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Career Development

The Career Development Office is a highly productive and dynamic part of the law school and the legal community. The staff includes experienced attorney-counselors, one of whom focuses entirely on public interest career options.

Career Planning
Career planning for law students has two components, both equally important. The first component involves each student learning what types of opportunities exist, are attractive, and are compatible with the student's talents, work style and lifestyle. The second component is targeting specific employers and conducting the job search. The Career Development staff and resources offer assistance and support with both components.

Through individual career counseling, speaker programs, and library resources, the Career Development Office assists students in exploring a variety of legal career options—both traditional and nontraditional—and in determining the best methods for pursuing those options.

Employment for First-Year Students
Pursuant to NALP (National Association for Legal Career Professionals) rules, first-year students and potential employers cannot be in contact with each other prior to December 1st. First-year students can begin to see career counselors after November 1st. Most first-year students become actively involved in the job search process in the spring semester. Beginning in November and continuing through the spring semester, the office provides career-oriented programs for first-year students. Firms that employ first-year students for summer positions will solicit student resumes; other employers participate in a spring on-campus recruiting program.

First-Year Programs
Some of the special career programs you can look forward to next fall if you decide to come here are:

• Career programs especially tailored to the needs of first-year law students. The programs are presented both by Career Development staff and by attorneys from the whole spectrum of law practice who offer information and practical advice on careers in law and opportunities for the first-year student.
• Mock interviews conducted by volunteer practicing attorneys, often Boalt Hall alumni, to help students develop or refine their job interview skills.
• Career workshops featuring attorneys discussing opportunities and job search techniques.

Career Programs
The Career Development Office also sponsors numerous programs held throughout the year on such topics as: resumé and interviewing skills, employment opportunities and job search techniques for the public and private sectors, and diversity in the legal profession. The office also sponsors career presentations in which Boalt Hall alumni and other practitioners discuss their experiences in a large variety of legal practice areas.

Recruitment Program
An extensive recruitment program, including on-campus employer interviews, is held in the fall and spring of each year. In the fall and spring semesters the office offers mock interview programs where students are taught interviewing skills through simulated job interviews conducted and evaluated by practicing attorneys.

During fall 2006, representatives from more than 300 law firms, corporations and government agencies interviewed second- and third-year students for summer and permanent employment. While the majority of these employers came from California, employers from New York, Washington, D.C., and other cities around the United States, Europe and Asia were also represented. In addition to these on-campus recruiters, many other employers regularly solicit resumés from students to fill their hiring needs each year. The majority of Boalt Hall students come from California and also work in California upon graduation.

Public Interest Employment
The law school is committed to encouraging students to pursue public-interest employment. A career counselor is available full-time to counsel students primarily interested in public-interest or public-sector employment. Each semester, the office hosts a major event focused on public interest careers. In the fall, 40-60 employers attend the Public Interest/Public Sector Reception and Table Talk session.

Annually, Boalt Hall, along with the eight other Northern California law schools and the Public Interest Clearinghouse, co-sponsors the annual Public Interest/Public Sector Legal Careers Day. Typically more than 100 public interest organizations and state and federal government agencies participate in this event to inform students and graduates of the nature of their work and of immediate or future employment opportunities. This event provides an excellent opportunity for students to establish contacts with public-interest employers in the Bay Area. Throughout the year the office, in association with student organizations, presents career programs focused on issues concerning public-interest and public-sector employment, including sessions on summer and postgraduate fellowships, judicial clerkships, international human rights work, and much more.

The office also recruits and matches practicing government and public-interest attorneys with students in its Public Interest/Social Justice Mentor Program. Each year nearly 50 first-year students are matched with practitioners who provide a realistic and practical resource for students. Students attend hearings, depositions, and negotiations, discovering what a day in the life of a public interest attorney can involve. Mentors also are available to answer career-related questions and provide networking contacts for students.

Boalt is a member school in the Public Service Law Network (PSLawNet). PSLawNet is an innovative, national resource which helps law students across the country find public interest positions with public interest organizations, government agencies, judges, and private firms with public interest or significant pro bono practices.

Summer Fellowships for Public Service
As part of our mission as a great public law school, Boalt is eager for a large number of our students to experience public interest/public service lawyering. This includes making it financially feasible for every student pursuing a JD degree at Berkeley to do summer public interest/public service legal work. For Summer 2007, fellowship funding is available through the Boalt Hall Summer Fellowship Program, which provides up to $4,000 of funding to all JD students who request the support and meet the program requirements, which include, among other things, at least 25 hours of public service or pro bono work during the year preceding your application for the funding.

Career Resources
The Career Development Library contains a comprehensive collection of audio and videotapes, directories, periodicals, and other resources about the legal profession, covering topics such as employers’ hiring practices, salaries, gender and minority demographics, benefits, etc. Information on judicial clerkships, state and federal government agencies, graduate programs and fellowships, public interest law organizations and teaching opportunities are available. The office now maintains current job listings for students and alumni in an extensive online database.