By Kathleen Pearson 

Well, summer 2010 is almost here and let’s face it – summer looks a lot different for law students today than it did for your older brethren. Gone are the days of bloated summer classes of yore where the main goal was for the Summers to be wined and dined, perhaps show up by 10:00 am to do a little light research and then out to a 2-hour lunch at the hottest spot with some partners giving you the hard sale on a great job with a high salary.

All is not lost, however. While firms and students faced terrifying unknowns going in to last year’s summer season, we are all settling in to this new reality. Whether you have a clerkship or not, you can still have a very successful summer that will help you enter the field of law after graduation and create a path for the type of legal career you think you would like.

1L clerkships are virtually extinct. The good news for you is that firms know that. When Fall Recruiting starts, we will not be expecting you to have a primo clerkship from a top tier firm (or any firm for that matter) listed on your resume. Focus your efforts on summer school, volunteering at the legal clinic, working on a research project for a professor, even going to the courthouse to just watch the action. Anything to practice or review those newly found Contract or Torts 101 skills.

I’m not going to lie to you. You need to get some legal experience somehow this summer. This may not be in the form of a traditional clerkship with the firm of your dreams doing the work you feel destined to do. Look to your "circle of influence" and work that network. Your network can include family friends, older law school classmates and undergraduate friends. Let them know you are looking to get experience and are willing to help in any way – even for just a short time. You never know when an introduction to a business person by a close family friend will translate in to a summer job reviewing contracts, which may lead to another introduction, etc. While the networking process takes a lot of time and energy, you are learning valuable skills for the future that will help you develop business and may land you a job right now.

Congratulations. Fall recruiting was more difficult this year than any time in the past. Now you have got to show your summer firm that you have the drive and determination to be an associate with them. Expect some wining and dining – we do need to get to know you after all – but also expect some real work. Do your best and be yourself and you will be fine.

By Kathleen Pearson

OCI is over, callback interviews have happened and offers are out the door. It's official - 2009 fall recruiting is winding down. It was a different (and difficult) year for students, schools and firms across the country. Only time will tell how much the law student recruiting model will change as a result of crazy pipeline issues affecting the legal industry.

All gloom and doom aside, this is also a time for bright-eyed, bushy-tailed 1Ls to learn from the mistakes of their 2L predecessors. Career services at schools definitely prepared all students very well this year. Candidates were poised, prepared and most of all eager. However, a few missteps along the way are worth mentioning:

Top 5 Interview Disasters from 2009:

1. Nose picking in the interview . . . Ewww.
2. Not knowing anything about our firm, locations or practice groups - Seriously. It's the age of the internet. At least know how to look up a firm before darkening the door.
3. Forgetting to cut off the paper bar bracelet from the night before - I'm glad this person had a really good time last night, I just don't want to know about it.
4. Coifing hair into a very pronounced fauxhawk - While it might look awesome on campus and heighten street cred, this candidate forgot they were interviewing in one of the most conservative professions in the world . . .
5. Exaggerating on a resume - While it is good to be comprehensive about work experience, don't try to tell us you actually helped 1st chair a trial last summer during your 1L clerkship.  This candidate was not Reese Witherspoon and we are not Legally Blonde . . .

And, yes, these all really happened . . .

By Bindu Liang 

When law firms began deferring incoming associates of the Class of 2009 clerk's start dates until 2010 in early 2009, complete with a fat check to spend a year however they desired, it sounded like a golden year for those clerks. Who hasn't had dreams of traipsing across Europe or perhaps southeast Asia for a year (even doing some humanitarian work while traveling) before jumping into a legal career - particularly if it is prepaid.  Now however, the gilt has worn off and those clerks are nervously hoping their job offers have not somehow lapsed.

The Class of 2010 are stuck with an even starker reality - far fewer summer clerkship opportunities. It is such a widespread phenomenon that the ABA law journal has labeled it the "the lost year."  Summer clerkships at large firms have been reduced so significantly that only about half of the positions normally offered will be available. As a result, the competition is more stiff than ever as law firms have access to the class of 2009, the class of 2010 and the numerous laterals in transition. In fact, the compression will cause competition for jobs between the two years for the foreseeable future.

For the majority of class of 2010 students, this means having to set aside expectations for a "summer clerkship at a large firm" and become more creative in securing positions for the summer of 2010. Options include: (1) clerking for the government - U.S. Attorneys Office is a great place albeit no pay; (2) clerking with a non-profit organization; (3) clerking with a judge (even lower court state judges); (4) clerking with in-house counsel; (5) study abroad; (6) legal clinics at your law school or (7) working with a law professor. Although most of these positions are unlikely to result in a permanent position, they do provide excellent contacts and an advocate in your job search come fall of 2010. Learning to network now is an invaluable skill that will only grow more useful throughout your legal career.

On a related note, for those of you concerned about paying the massive loans that often come along with a law degree in the event you don't immediately find a job -- the government will help you out for federal loans.  It should also give some encouragement for those of you planning to take a leap of faith and start a solo practice (or with a few of your law school friends) after graduation - do it! (just don't commit malpractice)