Posted by Corey on 1/13/10

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Hello All,
I’m a 2L from William and Mary Law School, passing along a
great summer opportunity for those of you (us) who may be
struggling with this job market.

Simply put, the Center for Legal and Courtroom Technology at
WM (FULL DISCLOSURE: I work for CLCT as part of my
fellowship) is offering a legal technology summer school
program.

I know we’re all hoping for the perfect job, and I know
there’s a lot of great summer programs out there, but I
wanted to pass this along because it’s the sort of thing
that looks great on a resume and can be uniquely attractive
to employers.

A few things (in outline form, because I’m in full
exam-prep-mode) about the program it’s good to know:

1.) Technology is getting HUGE in the legal community, so
this sort of experience is helpful on a number of employment
fronts:

a.) EMPLOYERS LOVE IT: I've been on a bunch of interviews
this fall and EVERYONE I've talked to has asked about my
work with CLCT, and expressed that their firm is lagging
behind in one technology area or another.

b.) STANDS OUT ON RESUME: We’ve all been told that the key
to 1L summer is getting “something legal” on your resume;
this is the sort of thing that no one else has, and the sort
of things employers WANT.

c.) EASY to TALK ABOUT IN INTERVIEWS: since most attorneys
lag behind on technology, some expertise can be very
impressive. And if you happen to interview with someone who
knows technology, they’ll be even more impressed because
CLCT is the top dog in terms of legal technology nationwide.

2.) Academically it’s pretty solid too:

a.) UNIQUE COURSES: This is the rare experience that isn’t
being shared by 100,000 law students across the country- we
all take the exact same 6 courses the first year (and 2/3 of
my classes my first 2L semester are also pretty
standard)—this is a chance to get some academic credit in
areas that no one else has any background in.

b.) SMALL CLASSES/GREAT PROFS: CLCT does some really
cutting-edge stuff involving international law and advanced
courtroom technology. The courses touch on some of that, but
more importantly, you’ll be working closely with professors
who are tapped into some major legal communities
(translation: great outside-the-box networking opportunity)

c.) RELEVANCE: the courses are relevant- much more so than,
dare I say, Torts or Crim Pro- I took an online course re:
metadata (identifying data hidden in electronic information)
and am already seeing all sorts of applications where, in
today's job market, I can really stand out.

3.) Williamsburg (home of WM) isn't the most exciting town,
but it's great in the summer, close to some fantastic
beaches, and really the cradle of legal education in this
country. I had a guy who did summer school last year tell me
that the historic reputation at WM alone was worth doing the
program in terms of job searches.

4.) the program is short, 4 weeks long, so you can do a
part-summer job and still come down (or up if you're further
south) to Billsburg and get some great experience (a lot of
folks did this last summer)

Anyway, it's a lot of information, and like I said above, I
know there are lots of good programs out there and I wish
everyone the best finding the right opportunity for next summer.

If anyone has any interest in learning more, feel free to
drop me an email at cmpreston@wm.edu.
Here's the CLCT website if you want to check us out:
www.legaltechcenter.net (add /summer to go straight to the
summer program page)

Thanks for reading if you've stuck around, and I hope to
hear from you.
-Corey Preston
2L, William and Mary Law

Great legal alternative for 1L's this summer..., 1/13/10, by Corey.

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