The Internet is abuzz about Jeremy Lin, the point guard who went from crashing on his brother’s couch a few months ago to leading the New York Knicks on a seven-game winning streak. He also leads the NBA in puns.

In case you missed it, here is the Lin story: Lin was undrafted out of Harvard and was cut from two NBA teams before catching on with the Knicks in December. After playing sparingly in the season’s first month and spending some time in the NBA Developmental League, he helped turn around the Knicks’ season by averaging 27 points per game during their winning streak. And now he has truly arrived: he has been in Kim Kardashian’s twitter feed.

Frank Deford said on NPR last week that the depressing part of the Lin story is how many people apparently passed on him because he played college ball at Harvard, which hasn’t produced an NBA player since the 1950s. Similar criticism might apply to the legal profession, where the name of your law school may have more to do with getting your first job than work ethic or actual talent.

The real takeaway, however, according Eric Jackson of Forbes, is that Lin worked tirelessly, never stopped believing in himself,  and made the most of his opportunity when it finally came.  Cliche, yes. But all true.

If you are a recent law school grad or you’re starting out in the law field, we want to hear from you. Our blog, JDs Rising, is looking for writers with insight into the challenges facing young lawyers. Whether you’re trying to work your way up the ladder and facing long odds and hours, if you’re still hunting for that big break, or if you have success stories to share, we’d like to help lawyers and prospective lawyers engage with one another.

With all due respect to precedent, we don’t want JDs Rising to be a stiff, staid venue, but rather a fun, rewarding experience for writers and readers alike – an online watering hole where you can discuss work life, technology and the issues of the day. We’re also excited about some improvements we’ll be making to the blog in the weeks and months ahead, which promise to make JDs Rising a useful career and social resource for lawyers as well.

In the meantime, if you want to get your name out there, if you’re interested in flexing your writing muscles a bit and if you’re interested in connecting with fellow lawyers, write to us at webeditor@minnlawyer.com.

Well its that time of year again for resolutions and re-committing to all those things you said you’d do last year. At the top of many lists is doing more networking. I’m here to say Go For It! Networking is a wonderful way to connect to communities. As someone who loves to learn, networking always allows me opportunities to learn something new and interesting. While my Midwestern values system of “hardwork is most important ” makes me a skeptic still that networking will directly get me a job, networking has contributed to a variety of other life experiences that make me a more marketable person. But, not all networking is necessarily created equal. There are definitely ways to focus your networking to fit your values, interests and goals. Here are a few tips to get that networking started.

Leadership Organizations

One thing employers love are people who are not afraid to be leaders. Leadership and opportunities to lead activities and groups are sometimes hard to come by. Fortunately, there are plenty of organizations out there to help. The Junior League (for all you great women lawyers) and the Jaycees are two such organizations. While they do amazing work in communities, they also focus efforts on making sure their members gain other marketable skills and connect with their communities. As a member of the Junior League, I’ve gained many skills that transfer well to the legal market. More importantly, if you have a goal of being a managing attorney, the head of a business or involved in a non-profit, these organizations give you many of the tools and actual practice you’ll need. These organizations have lengthy histories in communities and therefore additionally, you’ll find yourself accidental networking with many of the who’s who.

Legal Organizations

I’m a big proponent of getting involved in your local or state bar chapter. While the large scale events and happy hours are what most people attend, with so many to events and places choose from, taking a little time to focus on what you want out of bar involvement will make your experience much more satisfying. Do you only deal in family law or have a desire to get involved with ADR? MSBA has a section to fit just about every legal interest. As a newer lawyer you also can become a member of the new lawyers section for free. Most of the sections have e free CLEs for section members, which means you get a chance to learn something, get some CLE credits and network in a smaller environment tailored to your legal interest. If you have time for a lot of events, sticking with the more casual happy hours and large events can prove useful, but getting involved with the section in your wheelhouse is often a wiser choice for developing relationships and furthering your career.

If you live in a smaller community, get involved in your local bar chapter. It may not be as active as the state bar but it will get you in touch with the lawyers in your community that are invested in the practice of law. If you live in a large community, your local bar chapter may be more active than the state bar chapter. HCBA is a great example as it has sections, numerous CLEs and also has a program called LINK, which focuses on developing leadership skills.

If you have a chance to get involved in one of the Inns of Court, get involved. These are sort of like the secret societies you hear about in Dan Brown novels. Not really, but they can be difficult to become a member of and often have larger time commitment than becoming an MSBA section member. But because of the lengthy history of the Inns of Court and the psuedo-exclusionary nature of the organizations, they are a great place to get to meet the movers and shakers of the legal communities. They really are invested in seeing you be successful. If you are interested in an Inn of Court, do some research. You will need sponsors and more importantly, like the sections, the Inns tend to have members with similar focuses. So if you want to do criminal law an inn with lots of corporate transactional attorneys might not be the right place for you.

There are also national organizations that cater to whatever your legal interest may be. Like local bar organizations, they are often always looking for people to get involved. If you have a goal of being a nationally recognized attorney in your field, finding a way to get involved in the field on a national level is a great stepping stone to meeting the best in your field and being thought of and utilized by others in your field but outside your legal market.

Community Organizations

Are you an ultimate Frisbee nut? Do you love to garden? Have you been going to the same church since you were 10? There are a bazillion little community organizations out there and no doubt there is at least one for your favorite activity. Getting involved in a community organization that caters to your personal interests will keep you involved and often allows you opportunities to learn about finance, non-profits, events, etc. Having to put on a big fundraiser is similar to getting ready for a trial. There is a lot of hard work, a lot of moving pieces, and a lot of stress. If you can master a fundraiser, you’ll get through a trial. So why not fund raise for your favorite activity. Additionally, just as you have outside interests so does every other lawyer, every other business person, and every other possible client. Being involved in a community organization is a way to get your name out to people you might not otherwise associate with. Being your daughter’s soccer coach may make you the go-to lawyer for all those other parents, and that networking isn’t really networking at all.

Alumni organizations are also a good place to focus your energy. College and law school alumni associations are usually begging for their alumni to become active if their chapters. The benefit of alumni involvement is that you reach out to people doing a variety of activities. If you have a small business legal practice or do estate planning, being the person your classmates think of when they need a contract or a will is a resource that the best marketing company can’t get for you. And while you are showing your classmates, look how awesome I am, you also are able to give back to the school that helped build your skills and shape who you are.

If networking is on your list of 2012 resolutions, take a little time to focus and think through the place, people and communities you want to be a part of. Just as you have an interest in become a better and more known attorney, there are many organizations that have a vested interest in seeing you succeed as well. All your next client or your next job interviewer needs is a connection to you and networking outside of the generic networking happy hours may prove just the connection you need.

Have you heard of the annual One Hour of Sharing Associates’ Campaign to benefit The Fund for the Legal Aid Society?  If so, do you want to become involved, but wonder how to participate and how you can donate?  Based heavily in part on materials from the Associates’ Campaign, here is some information on Legal Aid, the campaign, and how you can contribute:

1) The mission

Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to low-income individuals, seniors and families throughout Hennepin County, and people with disabilities throughout Minnesota through the Disability Law Center.  Last year, Legal Aid served over 6,500 clients and families dealing with homelessness, domestic abuse, lack of health insurance, physical and mental disabilities and youth in crisis.  This demand for legal services is increasing, as is the growing poverty rate in Minnesota.

In 1981, Legal Aid established The Fund as a non-profit corporation dedicated to raising money for Legal Aid from the legal community, recognizing that charitable contributions have a direct impact on the number of clients that Legal Aid is able to serve.  The Fund has been Legal Aid’s most stable source of financial support in recent years.  The Fund has run its One Hour of Sharing Campaign since 1985, encouraging all lawyers in Hennepin County to contribute the value of one billable hour.  Inspired by those efforts, the Associates’ Campaign was established in 2003 by a group of associates interested in raising money for Legal Aid in conjunction with the One Hour of Sharing Campaign.  This year, the Associates’ Campaign goal is to raise $90,000. You can be a part of that effort!

2) Considering whether to contribute

Whether you are an associate at a law firm or not, your donation to The Fund for the Legal Aid Society can functionally increase Legal Aid’s ability to assist more clients eligible for services.  But giving is a very personal decision.  Some lawyers choose to give specifically to legal services organizations, and others choose to give money to non-legal oriented organizations and efforts.  Any sort of giving is wonderful–whether in the form of a financial contribution, pro bono service, or any other form of volunteering.  If you feel led to give to Legal Aid, the “suggested” donation is the value of one billable hour, but any contribution of any amount counts!  The Associates’ Campaign runs through January 31, so you have plenty of time to decide if you would like to give and how much you would like to give.

3) How to contribute easiest way to contribute is online at www.mylegalaid.org.  For online gifts, click the drop-down box called “Program Designation” and select “One Hour — Associates” to ensure that your contribution goes towards the Associates’ Campaign.  If you are not an associate at a law firm, you can select “One Hour — Individuals” when you donate online.Additionally, law firms often offer a matching gift program to encourage employees to contribute to their favorite charity, so if you haven’t used that yet and you are interested in giving to the campaign, be sure to check with your office administrator on how to elect to use the matching gift option (whether for 2011 or 2012).

If you want to learn more about Legal Aid and the different things they do in our community, visit:  www.mylegalaid.org.

Happy giving, and have a blessed Christmas season with family and friends!

There’s not much to nitpick about The Descendants, Alexander Payne’s dark comedy about a Hawaii lawyer facing familial challenges on a variety of fronts. One of the few movies to successfully employ the Rule Against Perpetuities (“RAP”) as a major plot point (see also Body Heat), The Descendants gets the law right without getting bogged down in the minutia.

George Clooney plays Matt King, the great grandson of Hawaiian royalty and one of the trustees in a family trust that holds 25,000 acres of pristine beach property passed down from his ancestors. Because of the Rule Against Perpetuities, the trust will expire in seven years, and Matt and his cousins are trying to decide whether to sell out to a developer who will turn the land into a resort. Just before the cousins are to vote, Matt’s wife is seriously injured in a boating accident and slips into a coma. Matt is left to deal with the tragedy along with the two daughters whom he has never made time for.  The crisis deepens as he learns that his personal and professional lives are intertwined in a way that he hadn’t imagined.

The Rule Against Perpetuities “has long perplexed the courts and the bar.” Lucas v. Hamm, 56 Cal.2d 583 (1961). The common law RAP requires that an interest in land must vest within a certain period of time (usually 21 years) after a the end of a life in being at the creation of the interest (Minnesota is one of a handful of states that have adopted a statutory RAP).

Payne and producer Jim Burke spent a great deal of time on the legal aspects of the film, according to University of Hawaii law professor Randall Roth, who served as a consultant. Roth told WSJ reporter Julia Flynn Siler that he was impressed by their attention to detail.  According to Roth, a number of family trusts in Hawaii  have found themselves in similar circumstances to those which are depicted in the movie.

Segal filled the story with wonderful reminders such as the fact that the legal services markets continue to fall, that clients don’t want to pay a bunch of money for associate work and that students are ending up with $150,000 of debt before they are 30.  The article informs the regular Times readers something everyone in the lawyer business already knows, which is that most students graduate without any practical experience.

The point of the article is that law schools don’t teach lawyering and that they are not going to.  Segal discusses the reasons why, but the reasons aren’t important to new lawyers or law students struggling to make it.  Segal points out also that firms won’t teach you either.  Firms historically have invested substantial time and money to train their chosen associates but now firms have to change the way they train new lawyers, if they provide training at all.

In this job market, firms can demand that their associates be practical lawyers and have bankable business before joining a firm.  In this job market, knowing how to write a contract is just as important as knowing the theories behind why a contract needs consideration.

Lots of articles, including Segal’s, discuss all the problems facing law students but don’t have solutions for the subjects of their articles.  Sure some real discussions need to be had and changes to law schools need to come, but that won’t solve the problem for current law students and new lawyers.

One of the many theoretical classes I took in law school was Comparative Legal Systems.  This class looked of course at the set up of legal systems around the world but it also gave students an idea of what it takes to be a lawyer in other countries.  Almost all those countries, similar to the medical practice, require apprenticeships or practical training before a person can sit for the equivalent of the bar exam or become an official real lawyer.  For me, that was a turning point.  I realized I needed to do everything I could to get some real training.  So I did.  I did multiple externships, did a semester at one of my law school’s clinics, and worked part time for a solo attorney.  All that extra work helped me to get my first post-law school job.  It is the advice I give to anyone in law school or looking to go to law school.

Law school don’t teach you lawyering, so you’ve got to do it yourself.  If you are a student consider getting a job as a paralegal or legal assistant while working through law school.  If you have the summer, do whatever you can to find a place to do practical training.  If you are lucky to have a law school with a clinic or externship class, take it.  If you are a new lawyer who is searching for a job, take some time to do pro-bono work or read through the pro se materials at a law library.  For students and new lawyers, get to CLEs because most CLE providers allow law students and new lawyers to take their CLEs free or at a substantial discount and many CLES include actual practical training.

New lawyers do get skills from law school, don’t forget that either.  You’ve learned how to cram to get your work done.  You’ve learned why some wrongs get compensation and some don’t.  You’ve learned when you read a contract what doesn’t look right (although according to Segal you may not be able to write one).  You’ve learned theories, and those theories are still important to teaching you why certain things are in a Complaint.  You’ve learned to say “I’m an attorney” and even in this economy that still means a lot.

If you are a recent law school grad and considering taking advantage of the income-based repayment system or the special consolidation option for private federal and direct loans and interested in being interviewed for a story, we’d love to hear from you.

You can contact Patrick Thornton at 612-584-1554 or patrick.thornton@minnlawyer.com.

Thank you in advance.

Appearing before a judge for the first time? As with any court appearance, you want to be as prepared as you possibly can.

To that end, check out the Judicial Practice Guide, a survey of state district court judges conducted by the Minnesota State Bar Association Civil Litigation Section. Of course, you will want to be familiar with the relevant court rules, but the Judicial Practice Guide may provide insight on subject matter that is unique to each judge, such as scheduling and courtroom conduct.

The Minnesota Chapter of the Federal Bar Association provides similar guidance on its website.

Don’t be afraid to elaborate  if the situation calls for it, however. Some concepts simply require more words to explain than others. An article in the September issue of Bench & Bar contains this caveat to the brevity rule:

“The quest for conciseness nonetheless may raise a judgment call for lawyers and judges. Justice Joseph Story, the most prolific treatise writer in Supreme Court history, warned that sometimes ‘[b]revity becomes of itself a source of obscurity.’ Where full exposition of a legal doctrine, argument or agreement requires extended discussion, conciseness for its own sake may actually breed imprecision and compromise the sound administration of justice or the rights of clients.”

Thus, be concise, but not at the risk of obfuscating. The rule of clarity trumps the rule of brevity.

Bar exam results come out in less than a month.  Some examinees are nervously counting down the days until they find out if the $3,000+ spent on bar prep was worth it.  Others have blocked out the bar exam experience entirely.  And many of them (and people who have already taken and passed the bar) are now facing the pressure of finding the elusive full-time, permanent legal job.

The good news is that there are jobs out there.  The bad news is that there are hundreds of applicants for posted positions.  I know those observations are not breaking any new ground, but I hope the remainder of this post will offer something useful.  I started a new job as an associate at a firm in Minneapolis over the summer and I have three tips to share with new graduates looking for their first legal job.

1.  You are not as special as you think.

I received a lot of rejection letters.  I was told during multiple interviews that there were more than 200 applicants for the position I wanted.  It took a while to sink in, but eventually I learned an important lesson.  My GPA, class rank, and extra curriculars simply did not matter very much.  There is a lot talent out there right now looking for work.  For example, if you graduated in the top 20 of your class in May, there were 79 other people just like you in Minnesota.  Thus, my first tip is for job seekers to avoid the “but I did everything right” attitude and focus on finding ways to stand out in a very employer-friendly market.

2.  Ask for help.

This one is hard for many people in this part of the country, including myself.  However, most people are willing to help out if you ask.  Before I ended up in my current position, I was working on a temporary appointment as an Assistant County Attorney in Ramsey County.  Whenever I got a lead on a job or was thinking about responding to a posting, I asked for input from the attorneys in my office.  I asked the attorneys I worked with closely to call or write potential employers and give me a recommendation at the same time that I applied or immediately after I found out I scored an interview.  I also asked for their input on the reputation of various firms and government agencies.

I also think it is important to note that you need to know the benefits and limitations of your school’s career services office.  Career services will not get you a job.  Instead, realize that career services is a resource you can consult for general advice about searching for jobs.  At the end of the day, you are going to have to take the initiative to ask for help from attorneys and other professionals.

3.  Ask for feedback and stay on good terms with interviewers.

Although I ultimately ended up at a firm that fits my background and interests, I had a few crushing blows in my job search.  I was in the top three for a position I ultimately was not offered at least three times.  After a while, I started to ask people who interviewed me for feedback.  It was hard to swallow my pride and talk to someone who essentially determined someone else was better for the job than I was, but I gathered solid information in the process.  I gained more insight into what not to say in interviews and learned quite a bit about how to improve myself as a candidate.

Again, I found that most people wanted to help and were happy to offer a few thoughts.  I made sure to stay on good terms with employers after interviews because I wanted to make sure I did not burn any bridges if another position opened up in the future.  In fact, I unsuccessfully applied for a position at my current firm when I was studying for the bar exam.  Things worked out nicely the second time around.

Good luck to those who are looking for jobs right now.  For some, these three tips may be useful.  For others, other strategies will pay off.  The key is to find what works for you, stay positive and remember that you’ll be fine in the long run.