The CDO at NALP 2017
Building Knowledge // Educating Others // Cultivating Relationships
Over 1,500 legal recruiting professionals descended upon Union Square in San Francisco from April 18-22 for the 2017 NALP Annual Education Conference. NALP, the National Association for Law Placement, is an association of legal career professionals who advise law students and lawyers and help ensure a fair and ethical hiring process for those involved. The Annual Education Conference is the largest educational program in the legal recruiting industry and provides an opportunity for legal employers and law school career services offices to network with each other as well as learn about best practices and discuss changes and innovations in the legal industry.
Assistant Dean Terrence Galligan with co-panelists from Fenwick & West and Reed Smith.
The Berkeley Law Career Development Office (CDO) was well represented at this year’s Annual Conference. In addition to attending programs, the CDO staff spoke on ten different panels across a variety of topics.
Assistant Dean Terrence Galligan, who served as NALP President from 2014-2015, presented on a panel discussing ways to engage introverts in school and law firm programs. Eric Stern, who advises on public sector careers and clerkships, co-presented three programs this year. His panels included how to support first generation professionals, how to enter government service through JD preferred positions, and how to find hidden clerkship opportunities.
Public Interest counselors Melanie Rowen and Alex Lee presented two programs each during this year’s conference. Melanie presented on a panel discussing ways to support students experiencing bias, and another panel providing practical steps to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for transgender and gender non-conforming students and employees. Alex presented on a panel featuring tips for writing public interest fellowships, and on another panel on ways to support and advise student activists.
Private Sector counselors Minji Kim and Valerie Castelo were first-time speakers at this year’s conference. Minji’s panel focused on the counseling and recruitment of international JDs during on-campus interview programs while Valerie presented on a panel discussing the use of social media to recruit law students.
To prepare for the programs, the CDO team collaborated with several legal employers and various law school career services offices. These included Davis Polk & Wardwell, Fenwick & West, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, K&L Gates, Hirschfeld Kraemer, Paul Hastings, Reed Smith, Duke, Fordham, Georgetown, Harvard, Hofstra, New York, Penn State, University of Baltimore, UC Hastings, UCLA Law, University of Iowa, USF, and USC.
In addition, CDO Recruitment Manager and long-time NALP member Marty Grenhart completed her term on this year’s Nomination Committee. As part of the committee, she helped evaluate and select candidates for the incoming leadership of NALP.
The talented CDO team was proud to represent Berkeley Law at the conference and looks forward to incorporating the ideas and best practices they learned into their counseling and programs for Berkeley Law students and alums.
May 2017