News From the Dean

October 22, 2009

Dear Alumni,

The Class of 2009 faces a difficult economic climate.  Although the legal job market has not completely evaporated, there are fewer employment opportunities throughout the country.  

What are we doing to help these graduates?  Given that this is one of the worst legal job markets we have seen, we are taking a broad, aggressive approach in assisting our 2009 graduates.  Last month, the Career Services Department launched a “Graduate Fellows Program.”  This six-week, four nights a week program – which is open to every member of the class of 2009 – is designed to build and enhance vital legal skills, including advanced legal research, writing, and communication skills.  It is also designed to introduce our new graduates to many of the skills that are important to new lawyers.  Several sessions have focused on the job search itself, including a session called “Networking for Introverts.”  

To be sure, we cannot replicate the experience our students will gain in their first post-graduate legal job.  Nonetheless, we are striving to help them develop skills that they can offer to an employer at an enhanced level.  The program is being offered at no cost to the graduates and at no cost to the Law School, as all the instruction is being donated by Law School staff (Libby Davis ‘93, Tami Gierloff, Ellen Jones ‘91 and Bill Penn ‘02) and by local attorneys and judges.  Participants will receive a “Graduate Fellows Program” certificate upon completion of the final session.

In addition, the Career Services Department is working closely with each graduate to assist him or her in finding some type of immediate post-graduate legal experience, whether it is contract legal work or volunteer service.  To this end, we are actively promoting the “Ad Hoc” Contract Legal Services Program, a program Career Services has offered for many years.  If you can use assistance with document review or a legal research or writing project, please contact Career Services (lscs@lclark.edu) so that we can connect you with a recent graduate through this program.  If you work in a legal non-profit or government agency and are interested in accepting a volunteer, please contact Libby Davis, Associate Dean for Career Services & Alumni Relations, directly (eadavis@lclark.edu), and she will promote the opportunity to our graduates immediately.

I would like to thank the members of the Career Services team and Tami Geirloff, Assistant Dean of the Boley Law Library, for their efforts on behalf of our graduates.  I hope that our graduates will take advantage of the resources available at the Law School.  

Here’s to a better legal job market in the years to come!

Warm regards.

Sincerely,

Bob Klonoff
Dean & Professor of Law