario In the old days, most lawyers worked by themselves or in small firms. Now, however, some law firms have more than 1,000 lawyers. Imagine a business organization composed of 1,000 lawyers. Now think of something more pleasant--like an attack of body lice. (3 views)
The Right to Receive Humane Legal Assistance Lawsuits often deal with the most intense, sensitive matters of your life, and yet lawyers and law firms are as cold as ice and judges act like they don't care if you live or die. Your friendliness or good intentions won't necessarily warm up the situation, either. (3 views)
Legal Profession is a Security, for Those Who Make It Most lawyers do not go to the huge firms. It makes sense, then, to back up and look at a different kind of attrition. What happens to the 361 people, out of every 1,000 LSAT takers, who become full-time lawyers of any type? (24 views)
Defining the Legal "Profession" The fact is, when you start asking what it means to be a lawyer, you hear some peculiar answers, and you might like to ponder them before charting your future. (297 views)
Legal Profession Outlook for 2013 There is no improvement in the outlook for the legal profession as 2013 commences. (19 views)
Areas Of Practice Of Labor Law Labor law is the body of laws, governmental rulings, and standards which addresses the legitimate rights of employees and places limitations on employers and their workplaces to ensure that their rights are not impinged upon. Labor laws mediate all matters of dispute and contention between trade unions, employers and employees. (44 views)
Evolution Of Labor Laws As A Specialized Area Of Practice Labor law developed as a vital area of legal specialization through efforts to clarify the rights, duties, and obligations of employers and employees. Labor attorneys have attempted to establish and maintain an equitable balance of power between these two factions from the earliest interactions of labor and management. (24 views)
Administrative and Enforcement Agencies: Ensuring Worker Rights Are Met As labor law has developed over the years since the Federal Railroad Act of 1932 and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, many different federal agencies have been created to administer and enforce regulations and particular legislation. The Department of Labor (DOL) governs and administers upwards of 180 federal laws. These directives and the procedures that... (25 views)
Do Labor Attorney Salaries Match Their Tough Career Schedules? The lifestyle concerns of labor law practitioners revolve around a variety of practice-related issues. Many labor law practitioners mention the necessity of always being available to meet client needs: the unexpected telephone call announcing a strike, walkout, work stoppage, or labor dispute can wreak havoc with a carefully planned schedule. The attorney must be prepared... (5450 views)
Concept of legal literature The more you read in the legal literature, the more you hope they do something about this problem quickly, because until they do, you'll keep seeing statements like this: (7 views)
Defining profession in legal term. Well, after the fiasco, you will not be surprised to hear that the ABA did not exactly agree with that other person's "commonly agreed-upon ingredients of a profession." Instead, they came by the time I had spent eight or nine months working in my first law firm job, some of the novelty had worn off, and I had started to take my status for granted. (21 views)
Lawyer managed firms To illustrate lawyer managed firms, I offer two opposing essays from the ABA Journal on the question of whether huge law firms are bad news. One commentator, Peter Megargee Brown, titled his essay, "Yes: Greed Is the Bottom Line." Against him, two legal consultants named Jack Kaufman and Bradford W. Hildebrandt wrote an essay entitled, "No: Big Clients Need Big Firms." My... (4 views)
Knowing More about Law Firms I learned to demand more and more from paralegals, secretaries, and word processing people, and to make it clear that they'd be held accountable if they weren't available when I needed them. I tried to be decent about it, but the work had to get done, and friendship came after performance on this job. (4 views)
Law Firm – Charging the Client If you're perfect, crazy, and positioned, probably the most important other thing to think about is the sheer quantity of work you do. Your firm charges an hourly billing rate for your time, and it's a lot more than they're paying you per hour, which means that they make money off you. (129 views)
How To Turn Your Hobby Into A Profit Making Endeavor There are hundreds of people who have a leisure time activity and spend all their free time indulging in these fun-filled fulfilling activities. But these activities need not be over once the leisure time is over, with a little experience and confidence and faith in your ability, you can actually turn your hobby into a successful money making endeavour. (37 views)
Choosing Not To Practice Law: Here Are Some Non-Legal Career-Options It is worth noting that not all of those licensed to practice law are actually engaged in the practice of law. Some are in private industry, or the public sector. (825 views)
Legal Career-Options In The Government Sectors There is a need for government lawyers at virtually every level of government - federal, state, and local. At the federal level, there is a need for lawyers in each of the three branches of government-legislative (Congress), executive (president and various departments and agencies), and judicial (Supreme Court and the federal court system), and also in the various... (2328 views)
Legal Career-Options In The Non-Government Sectors A legal degree prepares you for jobs not only in the legal sector but also for jobs in the non-legal sector. But student who are willing to undergo the rigors of law school, eventually want to end up as lawyers or at least use their degrees as a passport to a job in the legal profession. Here are some career-options available to law-school graduates in the private legal... (27 views)
Choosing between Working in Big and Small Firms: Consider These Factors One career option available to you upon graduation from law school is the practice of law in a private firm. Both large and small firms-each possessing their own set of distinct advantages and disadvantages and to determine if this is a viable option, there are various factors you should consider. (3562 views)
Taking Up Teaching Law As A Career Students with good academic records and those who have published work that has been widely appreciated should seriously consider a career in teaching. (16 views)
Legal Interviews for Career Change First, let's define some key terms. By a "lateral hire", meaning a job change made after one has been practicing law for a while, in which one is looking for a job in a different legal environment - for example, from a large law firm to a smaller law firm, from a law firm in City A to a law firm in City B, or from a law firm to a corporate legal department or government... (686 views)