Although the deadline for applications for the spring U.S. Attorney's Office Rotation is October 7, 2008, applications received by the Clinic Office prior to that date will be sent to the US Attorney's office as soon as the Clinic receives them.
If you are interested in applying, please deliver your application, writing sample, resume, and transcript as soon as possible to the Clinic Office.
Welcoming Program and Reception for International LL.M. Students
Monday, October 6, 2008, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY.
The Association welcomes international LL.M. students to learn about the activities of the Association that might be of interest to you, including its historic and present role in upholding the rule of law and the work of its various committees. A reception will follow after the program so that you can share your experiences with the New York legal community. The Association also invites former international LL.M.'s to attend the program and reception.
The program and reception are free of charge. Members of the Association, their guests, and all other interested persons are invited to attend. Please register here.
The International Trademark Association, INTA, announces the
2008-2009 Ladas Memorial Award Competition
Paper Submission by January 16, 2009.
The Ladas Memorial Award Competition is open to all students, practitioners
and academics interested in trademarks and trademark law.
Sponsored by INTA and supported by the law firm of Ladas & Parry LLP, the Ladas Memorial Award was established in memory of the distinguished practitioner and author Stephen P. Ladas. The Award is presented once a year in two author categories, Student and Professional. In each category, the Award is given to the best paper on the subject of trademark law or a matter that directly relates to or affects trademarks.
The subject of the paper must be trademark law or a matter that directly relates to or affects trademarks. Eligible papers include both original unpublished manuscripts and published articles that are submitted or otherwise come to the attention of INTA by JANUARY 16, 2009.
Awards:
The Student and Professional winner is recognized by a US $2,000 cash award, and a set of Dr. Ladas's three-volume treatise. Award winners will be invited to attend the 2009 INTA Gala in Seattle, Washington at INTA's 131st Annual Meeting, where they are recognized before the outstanding volunteers and leaders of the Association. The Student winner will receive a travel and lodging stipend of $US 1,000 to attend the Gala.
Winning papers will be posted on the Academics section of INTA's website and published in the September -- October Issue (Issue 5) of The Trademark Reporter®, INTA's legal journal.
For more information:
To find out where to submit papers, to read more about the rules, or to read the winning papers from the 2007-2008 Ladas Competition, go here.
Please join CSO from Monday, September 22, through Thursday, September 25, as we throw our doors open and welcome students for daily treats, handouts, tours, training, and fun. Here is a preview of what to expect on each day:
Monday: Dean Gilbert’s homemade cookies and brownies; our QuickLook table for speedy resume and cover letter reviews; Resource of the Day Training: JACOB, our online job system.
Tuesday: Sandwiches; short crash workshops on effective interviewing techniques; submit your anonymous “This is how I would make CSO better” postcard; Resource of the Day Training: martindale.com.
Wednesday: A cup of tea? Stop by for a cup of one of our specialty teas; PAC tours and meet & greets; let’s talk student biz cards; Resource of the Day Training: pslawnet.org.
Thursday: Pick up a free CSO highlighter (while they last) and a kiss (Hershey’s, of course); an employer wants a writing sample, what do I do?; learn how to give an employer a five-minute “elevator presentation”; Resource of the Day Training: JACOB.
We will have our regular day and evening hours, so stop by at your convenience to see us. We’d really appreciate it. Really.
Do you want to eventually practice in New York City? If you do, then you should attend this event at the New York City Bar Association, and join the Law Student Perspectives Committee, as part of a pledge to yourself that you will begin to develop contacts in the City.
Annual Welcoming Reception for Law Students and Recent Law School Graduates
Monday, September 22, 2008, 6:30 - 8 pm
House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street
Start the academic year off right by joining the Committee on Law Student Perspectives at their Annual Welcoming Reception! Members of the committee, as well as representatives from other committees, will discuss the exciting opportunities and programs offered by one of the largest and most respected bar associations in the country. Come learn about:
• The Committee on Law Student Perspectives’ programs for the up-coming year
• The Committee’s resources for prospective and current law students, and recent law school graduates
• The Association’s other committees and opportunities for student involvement
A reception will follow and light refreshments will be served. No fee required. Please RSVP to Jodi Savage.
Today, The New York Law Journal had an interesting article about law schools requiring Bar Prep courses as part of their curriculum. Excerpts from the article are below. What do you think about the idea? (Please feel free to post a comment.)
More Schools Offer Bar Prep Courses: Some faculty consider making exam prep classes a requirement
By Leigh Jones
During the first few sessions of "Advanced Analytical Skills" that William Doherty took at Pace Law School, he and his classmates ribbed each other about being in a remedial course.
"That was the joke for the first two weeks, then we were grateful to be in there," said Doherty, an attorney and a police officer in Floral Park, N.Y., who became licensed to practice last year.
The course that Doherty took was a bar exam preparation class offered for credit by Pace Law School in White Plains, N.Y.
Pace was one of the first schools to provide such a course after the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar in 2005 began allowing schools to give bar prep courses for credit.
Since then, more schools have begun offering bar prep courses, and more are expected to do so following another rule change made at the ABA annual meeting in August.
COURSES CAN NOW BE REQUIRED
The recent change removed an interpretation of the rules pertaining to law school accreditation and enabled law schools to require students to take bar exam preparation courses in order to graduate.
More school-offered bar prep courses also are anticipated due to an ABA standard revised in February, which makes numerical pass rates a factor in accreditation.
"I don't know if I would've passed without the class," said Doherty about the course he took at Pace. He passed the New York state bar exam on his first try after the law school encouraged him to take the course. His grade-point average at the time was around 3.1, he said.
* * *
Some of the courses focus on the multiple-choice portion of the exam. Others aim to hone essay-writing skills or prepare students for performance test components of bar exams.
At the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
Pacific McGeorge will consider making the course mandatory for a portion of its third-year classes, said Timothy E. Naccarato, assistant dean for academic programs at the law school.
* * *
For now, many of the schools offering bar prep courses are middle-tier institutions. They want to help ensure that their students, who often have lower Law School Admission Test scores and lower undergraduate grades, can pass the bar at percentages that are comparable to higher-ranked schools, particularly in their own jurisdictions.
The John Marshall Law School is expected to consider requiring some of its students to take a bar preparation course, said Corinne Morrissey, director of academic achievement at the Chicago law school. She teaches "Legal Fundamentals," a course that focuses on the six subjects tested on the multiple-choice part of the bar exam.
* * *
"The principal thing we found out is that it really causes these people to become aware of how difficult the bar exam is," she said.
The September 2008 issue of the NALP bulletin contains an interesting article entitled E-Professionalism Dos and Don'ts by Tracy Evans (Director of Career Services at Louisiana State University Law Center) and Amy Gerwitz (Associate Director, Alumni Counseling and Relations, Pace University School of Law). The article talks about how best to use e-resources to present yourself in a positive light.
For example ... a few of the "dos" are:
1. Do a regular online search of your name (Google, Yahoo, Ask). If necessary, consider hiring a company to “clean up” your online image.
2. Keep your online profiles private, letting in only those you trust and know personally. Check friends’ profiles on a regular basis to monitor what pictures and comments are being posted about you.
3. Record a professional voicemail message at home and on your cell phone. Employers may think you have a beautiful voice if you choose to sing your message, but they won’t be impressed with your professionalism.
The "don'ts" include:
1. Don’t risk putting inappropriate content on the Internet, including on social networking sites, blogs, message boards, YouTube, etc. Don’t assume that just because you don’t put inappropriate content online, others can’t or won’t do so, and their content may include your name or pictures, etc.
2. Don’t assume that even though your profile settings are private, employers and others may not see them.
3. Don’t assume that employers are not con¬ducting electronic background checks on you; they are and will continue to do so.
4. Don’t over blog unless the content is professional. In particular, don’t put anything about your employer in a blog; employees have been fired for this.
Go here to read the entire article.
