Blitzed

It's Saturday, which means week one, semester 2, of law school is technically over. Yet, now is when the work begins. The first week was a whirlwind of new classes and readings, writing and research assignments, meetings, and reminders of all the things I simply don't have time for. After a semester, I feel much more sure about what I need to do to be prepared for finals. Good thing there's no chance I'll get the time to do much of it. Case briefing? Yeah, right. Outlining? Yeah right. The briefing is hardly necessary (at least not in the way I used to do it), but frequent post-class summaries of what we've covered in the past few days would be a great way to build an outline. Maybe I'll shave off a couple of hours sleep time and squeeze that in.

And don't mention applying for jobs. What? When? How? Whatever.

On the positive side, ProfProperty is proving to be a fun guy w/a great take on things. In fact, for two days running he's taken potshots at last semester's ProfTorts (my ideological nemesis) and the Chicago School of law and economics, which is certainly starting off on the right (or left, as it may be) foot. I'm loving ConLaw and, well, Contracts and CivPro... Yeah.

Also on the positive side, the GW/Georgetown Public Interest/Government Interview Program is coming up Feb 7. You can see from last year's list of participating employers that it's a pretty big deal, and therefore I have high hopes it will provide a great way to get a summer job. The other day, in preparation for the program, GW invited seven recent GW graduates who now work in public interest law to come tell us about their experiences and what they look for in interns/employees. As far as what they're looking for, they all said much the same things:

1. Demonstrated commitment to public interest work. They're looking for concrete evidence on a resume, not necessarily in their own particular area of work, but in some position or volunteer experience that shows you're not just looking for a brief fling with the "little people."
2. Related, but different: A real interest in the organization you're interviewing with. Research the organization so you can show that interest intelligently.
3. Good writing skills, which you can best demonstrate on your cover letter.
4. A memorable and entertaining interview. Especially in a big "career fair" atmosphere, it's important to impress your interviewer in some way so they'll remember you. Try to have a conversation with your interviewer. Make the interviewer's day interesting. A sense of humor is often good. Be interested in and be interesting to him or her. The best way to do this is to research the organization ahead of time and practice your interview skills.

In addition to those interviewing tips, they gave some great general advice for people interested in public interest work, including:

• Commit your life to using the law for social change. Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comforted.
• In law school, volunteer instead of working on a journal.
• Be aware that you might trade the stresses of working in a firm (stesses mentioned included overwork and a huge lack of satisfaction in the work you do) for the stresses of being broke. All agreed they weren't rich, but all agreed they wouldn't trade their lives for any other. How many firm lawyers can say that?

All of this was music to my ears. Finally there were people at GW speaking my language! Plus, the room was filled with students who had come to listen to the speakers, which was a great reminder that not everyone at GW is there just to make as much money as they possibly can.

So that's all good, once I get time to actually fill out all the paperwork to participate in the interview program. Standing in the way of that goal is a good-sized research project about someone charged w/use of a gun in connection w/selling drugs and the applicable standard for a post-trial motion to acquit. And reading. And planning an auction. Yeah.

If posts are less than frequent for a while, the above is why.

p.s.: Apologies to Glorfindel of Gondolin, whom I mistakenly suggested was female. Glorfindel is male. Thanks to Heidi for the clarification.

Posted January 10, 2004 10:06 AM | law school