By Elizabeth Olson, The New York Times

November 30, 2016

Women currently occupy nearly half of all the seats in American law schools, gaining credentials for a professional career once all but reserved for men. But their large presence on campus does not mean women have the same job prospects as men.

More Law Degrees for Women, but Fewer Good Jobs

ADVANCING THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEGAL SUPERSTARS

Presented by:

Manar Morales, President & CEO of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance

Kori Karew, Director of Strategic Diversity Initiatives, Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Kia Scipio, Associate Director, Georgetown University Law Center

We all know students are vying for jobs, but employers are just as competitive with each other to recruit top talent. The needs and wants of this generation are vastly different than the typical recruit 5-10 years ago. Have you adjusted your counseling style and employer outreach to meet the changing needs of your students? Research shows flexibility is a key consideration when students and lawyers are choosing their firms (and when they are deciding to leave). When employers have a flex policy, how is it being messaged and translated during the recruitment process (if at all)? For CSO's, how do you counsel students on navigating flexibility without stigma from a potential employer?

Please join us on Tuesday, November 29 from 1 pm - 2:15 pm EST for the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance's free, national CSO meet and greet call to learn more about who we are, our research and resources, and how we can partner together to help students achieve career success! As a national think tank dedicated to helping organizations create inclusive cultures that leverage diversity and flexibility to attract and retain top talent, we believe in creating connections, and we look forward to meeting you!

In addition to meeting the Alliance, hear from Kori Karew, Director of Strategic Diversity Initiatives, Shook, Hardy & Bacon and Kia Scipio, Associate Director, Georgetown University Law Center as they discuss both the employer and CSO perspectives on how to leverage flexibility for the recruitment and retention of the next generation of superstars!

Contact Eliza Musallam, Director of Member Relations & Outreach, with any questions. Please feel free to forward this invitation to other staff and faculty members of your office and/or organization. This presentation is not open to students.

REGISTER NOW

By: Elizabeth Olson, The New York Times

November 21, 2016

To make partner at a big law firm is to grab a brass ring of prestige, wealth and security.

Now, for some partners, however, that ring is being yanked away.

Wrestling with a difficult market, some big law firms are demoting partners — meaning they are no longer owners in the firm who share in annual profits.

Law Firms, Struggling Financially, Cull Partner Ranks

Call for Nominees for 2017 Officer Positions

Help elect our upcoming leaders! You may nominate any of the newly elected board members for any officer position. Nominated members will be elected during the joint meeting of the 2016/17 Board of Directors.  Elected officers will be announced at the holiday party on Wednesday, December 7.  Nominations will be accepted through Wednesday, November 23.

Click Here to Nominate the 2017 Officers. 

Call for Committee Co-Chair & Committee Members

We are actively seeking co-chairs to lead WALRAA Committees in 2017! The committees include Media & Communications, Mentoring & Networking, Diversity, and Programming. We are also looking for committee members to support the co-chairs in their initiatives. For more information on our committees and the co-chair role, please review the committee descriptions.  

Please complete this brief survey to indicate your interest in a co-chair or committee member position.

By: Julie Brush, The Recorder

November 15, 2016

Q: Recruiters won't work with me because their clients "only want candidates from Top 20 schools." After 15 years of law practice, why does my law school still matter?

A: Historically, the legal profession has embodied one of intellectual elitism. And one of the most common ways employers separated the classes was through the rank of one's law school (and within those institutions, the academic rank of each student). Employers weren't the only ones who used these measuring sticks to cast judgment. Most others did as well: professors, fellow students and lawyers, clients, laypeople, friends and, of course, family members.

Overcoming Credential Bias from Legal Recruiters

By: Jaya Saxena (GW Law) and Kia Scipio (Georgetown Law)

As we move into the time of year where employers are going to be opening up the application processes for diversity scholarships and fellowships, law students will want to know what employers are looking for in a compelling diversity personal statement. Law school career services professionals will also want to know how to advise their students. In an effort to help remove the shroud of mystery around this issue, we are asking both employers and career services employers to complete this very brief survey, the results of which will be shared in the January 2017 NALP Bulletin.

Please click HERE to access the Diversity Personal Statements survey.

Please note that the first section of the survey is for employers. If you click “NEXT” at the bottom of the page, you will be taken to the section for law schools.

Your cooperation is greatly appreciated in this effort.

Communication is critical -- we can’t get from A to B without it. Communication breakdowns stall progress and prevent advancement, collaboration, innovation, and expertise sharing between individuals and groups. Whether in a workplace or in an academic setting, barriers and challenges to effective cross-cultural communication can occur based on our biases, stereotypes and misinformation, both via overt and implicit bias - some of these we can mitigate, some we cannot (e.g. gender, race, age, education, class, style, elocution, presence). What we can all can do is understand how we can level the conversation so everyone is heard regardless of these. This workshop will explore conscious and unconscious biases and how they affect engagements and how we interpret language and behavior (body language) to achieve our final goal of building inclusive environments where everyone can thrive.

The presentation and handouts can be found in the Resource Center.

Recruiting Professionals and IT Professionals interested in leveraging data to drive recruiting strategy.

Click Here To Register

Hosted by:

District Legal Staffing and viDesktop 

Keynote:

Emily Busse, President, District Legal Staffing

Key Topics:

• Defining a recruiting strategy
  
• Providing data points
  
• Evaluating our results

Thu, November 10, 2016 - 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

With OCI finally behind us, join WALRAA and Major, Lindsey & Africa for an evening of revelry and refreshments at Rosa Mexicana on Wednesday, November 2nd from 6:00pm - 8:00pm!

Please RSVP to Sarah Van Steenburgh by Friday, October 28th.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Rachael Bosch, Melissa Forshey & Gary McGinnis

2016 WALRAA Mentoring & Networking Committee Co-Chairs

The 2016 WALRAA Board of Directors is excited to roll out the new Board of Directors Election Process for 2017.

We are now accepting nominations for the 2017 Board of Directors. Nominate a WALRAA colleague or nominate yourself by completing the nomination form. 

Nominations will be accepted through Friday, October 14. Elections will take place via electronic ballot during the first week of November. The 2016 Board will be announced at our Annual Business Meeting on Wednesday, November 16.

We strongly encourage you to nominate yourself or others for a position on the Board. Please feel free to contact any current or past member of the Board for more information on the benefits of Board participation.

For more information regarding the elections please visit the BOD Election page.