Do you know a law student who’s a public interest/pro bono rock star?  NALP is seeking nominations for the 2012 PSLawNet/PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award. 

Download the Nomination Form Here!

Purpose: To recognize the significant contributions that law students make to underserved populations, the public interest community, and legal education by performing pro bono or public service work.

Eligibility: The Pro Bono Publico Award is available to any second- or third-year law student at a PSJD Subscriber School. The recipient will be honored during an Award Luncheon at NALP’s Public Service Mini-Conference on Thursday, October 25, 2012 at the Washington, DC office of Crowell & Moring, LLP. The award recipient will receive transportation to Washington, a one-night stay in an area hotel, a commemorative plaque, and a small monetary award.

Award Criteria: Law students are judged by the extracurricular commitment they have made to law-related public service projects or organizations; the quality of work they performed; and the impact of their work on the community, their fellow students, and the school. Though a student’s involvement in law school-based public interest organizing and fundraising is relevant; actual pro bono and public interest legal work will be the primary consideration. 

Nomination Deadline & Packet Contents: Nominations must be received by Friday, September 14, 2012 at 5pm Eastern Time, by fax, mail, or email (see contact information at bottom). Along with the nomination form and a résumé, nomination packets may include any materials which support a nominee’s candidacy; such as letters of recommendation, statements detailing a nominee’s work, and media articles. 

by Ashley Matthews

Last week, Above the Law ran an article about an Ohio State University grad who decided to postpone her law school education to drive an Oscar Mayer Weinermobile cross-country as a hotdogger. While this may seem like an odd detour, her decision to defer law school admission should not come as a surprise. With the rising costs of tuition, dim job prospects, and the threat of insurmountable student loans, many students are second-guessing their decision to attend law school. And those that are currently in law school want more bang for their buck – including that dream job.

For public interest law students, this may be even harder to attain with increased competition for jobs at legal organizations that are facing major budget cuts and layoffs.

There is, however, a silver lining to the dark cloud of uncertainty that hangs over many recent graduates, especially those focused on public interest. It’s called social entrepreneurship, and chances are you have heard of it before. It’s a constantly evolving field, and social entrepreneurs are known to be passionate risk-takers with undying determination.

Social entrepreneurs see a need and come up with innovative ways to address it. The “need” may actually be a problem or issue, and usually social entrepreneurs create a project or non-profit to fill a gap in services currently being provided to help targeted populations. A law degree increases access to resources that many populations need, so social entrepreneurship is a good example of an alternative career route for those with a great idea.

If you’re interested in using your law degree to trailblaze your own path, check out PSJD’s guide to project-based fellowships or the Yale Guide to Postgraduate Public Interest Fellowships for tips and funding information. Many fellowships specifically require applicants to collaborate with a host organization, but some, like Echoing Green and Ashoka, do not.

by Ashley Matthews

Here at PSJD, we are constantly thinking of ways to connect law students and lawyers with public interest jobs and career-building resources. The main way we do this is through our website, where employers can post new public interest opportunities for interested job seekers, who are also able to browse our library of resources. And of course, we post great opportunities, news and resources to this blog and our Facebook page everyday.

In our latest effort to bridge communication between employers, career service leaders, and job seekers, PSJD is proud to announce the launch of its new live weekly Twitter chat! Kicking off on September 26th at 3 pm, #PSJDChat will feature weekly topics designed to build a supportive community around the daunting process of looking for legal employment. The first #PSJDChat topic will be“Personal Branding: Using Social Media During The Job Hunt”.

The goal of #PSJDChat is to encourage our Twitter community to learn from one another by sharing insight, info, horror stories, success stories and everything in between. #PSJDChat is the first and only Twitter mixer dedicated solely to law students and lawyers looking for public interest employment, so this is the (virtual) place to meet new like-minded friends followers, ask questions, find support, and get advice from those in-the-know.

You don’t have to do anything but tweet with the hashtag #PSJDChat to join, but we recommend using TweetChat as an easy way to participate and keep up with the discussion without your timeline distracting you. TweetChat will allow you to view a filtered version of the chat with only our discussion, and will also automatically add #PSJDChat to all your tweets so you don’t have to! When the time comes, just log in with your Twitter username and password, and enter #PSJDChat to join us. If you’re still confused, check out MediaBistro’s How-To article, or email us at psjd@nalp.org with any questions.

Although the chat is informal, all we ask is that you stay on-topic as much as possible, and tweet “#PSJDChat” so everyone involved knows you are a part of the discussion. Also, don’t forget to make your Twitter profile public! If your account is private, no one in #PSJDChat will be able to see your replies. Last but not least, tell all your friends! The more people involved, the better the discussion.

After every chat, you can check this blog for transcripts of the discussion, standout tweets, and a recap of what went down. Here’s a schedule of our upcoming Twitter chats and topics:

Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 3 PM: “Personal Branding: Using Social Media During The Job Hunt”

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012, 3 PM: “Drafting the Perfect Public Interest Cover Letter”

Wednesday, October 10th, 2012, 3 PM: “Drafting the Perfect Public Interest Resume”

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012, 3 PM: “Tips & Tricks for Successful Interviewing & Networking”

See you all on Twitter, and don’t forget to follow us @PSJDTweets!

Today’s job of the day is in the Sunshine State! The Bradenton office of Gulf Coast Legal Services, Inc. in St. Petersberg, FL is looking for a new public interest staff attorney to join their team. The attorney will mainly provide advocacy for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence during injunction proceedings, and will also participate in community outreach and training efforts on behalf of victims. Gulf Coast encourages applications from bi-lingual attorneys (Spanish and English).

For more information, check out the full listing on PSJD.org (log-in required)!

By: Steve Grumm

Uncle Sam recently implemented large-scale changes to the federal hiring system.  This directly impacts both law students and attorneys.  Here’s a great article, “The Pathways Program: Clearing the Way to Entry-level Federal Employment”, from PSJD summer 2012 intern extraordinairre Maria Hibbard.

And don’t forget to use PSJD’s detailed federal career resources page.

by Ashley Matthews

Today, social media is a part of almost every law student’s life. With the click of a button, you can see all the information you ever needed to know (and more) about everyone you know (and even those you don’t). Navigating the dense and over-populated world of social networking sites can get tricky as we make the transition from law student to legal professional, so check out FindLaw’s 5 Things Law Students Should Never Do on Social Media (originally reported by Mashable):

1. Illegal Activities

This one is a no-brainer, and most savvy law students don’t actively post pictures on social networks of themselves smoking a bong at a party or joy-riding in a cop car. However, what you may not know is that Facebook’s new Timeline feature makes finding those underage-binge-drinking photos as easy as clicking on the year “2003” on your profile. Thoroughly check all your social networking profiles to make sure no old photos can come back to haunt you in your new career.

2. Bullying

Everyone knows a cyber bully, and we’ve probably all seen a few bitter e-wars waged on Facebook or Twitter. Be wary of engaging in any negative or spiteful banter on social networking sites, as most of everything you post is searchable!

3. Disparagement of Professor

Has your professor ever said something that made you want to throw your casebook out of a window? This happens all the time, but keep it to yourself. If potential employers (or their friends) see or hear about you posting negative comments, they will more than likely think of it as disrespectful. It could actually hurt your chances of getting a job, and could do more to hurt your reputation than the professor you are griping about.

4. Lies

Okay, lying is always bad. But many have been known to slightly bend the truth for the sake of a Twitter bio or Facebook status update. Try not to fall victim to the rat race of competitive posts boasting perfect grade-point-averages or lucrative job offers. As Andrew Lu of FindLaw points out, “Should you ever enter the public sphere either as prosecutor or as an elected official, you should remember that the things you post as a 20-some-year-old may be vetted and could come back to haunt you.”

5. Unprofessional Pictures

Sure, your LinkedIn profile picture is the epitome of professionalism. However, a quick Google search could quickly show employers every profile picture on all your more personal social networking pages – even if your page is private. Find a happy balance between fun and professional, and you can’t go wrong.

Click here to read the full post on FindLaw!

by Ashley Matthews

Last week, the Washington Post reported that a Montana judge struck down the state’s lethal injection procedure, ruling that the three-drug cocktail used to execute death row inmates “increases the likelihood of confusion and error”. While the ruling does not prohibit state-mandated executions, all upcoming executions have been effectively suspended.

Photo Courtesy of LethalInjection.org

This decision comes after news that Californians will decide in November whether or not to replace capital punishment with life imprisonment, sans the possibility of parole. And death penalty opponents are getting support in unlikely places. From the Los Angeles Times:

If passed, the measure would make California the 18th state in the nation without a death penalty. During the last five years, four states have replaced the death penalty and Connecticut is soon to follow.

Growing numbers of conservatives in California have joined the effort to repeal the state’s capital punishment law, expressing frustration with its price tag and the rarity of executions. California has executed 13 inmates in 23 years, and prisoners are far more likely to die of old age on death row than by the executioner’s needle.

November’s ballot measure would commute the sentences of more than 700 people on death row to life without possibility of parole, a term that would then become the state’s most severe form of criminal punishment.

Most death row inmates would be returned to the general prison population and be expected to work. Their earnings would go to crime victims.

As the national debate heats up, death row inmates across the country are still using traditional methods to receive leniency, depending on a number of mitigating factors. For instance, a Pennsylvania death row inmate recently filed a petition for clemency because the jury in his case was never told at trial that he was sexually abused by the two men he later killed. If his appeal is rejected, he will be the first involuntarily executed inmate in Pennsylvania since the death penalty was reinstituted in the 1970s.

Interestingly enough, the ABA Journal noted that Judge Jeffrey Sherlock, the Montana judge who struck down lethal injection, called death row inmates “architects of their own doom”:

The second paragraph of Sherlock’s opinion (PDF) pointed out that the inmates were challenging the legal injection procedure, rather than the constitutionality of their death sentences. “Thus, ironically, plaintiffs ultimately do not seek to prevent the administration of the death penalty, but rather seek its administration in what they term to be a more humane and painless fashion,” Sherlock wrote. “In essence, plaintiffs are the architects of their own doom. It is also ironic to note that the plaintiffs who, if their sentences mean anything, are strangers to the concepts of mercy and obedience to the law, yet they seek the law’s protection. However, the Montana Constitution protects all people in Montana, even those who may appear undeserving of such protection.”

Are you a Spanish-speaking lawyer or recent law graduate who loves working with volunteers or teaching law students? Are you also interested in immigration law and children’s advocacy? The University of Chicago School of Law’s Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is currently accepting applications for its 2012 Fellowship in Immigrant Child Law & Advocacy!

The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, based at the University of Chicago Law School’s Kane Center for Clinical Legal Education, is seeking applications for a Fellowship in Immigrant Child Law and Advocacy, to commence in September 2012.  The Young Center is dedicated to promoting the best interests—safety and well-being—of unaccompanied and separated immigrant children in the United States. The immediate focus of the Young Center’s work is to serve as Child Advocate (guardian ad litem for children in immigration proceedings) for unaccompanied and separated children pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The Young Center also conducts policy advocacy at the local and national level to promote consideration of best interests in all decisions concerning immigrant children. The Young Center is a project of the Tides Center and is an independent non-profit organization based at the University of Chicago Law School.

The Fellow will assist with the supervision of law students serving as Child Advocate for unaccompanied immigrant children through the Immigrant Child Advocacy Clinic. The Fellow will be expected to assist with all levels of client work, including serving as Child Advocate, research, writing and advocacy. The Fellow will participate in the teaching of a weekly seminar, focused on issues arising in the immigration context for unaccompanied immigrant children and skills training.

For more information on qualifications, salary and application instructions, check out the full listing at PSJD.org (log-in required)!

By: Steve Grumm

Are you participating in public service career fairs this fall, or at least contemplating it?  Here’s some wisdom on making the most of career-fair opportunities from this month’s NALP Bulletin:

Public service job fairs are an excellent opportunity for students to interview and learn about potential employment opportunities. However, given the ease of the job fair application process, many students will submit their materials without much forethought. This large number of applicants increases competition for positions and face time with employers. For example, over 1,200 students from 200 law schools are expected to participate in next month’s Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair. Last year the event attracted approximately 117 employers from 27 states looking to fill about 140 positions—that’s tough competition!

Here are some tips and strategies to aid students in making the most of any public service job fair….

Read the full article, written by career counselors Ginna Galbraith (South Texas College of Law) and Samantha Kasmarek (Syracuse College of Law).

And don’t forget PSJD’s interviewing and networking resourcs, available on our Career Central page.

By: Steve Grumm

Just a heads-up on some 2012 analyses/opinions stemming from data about Millenials’ public service employment preferences.  Here’s a blog post from Government Executive:

 Zoe Grotophorst, an analyst with the Government Business Council (GBC), took [traits describing Millenials] and compared them against the Office of Personnel Management’s 2011 Employee Viewpoint Survey (EVS) resultsto compile a list of the federal agencies most compatible with what new grads are looking for in an employer. For instance, agencies that reported high levels of supervisor attention, feedback and recognition as well as work-life balance scored higher than those that didn’t. The only eight agencies that scored a 50 percent or higher are listed below:

1. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
3. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
4. Department of Commerce (DOC)

…

Read the full Gov’t. Exec.  post for the complete list and a link to the underlying report.