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Free Resume Critique and Free Market Evaluation
Just fill out our Sign Up Form and we will contact you to set up an appointment to talk to you about your job search. We will interview you in depth over the phone to understand what type of legal employment you are seeking. If you would like, ask us for a resume critique, and we will provide you with suggestions to improve the impact and effectiveness of your resume. In addition, we will provide a market evaluation and give you an assessment of your overall marketability. This critique and market evaluation are absolutely free, and there is no obligation to continue. We are committed to helping you find a job, whether you decide to use our full services or not.
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At Legal Authority, we're so sure that our service is the right way to get attorneys jobs, we make the following promise: if you don't get a job within 90 days of using our service, we will give you up to 200 additional free contacts.
This applies to everyone. It doesn't matter what part of the country you're in or what level of experience you have. Legal Authority is simply the best way to move forward in your legal career.
Here's how it works: We put together a personalized search, print your custom resumes and cover letters, and deliver them to you for signing and mailing. If you don't get a job as a result of sending them out to employers within 90 days, simply contact us, and we will give you the same amount of contacts you purchased (up to 200... a value of up to $500) totally free of charge!*
It's that simple. Don't wait though: this offer expires 120 days after the day your letters are dated.
The risk is ours!
So why not try Legal Authority? We're so confident that our service will work for you, that we'll give you up to $500 worth of contacts for free if it does not. Become a member today, and experience the benefits.
*Applies to clients who signed up after September 1, 2005. The offer is valid only for clients who are U.S. licensed attorneys with no disciplinary record, or who are second- or third-year students at a law school in the United States of America. The Legal Authority 200 Free Contact Offer does not cover shipping fees. |
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Don't let your school control the recruiting process
Every law student in this country is familiar with Career Services. You have probably used them to look for either a summer associate position, or a law clerk position while you attended school, or even a post-graduation position after you had taken the bar exam but before your results arrived. Some students have achieved varying degrees of success, but most students have been left dissatisfied, frustrated, and, most important, jobless! If this describes your situation, Legal Authority exists to help students like you.
This article is not designed to bash Career Services or the job that they do. Rather, this article is meant to highlight the fact that while Career Services serves a function, that function is rather limited. One thing that law students are not aware of is the fact that Career Services Departments can only be effective for the top 10% of the class! Unfortunately, the other 90% of the class is left struggling to find positions. Legal Authority will assist that other 90% in finding the best jobs for them.
The primary purpose of this article is to make sure that you, the job seeker, are equipped with all the information you need to take control of your job search. We will look at Career Services in terms of what do they do and whom they help the most. Next, we will look at why it does not make sense for you to place your future in the hands of Career Services. And finally, we will lay out your plan of action and determine how you can take control of your job search!
Career Services: Who are they, and what do they do?
As noted above, every law student in this country will at one time or another visit his/her Career Services office for assistance with a job search. In the fall, most if not all Career Services offices organize some sort of on-campus-interviewing process. Many schools refer to it as fall OCI (on-campus interviewing). During this process, many large law firms go to various law schools and recruit law students up to one year in advance to begin their positions with these firms the following summer. Career Services will help law students draft resumes and cover letters for the available positions. In addition, they will help law students get their resumes to the hiring coordinators of the large firms.
Unfortunately, your decision to work for a firm that recruits on campus is not always in your control. First, firms are usually looking for the top students with the best grades, as well as journal/moot court participation. Second, you might be a student who is looking to move to a different geographic region for the summer, and firms from that region do not recruit on your campus. For the lucky few students who land their positions through this process, the hunt is over. However, for the majority of students, the job search is only beginning, and these students can no longer rely on their school's Career Services office.
Your Future in the Hands of Career Services???
Most students need to be proactive in their job searches and take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that they find the best jobs for them. If you are one of those students, Legal Authority can help you apply directly to almost any legal employer anywhere, including law firms, corporations, judges, public interest organizations, public defender's offices, prosecutor's offices, state and federal governmental agencies, law schools-you name it. With the largest database of legal employers anywhere, Legal Authority has contacts for more than two million legal employers in all 50 states and more than 150 countries. It is not unusual for our clients to get 10 or more offers. The limited resources of your law school's Career Services office simply are not designed to help you get such results.
When looking for a job as a 2L, 3L, or recent grad, it is important to note that the job that you take is critical and will set up the first stage of your legal career. Because your first job as a law clerk or a first-year associate is so important, the wisest job seekers do not leave their job searches in the hands of Career Services. They are great for helping students with the best grades land great positions. And you must remember that your Career Services office has every incentive to promote their best students in landing jobs with firms. This is primarily because it helps to increase the school's ranking and prestige in the legal community. Nevertheless, if you are not one of those select few, Career Services can leave you feeling hopeless.
Take Control of Your Job Search: Your Plan of Action
As you might have experienced, it is very difficult to land a summer associate position if you have not been recruited. It is not, however, impossible. To maximize your chances of getting a great position, you need to first maximize both the quality and quantity of the interviews and then maximize your interview efficiency. This is where Legal Authority makes all the difference. We will help you get your resume and cover letters out to great firms that are looking for someone just like you.
This opportunity is being utilized constantly by students and attorneys alike. Many 2Ls and 3Ls use targeted mailing as a way of getting around the nightmare of fall OCI, where only the top 10% of the class is offered job opportunities. The savviest students know that they can use Legal Authority to create their own fall OCI that is tailored to their needs and targeted to those employers that are not going to dismiss them simply because they are not first or second in their class. The service has helped numerous students from all over the United States bypass Career Services and take control of their job searches!
Remember, when you conduct a job search using Legal Authority, the purpose is not to find just any job. If you sit around long enough, you will find any job. The point of this search is to find the best job for you. You will sample all of the opportunities out there and find the job that is the best fit for you and your needs. No other job search allows that. If you find a job through an advertisement, then you are at the mercy of that employer, including whatever salary and workload it dictates. There is no opportunity to weigh several offers and negotiate the best deal. Targeted mailing affords you that opportunity. You future does not have to be governed by the lack of success during the on-campus-interviewing process. You can determine your career path and land a great position when you take the initiative with Legal Authority and take control of your job search.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE!
CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW LEGAL AUTHORITY WORKS
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Bob Gerberg is one of the country's top job-hunting authorities. His books, seminars, and programs have been used by millions of people worldwide for one simple reason: Bob knows what he's talking about.
His works include The Professional Job Hunter's Guide, An Easier Way to Change Jobs, Sixty Great Letters Which Won New Jobs, and many others. He has also written dozens of articles, and he created The Career Advancement Series and other programs, both in print and on cassettes. His programs have helped professionals in many law firms, the U.S. government and military, major universities, and a multitude of Fortune 1000 companies.
Indeed, Bob knows what he's talking about. And he's been at it for more than 20 years; his concepts have clearly withstood the test of time.
So when Bob Gerberg says that 70% of your job search lies in marketing yourself, you can believe it.
Bob's quotation on our homepage says it all: Your success in finding the job of your dreams is 70% marketing. You can be a great attorney, but until you market yourself correctly, you'll be waiting behind your competition. And that's where Legal Authority comes in...to take care of that 70% for you!
Legal Authority does not wait for employers to post want ads in the newspaper or online. Instead, Legal Authority aggressively finds hiring contacts at some 2 million legal employers and puts you in direct contact with them. So that you can market yourself to them immediately...without waiting for their information to appear in a want ad.
Legal Authority is the natural extension of everything that experts like Bob Gerberg preach. You must market yourself, and Legal Authority is the industry's leading way to do so.
CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW LEGAL AUTHORITY WORKS
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Legal Authority: Is Every Client Happy?
Legal Authority has helped thousands of attorneys and law students find new opportunities and new careers throughout the country. While we can’t speak for each and every one of our clients, the growing list of customer testimonials is a proven track record of our success!
The reason is simple. Legal Authority is a convenient, inexpensive and reliable way to help jobseekers apply directly to almost any legal employer in the country. With a database that can not be offered by any other job boards, classified sections of legal newspapers, legal recruiters, on-campus interviewing programs, or job fairs, Legal Authority is able to give its clients the exposure they need to get hired. And it requires very little effort. Legal Authority does all the grunt work for you, from customized cover letters and envelopes to professionally crafted resumes. All you do is sign, seal and deliver. We’ve been told by our clients that the hardest part of the process was deciding between job offers!
It’s hard to guarantee the level of success that you will have in your job search, however, if it’s any indication of how people have felt about our service, our growth has come almost entirely from word of mouth in the legal profession. Legal Authority’s satisfied and happily employed clients have continuously referred us to their colleagues, friends and family. We hope you let Legal Authority work for you in your career journey.
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Our Writers
Legal Authority's writers are required to undergo an extensive examination and certification process, including a two-hour exam that tests their grammar, proofreading, and problem-solving skills, and a critical resume and cover letter re-writing session which puts their knowledge of resume and cover letter strategy, design, and creative wordplay to the test. Every client can rest assured that his or her resume is in the best hands when our writers are in control.
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Our Quality Guarantee
We guarantee that we will provide you with the most effective, comprehensive job search possible. If we haven't done our best to supply you with the ability to reach every potential employer in any given market, we will refund 100% of your money, less the membership fee. This is how confident we are that our services provide the best job search for attorneys, anywhere.
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"The most common means of obtaining a job was a letter or other "self-initiated contact" with the employer..."
- National Association of Law Placement
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Legal Authority Outplacement Program
Give your attorneys the most opportunities.
Making economic or strategic adjustments in personnel can be a tough decision for any firm...
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Free RESUME CRITIQUE
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We provide a free resume critique and a free market evaluation. There is no charge and no obligation!
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What Our Clients Are Saying
I sent out 1000 letters and it was well worth it. I don't even have my bar results yet.
- V. Charles
I recently accepted an attractive offer of full-time employment that, but for Legal Authority, I never would have gotten. After months of trying to work with recruiters to no avail, I tried your service, and had an interview scheduled in two days. More followed, including callbacks and a couple of offers. It was nice to be in the position of choosing, and without you I could not have done that.
Thank you!
- Hannah B.
Amazing. I was on medical leave but still got ten interviews and I'm still getting calls three weeks later. Legal Authority rocks!
- Tony L.
Rather than waiting for a job to find me, I decided to utilize Legal Authority's job search service and actively pursue my legal career. After writing and revising my resume and cover letter, they provided me with the names and addresses of some outstanding law firms in my area. After depending on the service that Legal Authority provided, I am confident that I will be able to obtain a better job, with higher pay. Thank you for your assistance, Legal Authority.
- Raheem R.
I managed to secure four interviews as a result of the Legal Authority service. Although I ultimately found employment through another source, I think the service was well worth it, and I would certainly use it again, although I hope never to have to!
- Michael
When I moved to a new city and started looking for work, I had nothing but time. Being a do-it-yourselfer, I conducted a job search that turned out to be inefficient, time consuming, depressing, and ultimately fruitless. I wound up in a job that was not even in the legal field. So when I started looking for work again, I knew I needed help. I certainly didn't have the time to conduct a wholehearted job search on my own. I contacted Legal Authority and spoke with an attorney who explained to me how the process works. She was very reassuring, and she did not pressure me to buy the service. In fact, I was skeptical about spending so much money, so I waited two or three months before commiting. When I finally got on board, everything started happening for me. The most difficult part of the process was scheduling my interviews so they wouldn't interfere with my work schedule and agonizing between three great offers. Throughout the process, I was in touch with my Attorney Employment Advocate, who provided me with extremely useful articles on interviewing and the like, and who promptly responded with guidance and answers to all of my questions. I'm glad I decided to use Legal Authority. The peace of mind I bought has been worth every penny.
- A.L.
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Is Public Interest Law for You?
There is a lot to consider before you make the leap. Wanting to help those less fortunate is noble. All religions believe this, and secular society concurs. However, you will be relatively meagerly compensated for your efforts. Many lawyers do pro bono work as a way to give to charity, but their main focus at work is to bill paying clients so that they can make high salaries. While these lawyers are helping a cause occasionally, they are hardly devoting themselves full time to public interest law, and the focus of this article is on those of you who may wish to do so.
Your decision of whether or not to make  public interest law a career probably hinges on more than money. Perhaps you already live a toned-down lifestyle. Maybe you've inherited a guaranteed income. Either way, you can leave money out of the equation and concentrate on just what it is you wish to do and where and how you wish to do it. Let's begin with where you might practice.
Do legal jobs with local or federal government qualify as public interest jobs?
No, they don't. Generally, a government lawyer's job is to enforce current laws, whereas a public interest lawyer may seek to change these laws or work in areas not covered by them. For example, Ralph Nader, on his own, accused General Motors of knowingly producing unsafe automobiles because he felt that existing law and federal oversight did not satisfactorily address automotive-safety issues.
Legal jobs do exist in government in which lawyers examine the fairness of legislation and its application and seek to root out inequities. For example, a lawyer working for a state or federal department of civil rights might reasonably qualify as a practicing public interest lawyer. But even a civil rights lawyer paid by the government must back off if told to by superiors. Public interest law, by its nature and in an ideal sense, implies that the lawyer is beholden to his or her conscience and not to any specific temporal authority.
Does the term "public interest law" imply legal work performed for a charitable organization or trust?
Generally speaking, yes, this is closer to the mark, although again there are exceptions. Public interest law also applies to the individual lawyer who personally takes on client or cause without pay because of the conviction that an individual or class of individual is not being given the protection entitled under current law or under its presumed spirit. This loose definition does not mean to imply that public interest lawyers are not paid a small salary or paid costs for their time and effort, only that the lawyer's and the charity's effort is not financially driven, but is instead fueled by altruistic personal conviction and the satisfaction gained from helping right a perceived wrong.
Is public interest law countercultural?
Yes, in a limited definitional sense, public interest law is countercultural because it frequently attacks the assumptions and myths upon which all cultures are based. Cultures are formed based on generalized shared conditions and perceptions. American culture, as an example, was first shaped by its original settlers' belief that they had been, in their lands of origin, persecuted for their non-normative religious beliefs. For this reason, religious tolerance quickly became important to original settlers and part of American foundational myth (Land of the Free). The fact that, to the contrary, virulent religious and racial discrimination contradicted this myth is immaterial. The culture developed a belief which became codified into myth and into law. It is into the space between utopian myth and reality that the public interest lawyer steps in. What comes first is the utopian sense of a perfect society as reflected in a culture's myths. Next comes the realization that such utopian, mythic ideals are not realized in practice. Only then comes the effort to fix the dissonance between the ideal and the real.
Does someone have to be a Marxist to be a public interest lawyer?
No, although lawyers attracted to a Marxist rationale of a world simplistically divided between the powerful (exploiters) and the powerless (exploited) will find such a vision useful in rooting out instances when the powerful exploit the meek. However, it should be noted that not all utopian visions are Marxist.
Marx in the 19th Century and much of the writing of Foucault, Barthes, Lyotard and other critical theorists in the 20th Century envisioned a utopian state of equality among all citizens guaranteed by a central authority. This central authority, in turn, was not viewed as dictatorial or autocratic: Instead, it reflected a Hegelian conception of each individual as a part of the whole and the whole as part of each individual. This belief, subsequently borrowed by Marxists, envisioned ideal human societies as beehives without queens. As we now know from 50 years of Marxist trial and error in Russia, China, Poland, and other societies, Marxism produced no utopia. It failed the test both economically and ethically. In fact, those of the American political Left still holding Marxist views in America are now seen by the intellectual mainstream as ideologically irrelevant casualties of an earlier intellectual fad. But one should not so cavalierly dismiss Marxism as irrelevant. Like Christianity, and like the secular myth of America as the land of the free, Marxist thought emphasizes the betterment and happiness of all society, and in this sense, as opposed to its heavy tendency to demonize Capitalism and those who practice it as evil exploiters of goods and services, it does provide secular justification for singling out specific aspects of human society for fixing, so in this sense it remains relevant.
In addition to the myth of religious tolerance, capitalism is also a strong contributor to foundational American myth.
Capitalism is built on the ideal of the perfect marketplace open to ideas from anywhere. (Land of Opportunity) In this perfect marketplace, a Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, Wilber Wright, or Steve Jobs can start out humble and poor and become rich. The ideal, of course, is contradicted by certain practices in which individuals dominate markets, eliminate competitors, cheat, lie, and steal. In this gap between ideal and real, public interest lawyers also have had a powerful influence, spawning antitrust legislation, fair labor practices, and similar legislation to correct perceived wrongs.
Public interest lawyers work both sides of abortion and the death penalty issues.
The perception of most public interest lawyers is that they are found only on the political left of issues, which may be true as a generality, but is not necessarily always true in practice. For example, both anti-abortion and pro-abortion public interest lawyers are guided by utopian principles by which they believe societies should operate. Pro-abortion lawyers argue for the right of the individual to control what goes on inside her body even if it means killing a protean self within. Anti-abortion lawyers argue that killing is murder, period. Some public interest lawyers argue against the death penalty because they believe killing is morally wrong, and others argue that it is the duty of society to rid itself of those who take innocent lives. Regardless of whichever side a public interest lawyer takes, it is obvious that she or he is guided by a specific vision of a perfect society along with an interior discourse that affirms this vision and denies the validity of other, competing visions.
So why is it necessary to be "underpaid" if you are a public interest lawyer?
Quite simply, the organizations that employ public interest lawyers don't have money to pay big salaries. That's explanation enough. Then there is public perception and expectation. If lawyers make a lot of money helping the unfortunate, it is presumed that they are profiting off of the meek and disenfranchised. Finally, there is the Protestant Ethic to consider. It believes that the unnecessary calling of attention to one's self offends God (who presumably should be getting all the attention). Christ, in particular, and the Jesuits who followed him took vows of poverty so as to remain close to the people they served. Mormons and Muslims tithe a percentage of their annual earnings as alms for the unfortunate. Thus, even if a public interest lawyer found a way to make money by helping those who cannot pay, the likelihood is that the lawyer would not take the money, at least not openly. To conclude, lack of money, cultural expectation, and religious orthodoxy conspire against public interest lawyers' ever making money. Ergo, if you choose this type of law, expect to make considerably less than lawyers practicing other types of law.
Let's consider the public image of public interest lawyers briefly.
They can be viewed as selfless almost Christ-like figures who toil on behalf of society's downtrodden—the homeless, the abused, and other powerless individuals potentially scorned and abused by a society's more heartless and unscrupulous individuals and organizations. They can also be viewed as individuals who identify with the powerless to enhance, by comparison, their own senses of power—counterculture lawyers become Christ throwing the money changers out of the temple. Public interest lawyers can legally attack hated authority figures and their organizations as stalking horses for personal or family authority figures they feel abused them. It really makes no difference why public interest lawyers do what they do. How they justify their choices of work is their business. The fact is that despite zealots among them, the majority do a lot of good and most of the time our society is better off because of them.
For purposes of this article, the perceptions a public interest lawyer generates depends on the type of public interest law he or she practices.
Defending the planned or unplanned extinction of the spotted owl against heavily financed lumber interests is perceived differently (not necessarily wrongly or rightly) from another public interest lawyer working to represent and protect abused women and children in homeless shelters. The aim is the same—the elimination of a perceived wrong—but the justnessor unjustness of the spotted owl cause often hinges on how one prioritizes society's needs and how these needs are viewed. To defend the spotted owl means attacking capitalist interests which destroy nature to fatten their own pockets. The fact that the wood produced is used to house people and keep them dry and warm becomes irrelevant. Again, as we have already said, being a public interest lawyer is all about perception and about identifying the villain caught in the crosshairs o f a public interest lawyer's particular utopian vision.
Is there such a thing as a common cause?
Laypeople might answer, "Sure. One common cause is to eliminate poverty." Exceptional optimists might add, "And we must also eliminate unhappiness for everyone in all its forms." Lawyers, being for the most part pragmatic and analytical, remain eternally suspicious of all such generalities and simplifications. A lawyer might respond, "It depends." Lawyers know that creating justice for one group can mean the creation of injustice for another group. Public interest lawyers may remain tangentially aware of this, but cannot allow themselves too much relativist thinking. They must instead remain focused on their ideological views and their utopian goals. Otherwise, self-doubt sets in, and the public interest lawyer's career becomes problematical as well.
How to know if you are cut out to be a public interest lawyer:
Again, it is both dangerous and foolish to make generalities, but we shall do so. Here are seven key questions you need to answer:
- Is money important to your sense of well-being and self esteem?
- Are you uncomfortable working in structured environments?
- Are you ideologically committed to a modest lifestyle?
- Are you possessed with a strong streak of idealism?
- Do you come from a strong religious background?
- Do you view public interest law not as a profession but as a calling?
- Does the existence of elitism of all kinds anger you?
These questions, viewed at a distance, describe someone in a society, but necessarily in comfortable alignment with it. Perhaps none of us buys all the cultural myths that seem to guide so many others' actions, nor do we allow such myths to unduly affect our judgments. Regardless, if you answered yes to three or more of the above questions, you might give serious consideration to public interest law. So the next question becomes how do you go about finding a job.
First you must identify a cause.
You must feel strongly about it and have thought enough about it to answer all your doubts. Usually, the cause will announce itself to you. This is what is meant by having a calling. The satisfaction you get is responding to a need, and this need comes from within. Stay focused. Choose your cause well, and you will produce within yourself a harmony of belief merged with action that most lawyers and most other citizens seldom, if ever, attain.
Next you must find out who is hiring.
Check the local and national legal newspapers and magazines. Look in the Yellow Pages under Charities. Talk to religious groups and fraternal orders. Visit law schools and inquire there. Attend career fairs such as the annual Equal Justice Works Career Fair and Conference. On the Internet, check under Public Interest Law. Once you have investigated the listings there, follow through on email links to other public interest web pages. Most public interest jobs are not high profile, meaning they are not always advertised and there isn't always a lot written about them.
What happens if my project must be abandoned because the money runs out?
If, after your initial foray into public interest law, you have decided to stay in the field, always proceed with the knowledge your work could be terminated through no fault of your own. Keep lists of organizations and individuals and possible projects that might interest you down the line.
Look to see if there is grant money available.
A lot of public interest work is subsidized by corporations, religious groups, and wealthy individuals. The Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation (SPILF), as but one example, offers public interest law project grants covering legal services for pregnant teenagers, housing discrimination, battered women, women prisoners, immigrant and refugee rights, children needing special education, and a wide variety of other causes. If you see a problem that needs fixing and nobody is addressing it, you can apply to SPILF and other public interest foundations by filling out a proposal and launching your own cause.
Conclusion.
If, after reading this far, you are more convinced than ever that you want to be a public interest lawyer, then go to it. You will need perseverance. You will need grit. It will not be an easy road. But you will have the satisfaction of contributing to a higher good. Hopefully, your society will not only pay attention to what you have to say, it will agree, and better yet, take positive action. In this way, you will be providing a service not just for the short term, but possibly for generations yet unborn.
Questions about public interest attorney jobs? Contact Legal Authority at 800-283-3860 today.
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