Duke Law Career & Professional Development

1Ls: Reception with Haynes & Boone

Join attorneys from Haynes & Boone at Four Square in Durham on Tuesday, March 20 from 6:30-8:30 PM. Business casual attire, and drinks and appetizers will be served!

If you're interested, send your resume and transcript to Laura Kingham at [email protected] Please RSVP by March 16.

Don't worry, be happy!

Anne Frank wrote, "We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different, yet the same."

Professor Dan Bowling, a current member of the Duke Law faculty (and Duke Law alum), takes the idea of happiness and applies it to the legal world in his blog post this week for The Careerist. Professor Bowling offers some good advice to achieve greater well-being, even as a lawyer, and lays out 10 ideas in his article, which can be found here. A brief overview of these novel ideas:

1) Play to your strengths

2) Choose optimism

3) Keep perspective

4) Keep moving - literally

5) Be sociable

6) Practice gratitude

7) Be resilient

8) Pause/meditate

9) Keep a sense of humor

10) Make law a calling - or get out

All of these ideas can be transferred to every day life, just as much as your professional life. 

As OCI Segment I ends, signs of improvement begin to appear

Now that the first segment of OCI is over for us here at Duke, and you begin looking back over your week of interviews, signs of improvement seem to be appearing. According to this article, summer 2011 classes will be smaller than 2007 and 2008, but there will be a slight improvement in the number of hirings. James Leipold, executive director of NALP writes, "Most firms have scaled back as far as they could, so it makes sense to me that we would see some growth."

As we head into Segments II and III of OCI, and classes begin Monday, signs such as these and stories from rising 3Ls about their workloads this summer point to a welcome shift. Remaining cautious, and practicing constant vigilance in terms of keeping yourself in the loop will be vital to those of you searching for a summer position, or a permanent one, for Summer 2011/come graduation. The legal job market still needs time to fully bounce back, so patience will be an essential virtue!

Cooley’s 2010 Diversity Fellowship Program

As part of Cooley Godward Kronish's ongoing commitment to diversity, we are proud to offer Diversity Fellowships to outstanding law students.  First-year law students who demonstrate a commitment to promoting diversity in their communities are invited to apply for the fellowships.  Award recipients will receive a paid Summer Associate position and an award of up to $15,000 to assist with law school tuition.  Awards will be announced in Fall 2010 with the Summer Associate position to start following the successful completion of the recipient's 2L year. For more information visit : http://www.cooley.com/diversityfellowship?Section=61525

More Small and Solo Corporate Practices Emerging

The Legal Intelligencer

A growing number of solo corporate attorneys and small corporate boutiques have emerged in the last two years to fill what they see as a gap in the Philadelphia legal market. Solo corporate attorney Keith S. Marlowe says that especially since the recession, Philadelphia has seen more corporate attorneys with large-firm and in-house pedigrees venturing out on their own or in very small groups to attract business from smaller private companies and startups and to capture some work normally reserved for megafirms. To continue reading, click here: More Small and Solo Corporate Practices Emerging

Sidley Austin LLP is excited to introduce its inaugural Sidley Diversity Mentor Program to be held this summer in Washington, D.C.  We encourage all diverse 1L students at Duke who intend to work as law firm summer associates in Washington, D.C. in 2011 and plan to spend their upcoming summer in the DC-area to apply.  For an outline of the program, eligibility requirements, and program application, please see the attached. The mentor program is expected to take place in June and July 2010.

Space for mentees is limited and application materials are due by April 30, 2010.  We request applicants submit an application form available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QHQK5SD and send a resume and an unofficial transcript to Kelly Cassetori, Legal Recruiting Coordinator, at [email protected].  We look forward to hearing from you.

Heartland Diversity Legal Job Fair

All 2L (graduating in 2012) and 3L (graduating in 2011) Law Students and 2010 Law Grads who consider themselves diverse are invited to participate regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, age, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status or disability.

To register for the event, please email your registration to [email protected] Please include in the request your full name, the name of your college or university, your expected graduation date, and a permanent email address. After submitting your request, an ID and password will be assigned to you so that you may access our web database and upload registration information needed for employers (i.e., cover letter, resume, transcript and writing sample). Registration deadline is June 21, 2010. There is no fee for students to register.

Early registration deadline is May 24, 2010. All registrations received on or before May 24 will receive an extra entry for one of our doorprizes. The drawing will take place at Saturday's Keynote Luncheon. You must be present to win.

Important dates:

March 22 - Student Registration Opens

May 24 - Early Bird Registration Deadline

June 21 - Student Registration Deadline

June 29 - Student/Employer Bidding Begin

July 5 - Student/Employer Bidding Ends

July 23 - Room Reservation Deadline

Jule 30 - Cancellation Deadline

Schedule of Events

Friday, August 6, 2010

4:00 - 7:00 PM Student Registration

4:30 - 5:30 PM Diversity Panel

5:30 - 7:00 PM Welcome Reception

Saturday, August 7, 2010

7:30 AM Employer Registration & Help Room Open

8:30 - Noon Employer Interviews

Noon - 1:30 PM Keynote Luncheon

1:40 - 4:30 PM Employer Interviews

The Job Fair will be held at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. The Heartland Diversity Legal Job Fair will have a limited number of hotel rooms at the Crowne Plaza Hotel reserved for students who reside more than 50 miles from Kansas City. Rooms will be $50, and are available on a first come, first serve basis. Room arrangements must be made through the hotel directly and not with HDLJF. When making reservations, please indicate you are a student participating in the Heartland Diversity Legal Job Fair.

For more information, please visit www.heartlanddiversity.org.

24th annual Northwest Minority Job Fair

On behalf of the Northwest Minority Job Fair board and Seattle Area Legal Recruiting Administrators, I am pleased to invite diverse students from your school to participate in the 24th annual Northwest Minority Job Fair.  This event will be held on Saturday, August 28th, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, in K&L Gates' Seattle offices, located at 925 4th Avenue, Suite 2900.  Job Fair participants are also encouraged to attend the Fair luncheon held at 12:00 pm, featuring a local guest speaker.

The annual Job Fair continues to be a great success.  Last year, we had over 25 employer participants and each student who attended interviewed with an average of 4 employers.

Attached is the required student registration form.  Students who wish to participate in the Job Fair should submit their registration form, directly to me, by April 30th, 2010.  Forms can be e-mailed or mailed using the address listed below.  Additional deadlines and information can be found at the official Job Fair website: www.NWMJF.org. 

More information regarding 2010 participating employers and instructions for requesting interviews will be distributed to registered students in May.

Students are encouraged to contact me directly at [email protected], or [email protected], with additional questions. 

Download Student Registration Form

2010 Patent Law Interview Program

The 2010 Patent Law Interview Program will be held on Thursday, July 29 and Friday, July 30 at the Embassy Suites Chicago – Downtown/Lakefront at 511 North Columbus Drive in Downtown Chicago. 

 

Student Registration

Student registration will begin on Monday, February 15 and end on Monday, March 8.  We will provide additional information about student registration next month.  During that time, students will see a Register Now button on the student information page of our website located at http://www.luc.edu/law/career/Patent_Program_-_Stu.html.   (You  MUST register and pay the $35.00 student registration fee on-line via credit card by the deadline.)

 

Please note that students do not need to be patent bar eligible to register for the Patent Law Interview Program.  However, many employers make patent bar eligibility a requirement for bidding, and most employers prefer patent bar eligible students.  Although a number of employers indicate on their registration forms that they are willing to interview students who are not patent bar eligible, it is our experience that non-patent bar eligible students are generally disappointed as they do not receive many interviews or job offers through the Patent Law Interview Program. 

STUDENT ELIGIBILITY 

The 2010 Patent Law Interview Program will be accepting registrations from:

 

ü      JD students graduating in May/June 2011 (3Ls)

ü      JD students graduating in May/June 2012 (2Ls)

ü      JD students graduating in December 2010/January 2011 (3Ls)

ü      JD students graduating in December 2011/January 2012 (2Ls)

ü      Students in Intellectual Property LLM programs with anticipated graduation dates in 2011 and 2012 (LLMs)

 

Students who will graduate before the program is held in July 2010, and students who plan to graduate after May/June 2012, are not eligible for the 2010 Patent Law Interview Program.

 

Important Dates for the 2010 Patent Law Interview Program

 

Tuesday, Jan 19                 Law School Registration Begins

Thursday, Feb 11               Deadline for Law School Registration

 

Monday, Feb 15                Student Registration Begins

Monday, March 8             Deadline for Student Registration

 

Thursday, April 8                Deadline for Law Schools to verify student information

 

Monday, April 19               Students receive Symplicity passwords/bidding instructions

Tuesday, April 20               Student Bidding Begins

Thursday, May 6                Deadline for Student Bidding

 

Monday, June 21                Initial interview schedules available on Symplicity

 

Monday, June 21

 to Wednesday, June 23     Interview Cancellation Period

 

Friday, June 25                   Final schedules available on Symplicity

 

Thursday, July 29

& Friday, July 30                Patent Law Interview Program

Haynes and Boone, LLP

Haynes and Boone, LLP would like to invite the 1L students of Duke Law School to a reception on Tuesday, February 2, from 6:30pm to 8:30 pm at Four Square Restaurant.  Your response is requested by Thursday, January 28.  Please see the invitation below for more details. 

Download Haynes and Boone, LLP - 1L Reception