#LawJobChat

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30
Jul 11

Tax Law is Sexy (#LawJobChat No. 13)

“Tax law is sexy,” tweeted @kebmurphy while promoting the 13th #LawJobChat which we held on Thursday, July 28, 2011.  I discovered during this chat that there is some truth in @kebmurphy’s statement.  Our guest tax lawyers (@atexastaxlawyer, @taxgirl, and @SoFlaEstatePlan) and one former tax laywer(@kebmurphy) shared three reasons why tax law is so “excitingly appealing” and “glamorous.”

  1. Tax lawyers have control over their practices. If you want to work in BigLaw, the tax group is probably a good choice if you want to maintain some balance and avoid all-nighters and emergencies.  If you decide you don’t like working for someone else, tax law is also an area in which a lawyer can practice in a solo or small firm setting.  Many tax lawyers in a solo or small firm setting continue to work on hot matters such as offshore compliance.
  2. Most tax lawyers are not pure tax geeks. Many tax lawyers keep their practices exciting by touching on a variety of transactional practices, such as real estate, business transactions, cross-border transactions and estate planning, rather than focusing on one specific aspect such as state and local tax.  You tend to see the pure tax geeks who focus on one specialty in the larger firms.
  3. Inexperienced tax lawyers may increase their demand with LLM or CPA. An LLM may help market new tax lawyers who don’t have an accounting or finance background. But, an LLM is not as helpful if you have significant experience.  A CPA may help tax lawyers who handle significant compliance matters.

How can you enter the field of tax law?  Our guests shared the following ideas:

  • If you are still in law school, take every tax course offered in law school.
  • Network with tax lawyers through bar associations and alumni groups.
  • Volunteer with VITA.
  • Show a genuine interest in tax law.  Your interest is more important than your experience.  Don’t ask academic questions, but share details that show your interest in tax law.
  • Read the following blogs:

Finally, click here to read the entire transcript of #LawJobChat No. 13.

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27
Jul 11

Careers in Tax Law (#LawJobChat No. 13)

Several law students have tweeted questions over the last few months about careers in tax law, so our July 2011 #LawJobChat will focus on this career path.  Join #LawJobChat this Thursday, July 28, at 9pm EDT as we explore the various roles of tax lawyers, such as representing clients before state and local taxing authorities, advising corporations or partnerships, representing high net-worth individuals, and more.  In addition to participants’ questions, we’ll explore the following:

  • Do you need an LL.M?  C.P.A?
  • How easy/difficult it is to switch practice areas as a lateral associate and enter the tax field?
  • Where can you work in this field if you don’t want to work in a law firm setting?
  • How easy/difficult is it to work in a corporate legal department?
  • Is prior accounting or business experience helpful?
  • Recommended resources/blogs for students interested in this practice area
  • Recommended courses in law school
  • Recommended summer clerkship/internship
  • Are there certain sub-specialties of tax law that are better for lawyers interested in a flexible schedule?

Our guest co-hosts for this chat have worked in a variety of settings ranging from positions at the IRS to corporate legal departments to solo practice.  Our guests  include:

Click here for details on how to participate in a Twitter Chat.  As always, I’ll post the #LawJobChat transcript following the live chat.

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1
Jul 11

Raising Your Profile to Get Hired (#LawJobChat No. 12)

It’s no secret that raising your profile through speaking, writing, blogging and other activities leads to new career opportunities.  Jack Whittington, a May 2011 graduate of The University of Tulsa College of Law, explains in this post how an employer already knew about him before he interviewed because the employer had read his blogs.

During our June 2011 #LawJobChat, @arikaplan @adriandayton and @cordellparvin shared their thoughts on how law students and associates can raise their profiles.  You can read the entire transcript of #LawJobChat No. 12, and I’ve also summarized some highlights below.

Writing

  • Select topic that addresses a timely client problem, opportunity or change
  • Submit articles to industry association publications
  • Submit articles to law school alumni magazine
  • Attend events that reporters and editors are attending – for example, @adriandayton met an editor for the National Law Journal at an ALM business development event
  • Review editorial calendars which tell you what editors are looking for and when (BONUS: @arikaplan will send #lawjobchat participants copies of his 2011 editorial calendars – tweet to him if you are interested)

Blogging

  • Must be consistent – post at least once a week (more if you have something to say that clients care about)
  • Short (250-500 words), short paragraphs, bullet points or lists
  • Follow @copyblogger or @problogger for additional ideas on blogging
  • Collaborate – guest blog or offer clients opportunity to post on your blog
  • Interview industry leaders to use as content for article or blog post  – @arikaplan interviewed the CEO of @thebighandtweet for @lawdotcom guest blog post and @thebighandtweet ended up sponsoring @arikaplan’s 12-city book tour

Speaking

  • Contact local bar association – have speaking topic/idea in mind and explain who you are, why you’re qualified, and the relevance of the topic/idea
  • If your practice is industry focused, get to know the executives of the industry association so they can recommend you for speaking opportunities
  • Speaking to other lawyers (bar association events) may be a waste of time; may want to focus on speaking to your clients (for example, contractors if you are a construction lawyer) — exception:  your practice generates significant business from referrals by other attorneys
  • Hold something back and let participants know you’ll send it to them after the event
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27
May 11

Open Discussion on Career Paths (#LawJobChat No. 11)

Our May 2011 #LawJobChat was an open discussion rather than a discussion led by a guest on a specific career topic.  The discussion flowed from debating certain career paths to searching in specific markets to finding a mentor.  You can read the entire transcript of #LawJobChat No. 11, and I’ve summarized some highlights below.

Second Tier of Associates in BigLaw

Our discussion began with reactions to a recent New York Times article that outlined the second (low-paid) tier of associates some large firms recently added.   Concerns included:

  • Potential resentment
  • Potential billing issues
  • Difference in status too huge to sustain

Overall, however, participants thought that viable non-partner track options should exist in large firms—just not the two-tiered system described in the article.

For some humor, one participant shared the following rebuttal to the NYT article:  Temp Hides Fun, Fulfilling Office From Rest of Office.

Small and Midsize Firms

There are many opportunities in small and midsize firms as well as small and middle markets; one participant noted that recent grads should look in markets without law schools.  One law firm attorney recruiting manager tweeted that her firm has “loads of lateral openings.”

Solo Path

Several participants discussed going solo.  Other participants expressed concern.  I think the overall feeling was that solo practice is a viable option if you find a mentor, collaborate with others (including online) to avoid isolation, and enjoy business development.

Save the Date: Our next (and 12th!!) #LawJobChat is Thursday, June 30, at 9pm EDT.

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24
Apr 11

Tapping Alumni Networks in Your Job Search (#LawJobChat No. 10)

How can you connect with alumni from your law school without looking like you are just fishing for information?  How can former colleagues from your non-legal career help in your legal job search?  Can your law firm alumni network help in your search for an in-house legal job?

Join #LawJobChat this Tuesday, April 26 at 9 p.m. EDT for answers to these questions and more about tapping alumni networks in your job search.  Our guest co-host is Kelly Hoey, a client relationship and business development advisor who previously served as the Global Manager for Alumni Programmes at White & Case.

Join #LawJobChat on Tuesday to tweet your own questions to Kelly.  Or, email your questions to me in advance (amanda@aellislegal.com), and I’ll tweet them during the chat.

Click here for details about how to participate in a Twitter Chat.  As always, I’ll post the #LawJobChat transcript following the live chat.

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16
Mar 11

Twitter Chats to Calendar

As my regular readers know, Melissa Sachs and I launched #LawJobChat last June.  In the last few months, other chats for legal professionals have surfaced.  The following list contains the legal chats I recommend law students and lawyers calendar.  The list also contains some chats that aren’t specifically for legal professionals but helpful nonetheless.

Chat

Date/Time

Moderators

Description

Recent Transcript
#LawJobChat Last Thursday

9pm Eastern

 @aellislegal

@mjsq

 Twitter chat focused on attorney/lawyer job search questions and career paths.  Chat includes guest co-host each month to discuss specific career path. 2/24/11 Transcript
#lawschoolchat Sundays

9pm Eastern

 @brihoffman

@j2_whittington

@t10nbaum

 A conversation for law school students and potential students regarding the issues, concerns, and rigors of law school life and beyond. 3/13/11 Transcript
#legalchat Fridays

11am Eastern

 @dannymjohnson Weekly chat for lawyers and legal professionals touching on everything from technology to social media and the death of billable hours. 3/11/11 Transcript
#LinkedInChat Tuesdays

8pm Eastern

 @LinkedInExpert A chat focused on the various uses of LinkedIn 3/15/11 Transcript
#blogchat Sundays

10pm Eastern

 @MackCollier If you are looking to start a blog or improve your current blog, this chat is for you! 3/13/11 Transcript

For a complete listing of the 300+ chats available on Twitter, please click here.

To learn about the benefits of participating in a chat and how you can participate, click here.

Finally, if you have a copy of my book, Twitter chats are discussed on pages 231-232.

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25
Jan 11

Jobs in Sports Law (#LawJobChat No. 7)

In the spirit of the upcoming Super Bowl (also known as the biggest annual sporting event held in the United States), we thought it was appropriate to focus on jobs in sports law for the January #LawJobChat.

Join #LawJobChat on Thursday, January 27 at 9pm EST.  Our sports law expert guests include David Cohen, a sports lawyer in Los Angeles, and June Casalmir, an in-house lawyer at Sprint Nextel where she provides legal support for NASCAR.

Join #LawJobChat on Thursday to tweet your own questions to David and June.  Or, email your questions to me in advance (amanda@aellislegal.com), and I’ll tweet them during the chat.

Click here for details about how to participate in a Twitter Chat.  As always, I’ll post the #LawJobChat transcript following the live chat.

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13
Dec 10

CLE & Your Career (#LawJobChat No. 6)

What kinds of employment opportunities exist for Continuing Legal Education professionals?  Do these jobs require a JD?  How easy or difficult is it to transition from practicing law to working as a CLE professional?  Where can one find job postings for CLE jobs?  How can practicing attorneys advance their careers by speaking at CLEs?  How are CLE speakers selected?

Join #LawJobChat this Thursday, December 16 at 9pm EST for answers to these questions and more.  Our guest co-hosts are Tim Baran (@barancle), a former law firm CLE/Library Director who now provides CLE accreditation services, and David Schnurman (@lawline), President of Lawline.com, an online CLE provider based in Manhattan.

Join #LawJobChat on Thursday to tweet your own questions to Tim and David.  Or, email your questions to me in advance (amanda@aellislegal.com), and I’ll tweet them during the chat.

Click here for details about how to participate in a Twitter Chat.  As always, I’ll post the #LawJobChat transcript following the live chat.

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21
Nov 10

Log In & Learn (Summary of #LawJobChat No. 5)

The fifth #LawJobChat featured Betsy Munnell, a former BigLaw partner/rainmaker who now coaches young lawyers and law students on career and business development issues.  Betsy discussed how lawyers can use online tools in their career development.  You can read the entire transcript here, and I’ve summarized some highlights below.  Bottom line:  many of the popular social networking sites offer educational and enriching resources for lawyers.

Twitter – Obtain News

  • Set up searches for practice area topics
  • Find lawyers and other experts in the field and see who they follow
  • Example: Health lawyers should follow @HealthBlawg – check to see other blogs/users he follows
  • Check your lists/saved searches frequently so you can obtain industry news first and be the first to share such news with a networking contact (i.e., potential employer, potential client, law firm partner, practice group leader)

LinkedIn – Obtain Network Status and Industry Info

  • Search for groups on LinkedIn based on practice area/industries of interest and join those groups
  • Example: Health lawyers may want to search the following terms in the groups directory to find groups to join:  health care reform, fraud and abuse, conflict of interest
  • JD Supra’s Legal Updates on LinkedIn also provides excellent content for practice areas and industries
  • Example: Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge regularly provides insurance/reinsurance content that the insurance industry follows

The Big Picture – Building a Practice

A fourth-year associate at a small firm was looking to develop a peer referral source in a large firm.  He targeted an associate contact at the large firm – an associate who practices in cleantech and biofuels and also blogs weekly about the topics.

The fourth-year associate set up Twitter searches for terms like cleantech and biofuels and began reading the NYT Green Blog daily.  One day he spotted a breaking post and sent it to his target referral source in the big firm.  The big firm associate was thrilled and sent it to her supervising partner who was grateful and impressed.  The big firm associate is now a referral source to the small firm fourth-year associate.

Questions???

If you have additional questions regarding which online tools to use in your practice or job search, feel free to contact Betsy.

Save the Date: The December #LawJobChat is scheduled for December 16 at 9pm EST.  The topic is continuing legal education–working in continuing legal education and speaking at continuing legal education events to advance your career!

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15
Nov 10

Online Tools for Career Management (#LawJobChat No. 5)

What are the best online tools for identifying and learning about practice areas, firms, industries, clients/potential clients?  How are law firms using online tools to offer resources to clients and potential clients?

Join #LawJobChat this Thursday, November 18 at 9pm EST for answers to these questions.  Our guest co-host is Betsy Munnell (@betsymunnell), a former BigLaw partner/rainmaker who now coaches young lawyers and law students on career and business development issues.

Join #LawJobChat on Thursday to tweet your own questions to Betsy.  Or, email your questions to me in advance (amanda@aellislegal.com), and I’ll tweet them to Betsy.

Click here for details about how to participate in a Twitter Chat.  As always, I’ll post the #LawJobChat transcript following the live chat.

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