By: Steve Grumm

Happy Friday, dear readers.  I offer abject apologies to regular readers (all four of you) for my skipping last week’s installment of the News Bulletin.  But it was nice to see so many folks at the NALP and Equal Justice Works events.  Today the Bulletin returns with a double issue.  There is much to catch up on, including:

• ABA’s Celebrate Pro Bono Week and related events;
• budget cuts take a toll on the nation’s DA’s, defenders, and court systems;
• an American Bar Foundation report looks state by state at access-to-justice frameworks;
• proposed DOJ antitrust field office closures cause a stir;
• a recap: the Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair;
• bad legal services funding news from the Treasure State;
• legal services volunteer programs for retiring Baby Boomer lawyers;
• ACLU of Montana takes to task the state’s indigent defense program;
• Michigan’s indigent defense program is under the microscope, too;
• the NLG lawyers looking out for the Occupy Wall Street…occupiers;
• ACLU of Pennsylvania takes to task Allegheny County’s (Pittsburgh) indigent defense program;
• a pro-se assistance center in Maryland goes statewide with a hotline;
• a novel, international-sustainable-development clinical program at Penn St.-Dickinson Law;
• progress in launching a new legal services program in Wyoming;
• the Shriver Center absorbs the Center for Legal Aid Education (CLEA). 

This week(s):

• 10.28.11 – the ABA’s Celebrate Pro Bono Week is coming to a close tomorrow.  We at PSLawNet were deluged with news stories about lawyers and law students throughout the country participating in clinics and other client outreach efforts.  Kudos to the thousands who’ve gotten involved.  We couldn’t begin to recap all the news we read, but here’s a link to the official Celebrate Pro Bono site.  Also, I was fortunate to participate in the ABA’s Pro Bono Summit, which convened here in DC on Monday and Tuesday.  119 very smart people exchanged thoughtful ideas (I was attendee number 120, and I held up my end with un-thoughtful ideas) about where pro bono fits into the larger access-to-justice scheme during hard economic times. I’m looking forward to seeing what the ABA produces as a result of the work done at the Summit.  Here are remarks delivered at the Summit by Attorney General Eric Holder, and here’s NLJ coverage of ABA President Bill Robinson’s Summit remarks.

• 10.26.11 – a well-reported AP piece looks at the toll taken by cuts to prosecutor, public defender, and court-system budgets throughout the country.  “Prosecutors are forced to ignore misdemeanor violations to pursue more serious crimes. Judges are delaying trials to cope with layoffs and strained staffing levels. And in some cases, those charged with violent crimes, even murder, are set free because caseloads are too heavy to ensure they receive a speedy trial.  Deep budget cuts to courts, public defenders, district attorney’s and attorney general offices are testing the criminal justice system across the country. In the most extreme cases, public defenders are questioning whether their clients are getting a fair shake.”  The piece looks specifically at goings-on in AL, CA, IA, NY, and elsewhere.  (The postal abbreviations may pose a challenge for our Millenial Generation readers who have never mailed a letter.  JKLOL!!)

• 10.25.11 – I just got word of an American Bar Foundation report, Access Across America, which reviews the access-to-justice infrastructure in each state and Puerto Rico.  Here’s a link to a summary on ABF’s website, here’s a link to the report, and here’s some language from the report’s executive summary: “Access Across America is the first-ever state-by-state portrait of the services available to assist the U.S. public in accessing civil justice. The report documents, for the nation as a whole and individually for the 50 states and the District of Columbia:
• Who is eligible for free civil legal information, advice or representation (civil legal assistance services);
• How civil legal assistance services are produced and delivered;
• How eligible people may connect with services;
• How civil legal assistance is funded;
• How civil legal assistance is coordinated
• How both no-fee and fee-generating limited-scope civil legal services are regulated.”

• 10.24.11 –some DOJ antitrust attorneys don’t trust DOJ’s decision to close four field offices.  From Government Executive: “Three weeks after the Justice Department proposed closing four of its antitrust division field offices, affected employees are calling for congressional hearings on the matter.  The closings, along with the department’s other budget-trimming proposals, are contingent on Congress, which must approve or fail to respond in order for the plans to move forward, according to attorneys who would be affected by the shuttering of the field offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Cleveland and Philadelphia.”  Incidentally, if you’re a law student or law school career counselor wishing to keep up with similar developments in federal government, I recommend joining Government Executive’s email distribution list.

• 10.24.11 – the Blog of the Legal Times covered last week’s Equal Justice Works Conference and Career Fair: “Resumes in hand, more than 1,300 law students from across the United States attended this year’s Equal Justice Works annual conference, and more than 1,100 met with employers at the conference’s career fair. [It] brought in 117 employers from 27 states to meet with students on Friday and Saturday. Law students waiting on line for a chance to speak with employers all said they held no illusions about their job prospects right now. Although some students were lucky enough to get formal interviews, many more were taking their chances at the informal ‘Table Talk’ sessions, where students waited on line to get a few minutes alone with employers.”  I feel for public interest law students these days.  It’s perhaps trite advice, but persistence and fortitude in carrying forward with the job search are essential.  (This is true even in better economic times, because there are always more grads interested in public interest than there are job openings.)  Keep using PSLawNet, including the cover letter, resume, and interview tips on our Job Search Fundamentals page.  And email us at pslawnet@nalp.org if you’d have ideas about how we can help more. 

• 10.24.11 – rotten legal services funding news from the Treasure State.  The Missoulian reports: “Poor people seeking divorces in Missoula County will no longer be able to get free legal advice. Likewise for low-income renters who get crosswise with their landlords. The Montana Legal Services Association has laid off attorneys, paralegals and support staff statewide as part of an anticipated $500,000 budget cut in 2012. That’s 15 percent of its total budget.   ‘We are cutting into bone at this point,’ said Alison Paul, executive director of the agency that provides legal assistance in civil cases to low-income people.” 
   
• 10.24.11 – The civil legal services community cannot keep up with swelling demand for services.  Meanwhile, the Baby Boomer exodus from law practice has begun, as the oldest Boomers are at retirement age.  This being the case, what about providing public interest volunteer opportunities to  those lawyers who wish to leave fee-generating practice but also want to remain in practice?  The National Law Journal looks at D.C.’s Senior Attorneys Initiative for Legal Services (SAILS), a program which matches attorneys in or near retirement with pro bono cases (password-protected). SAILS isn’t the only program harnessing the experience and expertise of the profession’s elder statespeople.  In New York State, the Attorney Emeritus Program does something similar.  On the national level, the Pro Bono Institute’s Second Acts project facilitates the movement of retiring attorneys into volunteer work.

• 10.21.11 – more bad Montana news.  The Billings Gazette covers an ACLU report critical of the state’s public defense system:  “The…five-year-old…system is still plagued by mismanagement, with overworked and undertrained attorneys sometimes failing to provide the most basic help to their indigent clients, a new report by the ACLU of Montana says. The report, released this week by the rights organization whose lawsuit led to creation of the new system, said the system has ‘greatly improved’ public defense in some areas of the state. But overall, the system ‘continues to fall short of achieving its full potential’ because of ongoing management problems….”  The Gazette has an accompanying article about poor public defender pay compared to other state lawyers.

• 10.21.11 – Michigan’s embattled public defense system is going under the microscope.  From Interlochen Public Radio (great name!): “A state commission began work this week to ensure that everyone who is accused of a crime in Michigan gets an adequate legal defense. Michigan allows every county to handle its own public defender system. The system is frequently cited as one of the worst in the country. That’s because some counties do a good job of ensuring even people who cannot pay get a good lawyer. Other counties are more haphazard. There are also no training standards for public defenders.”  Here’s additional coverage from the Battle Creek Enquirer.

• 10.18.11 – The American Lawyer looks in on the “about 200 National Lawyers Guild members volunteering as legal observers on the scene at Occupy Wall Street.”

• 10.18.11 –  the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on criticism of the local public defense program: “Poor management and lack of training for new lawyers in the Allegheny County [where Pittsburgh sits] public defender’s office are violating the constitutional rights of those accused of crimes and costing the county millions of dollars in extra jail costs, an ACLU report has concluded…. The ACLU report, entitled ‘A Job Left Undone,’ relies heavily on the research done in a 2008 study for the county by a team led by investigator Alan Kalmanoff of the California-based Institute for Law and Policy Planning, a nonprofit policy and research organization.”  Here’s a link to “A Job Left Undone.”

• 10.17.11 – The Baltimore Sun reports that a pro-se assistance center in one Maryland county has opened a phone line that will allow its lawyers to connect with Marylanders statewide: “The center has helped more than 10,000 people since it opened. However, a lack of space and tight budgets made adding walk-in centers in other District Courts out of the question.  But those in need of advice can now chat online with the center’s four lawyers. Users can remain anonymous and there are no income restrictions….In its first month of hosting live chats, 850 people have used the service. In comparison, the self-help center assisted a record 626 people in August. Officials said chats have been initiated by people in every county except Kent and Somerset.”
   
• 10.17.11 – the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on a new Penn State Dickinson School of Law sustainable development operating in cahoots with engineering and business students:  “Designed as an interdisciplinary collaboration between Penn State’s law school, its College of Engineering and Smeal College of Business, the clinic promises experiential learning through work with real humanitarian projects as part of a team for law students seeking international experience, said Jeff Erickson, professor at Penn State and the clinic’s director…. Mr. Erickson said that, to his knowledge, no other schools are using interdisciplinary project teams to launch international humanitarian efforts in the same manner. What makes the Penn State clinic the first of its kind is the clinic’s humanitarian mission — that its projects are internationally and not locally focused — and that students will design and develop projects themselves.” 

• 10.16.11 – an Asbury Park Press editorial bemoans sharp state funding cuts to legal services in New Jersey: “Under [Governor Chris] Christie, state funding for Legal Aid has dropped from $29.6 million in 2010 to $19.9 million in 2011 to $14.9 million in 2012. That is unconscionable. Decency and fairness demand a restoration of most of those funds and the institution of a formalized program in which lawyers volunteer hours of service to Legal Aid or make a donation….  By next June, there will be only half as many staff attorneys as there were in 2008 to give free help to qualifying low-income New Jerseyans with civil cases.”

• 10.15.11 – K2 Radio reports on the development of Wyoming’s new legal services program: “Officials say the new Wyoming Center For Legal Aid should be up and running in a year or two.  The program was established a year ago after the Wyoming legislature passed the Indigent Civil Legal Services Act during the 2010 budget session.   The center’s goal is to provide legal services for Wyoming residents who fall below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. The center was officially established in April, and the Wyoming Center For Legal Aid Board of Commissioners recently hired a new law school graduate as its first employee.” 

• 10.14.11 – from the Chicago Tribune, news of a merger in the legal services community: “Legal-aid charities have felt the impact of the economic downturn with declining funding and increasing demand. After revenues fell by 50 percent, the Boston-based Center for Legal Aid Education began considering a merger as a way to cut costs, reduce duplication of services and expand its reach. Its search has culminated in an acquisition by the larger Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, based in Chicago…. One of the gaps in [the Shriver Center’s] offerings was providing training to public-interest lawyers who want to work on complex litigation… The Center for Legal Education has been providing legal training in the New England region for years. When the economy crashed in 2009, the center lost about half of its revenues because many clients that provide legal services lost some of their funding.”  So this makes sense on both ends.  And the piece raises the question of whether more legal services mergers may/should follow.

by Kristen Pavón

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center is offering two free webinars on November 9 and 15. Topics include marriage-based immigration, LGBT couples and best practices for working with and representing LGBT immigrants.

Check ’em out here.

The Legal Department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (“AFL-CIO”) is offering a one-year fellowship beginning in September 2012. The fellowship offers an excellent opportunity for recent law school graduates to work with experienced union-side lawyers on a wide variety of issues.

The AFL-CIO is a voluntary federation of 55 national and international unions which represent 12.2 million working women and men in the United States. The AFL-CIO works on a variety of fronts to improve the lives of working families, to secure social and economic justice in the United States, and to protect the interests of working people in the global economy.

The Legal Department works on a wide range of litigation, policy, regulatory and legislative matters, and assists with organizing campaigns, corporate governance issues, and other AFL-CIO initiatives. The Legal Department also administers the Lawyers Coordinating Committee, a national organization of union-side attorneys, which issues various publications and holds educational conferences on a regular basis.

The AFL-CIO Fellow will work with lawyers in the AFL-CIO Legal Department and with other union lawyers around the country on a wide range of activities. The Fellow will assist experienced lawyers working on cases and regulatory matters that affect the labor movement and the rights of workers.

The AFL-CIO’s litigation caseload includes cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the NLRB and a small number of state appellate suits. In addition, the AFL-CIO Legal Department frequently presents the views of the labor movement on federal regulatory initiatives affecting workers. The AFL-CIO Fellow will also participate in Lawyers Coordinating Committee activities, including preparation for attorney conferences, outreach to new labor lawyers and law students, and regular opportunities to attend LCC meetings and conferences.

If you’re interested, check out the listing at PSLawNet!

By: Steve Grumm

The Blog of the Legal Times was on hand at last week’s event:

“Resumes in hand, more than 1,300 law students from across the United States attended this year’s Equal Justice Works annual conference, and more than 1,100 met with employers at the conference’s career fair. [It] brought in 117 employers from 27 states to meet with students on Friday and Saturday. Law students waiting on line for a chance to speak with employers all said they held no illusions about their job prospects right now. Although some students were lucky enough to get formal interviews, many more were taking their chances at the informal “Table Talk” sessions, where students waited on line to get a few minutes alone with employers.”

Let’s not mince words: the public interest job market is tight, and times are tough for law students.  It’s perhaps trite to offer this advice, but persistence and fortitude in carrying on the job search are essential.  (This is true even in better economic times, because there are always more grads interested in public interest than there are job openings.)  Keep using PSLawNet, including the cover letter, resume, and interview tips on our Job Search Fundamentals page.  And while I know this piece of advice can seem trite, there is simply no better job search tool than professional networking.  Every good job I’ve gotten has come, to some degree or other, as a result of deliberate efforts I made to get to know public interest lawyers/law students/etc.  Here’s guidance on networking from Harvard’s Office of Public Interest Advising.  Finally, email us at pslawnet@nalp.org if you have ideas about how we can help more.

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, founded in 1976, is firmly established as an international and national leader in legal education. Within the school, the Office of Career Services (OCS) is dedicated to helping law students and alumni develop their individual interests, explore the range of career options and access opportunities that will further their professional goals.  

The OCS is currently seeking an Assistant Dean. The Assistant Dean will be responsible for long term strategic planning, monitoring and anticipating employment trends, assessing needs of students and alumni, setting goals for OCS, and devising innovative programming to maximize success of students and alumni.

The Assistant Dean will conduct outreach to potential employers, engage professional organizations, and work with alumni groups. Furthermore, the Assistant Dean will work closely with JD and LLM students along with other departments and student groups to purport job search strategies and career development.

Not sure what your days may look like as Assistant Dean of Cardozo Law’s career services office? Check out A Day in the Life of a Law School Career Counselor!

Interested? See the listing at PSLawnet!

by Philip A. Guzman, Esq.

Philip is the director of Public Service Programs at North Carolina Central University School of Law. Follow him on Twitter @pag2010.

Leaving the practice of law and returning to teaching was a desire that I had for over 10 years before I finally took the plunge. What better job for a former high school teacher and community college professor?

Not only would I regain an element of “balance” in my life, but I would again be able to work with a diverse and interesting population of our next generation of lawyers. However, let it be known that the life of an attorney career counselor has not panned out to be just a relaxing 9-5 existence.

Try as I might to have what passes as a “normal” and “regulated” day, it simply rarely happens. No two days are the same and that is exactly what I like about the job. On any given day, I can wear up to five different hats as a law school career counselor.

1. Goal Planner.

The central most important thing that we do in our Career Services Office is to meet directly with our students and map out career strategies and goals, both short and long term.

Short term goals start with asking the most basic question of the student — “Why law school?” Initially, I was surprised to find that so many law students are unable to give a logical and cogent reason. However, as I get them chatting on their life and “passion” (what drives you on?), a student will usually begin to open up and explain his/her law school decision. Even in a very difficult economy, the reason that a student chooses the rigors of a law school education involves a life changing moment, or simply a “love” of the law and its nuances.

Now, with their reason for attending law school established, the student plunges into the revision of their resume with the next short term goal in sight –landing that first (or second) summer internship. Finally, in the case of 3Ls, we get to the long term goal: the attorney job and how to go about getting it.

2. Editor & Role Player.

I really enjoy this aspect of my job, which includes cover letter writing, the “mock interview” and all the skill sets that go into the identification of a prospective employer for an internship or permanent job.

After fully researching the prospective employer (I expect the student to the bulk of the research), I assist students with the general flow of a cover letter, its writing, along with the appropriate follow-up etiquette. When the cover letter leads to an interview, the next step for me is the mock interview. I role play all interviews and don the persona of the employer and act out a twenty minute interview.

Subsequently, the student and I will have another half-hour session where I provide feedback and help the student with the improvement of their interviewing technique. In my view, there is no more important role for a career service attorney than to walk with the law student in all aspects of the career search path.

3. Marketer.

The one aspect of my job as a career that is somewhat similar to what I used to do in private practice is marketing. In this case, the law school itself. As the Director of Public Service Programs at North Carolina Central University School of Law, I spend the majority of my time contacting lawyers in the public sector from the likes of USDOJ Honors, HUD, EPA, and various JAG offices on the federal level; to the North Carolina Department of Justice, Legal Aid of NC, Disability Rights of NC, and the Southern Environmental Law Center (to name only a few) on the state and local levels.  Promoting our law school to employers includes site visits whenever possible.

Periodically, I take time from my work with public service employers to also contact private firm recruiters and in-house counsel from national and local companies including the different pharmaceutical companies that make their home here in the Triangle area in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill areas of North Carolina.

I may often attend various “Meet & Greet” lunches, seminars, and legal conferences that will put me in the proximity of public service lawyers, recruiters, judges, alumni, and employers in all areas of practice in public service, pro bono, and in the private sector.

As a public service counselor, I am mindful that there is a “crossover” effect to working with private firms as many firms are beginning to emphasize work in the areas of pro bono and public service. Thus, I am always looking to match public service students with firms that emphasis pro bono work.

4. Event Planner.

I now truly appreciate all the time, talent, and patience that it takes to be a full time event planner in other industries. I have learned, through much trial and error I might add, that locating and then scheduling appropriate lawyers, judges and professors for student speaking events is an art form. Not only does it entail clearing a speaker’s schedule, but one has to also “juggle” the class schedules of all three law school classes (when do the 1Ls let out? ..but the 2Ls can only be there for a half-hour..what about evening students?).

It doesn’t stop there, there are issues involving landing an appropriate room (what size room? how many students are attending the event?) and also the actual publicizing of the event (on Twitter, Facebook, Symplicity? …on all? …how often? did the students receive appropriate notification?).

Logistics for student events is very important. We in career services need to be mindful  that, while all events that we plan are important and great opportunities to network, they are not always at a time where a “busy” law student can take time from the rigors of his/her curriculum and attend such events. A “trick” I have learned is to try and have food (pizza is always a winner) with an event. I am amazed at the amount of, otherwise busy, law students who  manage to find the time to attend an event when free food is on the line!

5. Student.

I believe that a Career Services Office needs to visible to students. We need to be out in the flow of traffic with students at the school where students can see us and grab us for quick questions and/or concerns. I try to walk the halls between classes whenever my schedule permits and even sit in on the first fifteen to twenty minutes of a class.  It is important to “walk the walk” of students.

When a student mentions either success or difficulty in a particular course, I can put myself there. Additionally, it is a way for me to stay connected to the professors.  I may be an administrator, but I need to stay connected to the life of the law school – its students and professors.

Finally, law school career counselors need to be current in the latest trends and scholarship in the lawyer hiring.  This requires scholarship, reading and writing in all areas of attorney career development. For me, this is where Twitter and other areas of social media prove helpful.  I spend over an hour of my day reviewing articles and “tweeting” materials that I think are helpful for law students, recent graduates, and young lawyers starting their careers (catch up with me @pag2010!).

Furthermore, another means of keeping up in the field are the frequent gatherings I participate in with other law school career service professionals, both locally and nationally. I find these gatherings most helpful for me in trying to remain “current” in all areas of law school counseling and national employment trends. Also, it is a way to keep up with new friends and old in the profession who work at other law schools.

As I’ve said, no day is similar to the one before. There is no greater satisfaction for me than giving back to my profession and assisting the next generation of lawyers get their careers started.

by Kristen Pavón

*Updates: The Atlantic explains eligibility here and the Washington Post answers some more questions about the plan here.

Full disclosure here: I don’t know all the details about this new plan yet, I’m still a bit confused about all the eligibility requirements, and if I were you, I’d look to Heather Jarvis for some more guidance on it once more details come out today.

Today, President Obama will expand the Income Based Repayment program for federal student loans with his new plan, Pay as you Earn. This is the administration’s effort to address sky-high college tuition and student loan debt.

From what I understand, this plan was to start in 2014. However, with the Obama Administration’s new “we can’t wait” mantra, it’s being pushed to go into effect next year so that more students can get relief.

Here are the basic details as I’ve understood them:

Benefits:

• Reduce student loan payments to 10% of discretionary income (similar to the current IBR repayment option except that it’s currently capped at 15% of discretionary income)
• Federal loan forgiveness after 20 years worth of the right kind of payments (the current IBR option forgives loan balances after 25 years worth of payments)
• Consolidate loans & reduce interest rates

I’m liking what I’m hearing about the lowered cap for IBR payments, but I still need to learn more about this plan and find out whether graduates like myself, who have already elected the current IBR option, are even eligible.

Read more here, here and here.

by Kristen Pavón

The AmLawDaily posted an article last week about the watchful attorneys protecting individual rights at the Occupy Wall Street protest.

About 200 National Lawyers’ Guild members volunteered their time to monitor interactions between the police and protestors, collect information when anyone was arrested, and provide protestors with general advice.

The guild’s mission, says Gideon Oliver, a solo practitioner and member of the executive committee of the group’s New York City chapter, is to ensure that demonstrators are able to exercise their First Amendment rights.

Guild observers attempt to identify everyone who is arrested, record the arresting officer’s badge number, and obtain contact information for potential witnesses. Following those steps makes it easier to coordinate jail support services and legal representation, says Jane Moison, a guild member and associate at criminal defense and civil rights firm Rankin & Taylor.

The observers’ presence is especially important, Oliver says, when police make arrests in bunches.

“When arrests happen on a large scale, you need to get the names of people arrested to make sure they get through the system and out of police custody,” he says. And when tensions flare between police and protesters, the presence of guild observers provides a cooling effect, adds Martin Stolar, a New York City solo practitioner and former guild president: “Once protesters and police see the green hats, they know someone’s watching.”

I wonder if there are Guild members watching the Occupy protests in other locations too. Anyone know?

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), New England’s lgbt and HIV public interest legal organization, is looking for a full-time Attorney for its work in the six New England states.

GLAD is particularly interested in expanding its ability to address the needs of lgbtq youth in a variety of settings. Therefore, along with litigation, this attorney will be also be responsible for community, coalition, policy, education and legislative work devoted to lgbtq youth.

If you have litigation and legal research and writing experience along with a commitment to working with and on behalf of lgbtq youth, and knowledge of issues that particularly affect lgbtq youth of color, APPLY!

To read more about this position or to apply, see the listing at PSLawNet!

by Kristen Pavón

The Washington Post reports that TMZ founder Harvey Levin has advised TV and print media channels that their models are broken and they had better adapt or die.

While Levin’s journalistic credibility is …. questionable, at best, his comments got me thinking about how communication has changed and wondering whether we’re doing ourselves a disservice by relying so heavily on online communication, particularly for relationship management and when on the job hunt.

I’ve heard a lot about this issue lately, especially as it relates to Millennial law students —  they are losing touch with traditional forms of communication. They’re hesitant to pick up the phone to speak to someone at a courthouse or law firm and they’d prefer to exchange text messages rather than have a face-to-face conversation with a mentor.

Social media has changed how we discover new information and how we can connect with people with similar interests. However, social media makes it too easy to connect with other people and can cheapen the value of online interactions and in turn, weaken your relationships.

And with job hunters doing the majority of their job search online — searching career sites like PSLawNet, linking employers to their Linkedin profiles, using Twitter to find job opportunities, and even adding prospective employers as friends on Facebook or Google+. — it’s important to step away from the computer.

For real results, bring your online networking into the real world!

Meeting up with someone in person and chatting over coffee about your job search, cannot and will not be replaced with a tweet (Got that, Levin?). The real (and critical) value of social media is the offline relationship you can create and maintain by utilizing online networks.

Let’s bring traditional back — leave some of your traditional networking/communication success stories below!