11th Annual Informational Career Fair

Career choices keeping you up at night? Get the answers you've been looking for at this year’s Informational Career Fair. Take this opportunity to speak with attorneys practicing in different areas of law about how they got started in their fields and what it is like to practice law on a day-to-day basis. The fair will include attorneys working in a variety of practice areas – including appellate, banking, commercial litigation, corporate, criminal defense, entertainment, immigration, in-house, insurance litigation, intellectual property, international, labor and employment, maritime, media, probate and estate planning, real estate, securities and tax – in small, midsize and large firms; government agencies; and multinational corporations.

What: Eleventh Annual Informational Career Fair

When: 12:30-2:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Where: The Student Lounge

Who will you have an opportunity to meet? Attorneys from many different organizations, such as:

Akerman Senterfitt

American Express

Baker & McKenzie LLP

Burger King Corporation

Carlton Fields, P.A.

Caterpillar Inc.

Discovery Communications LLC

GEICO

Greenberg Traurig, P.A.

Holland & Knight LLP

LexisNexis

Lucas Group

Moore & Co., P.A.

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP

TotalBank

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Why should you attend? You’ll have the opportunity to:

· meet and network with many attorneys

· learn firsthand about various practice areas

· assess your qualifications for and interest in particular practice areas

· sound like an “insider” when meeting with future potential employers

· collect written information on different practice areas

Please direct any questions about the Career Fair to Cristina Ortega.

Solo and Small Firm Interview Program, Orlando, FL

SOLO AND SMALL FIRM INTERVIEW PROGRAM

The General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section (GPSSF) of the Florida Bar cordially invites all law students to participate in the 2009 Solo and Small Firm Interview Program, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 21, 2009 in Orlando, Florida. Registration is free and the deadline is Monday, February 23, 2009. On or shortly after March 1, a list of participating employers will be distributed by e-mail to all registered students and students can then bid for the employers with whom they wish to interview.

To register, you must complete a one-page registration form which is available on the GPSSF website, from your CDO advisor, or the CDO Student Portal. Also available from your advisor and on the portal is a list of economical hotels near the Interview Program site.

The Interview Program is one component of the Solo and Small Firm Annual Conference and students also are encouraged to participate in the Conference, which begins on Friday, March 20 and ends with the Interview Program on the 21st. The Conference will include many programs focused on small firm practice, such as “Managing Your Overhead: How to Operate a Solo or Small Firm and Take Home a Paycheck” and “Managing a Solo or Small Firm and Still Finding Time to Practice Law.” The full-time law student reduced rate is $50. Students interested in attending the conference can obtain a copy of the conference brochure and registration form on the GPSSF website.

For more information, please contact Cristina Ortega.

Summer Public Interest Fellowship Opportunities for UM Law Students

Each year, the University of Miami School of Law provides two fellowship programs for students to work for public interest organizations during the summer:

HOPE Fellows (1L and 2L students)

The HOPE Public Interest Resource Center provides stipends to law students who work in otherwise uncompensated public interest jobs in exchange for a year-commitment to actively serving on the Public Interest Leadership Board. HOPE’s success and growth over the past 10 years is due largely in part to the energy, dedication, and leadership of former and current HOPE Fellows.

HOPE Fellows work with domestic and international public interest agencies & non-governmental organizations to provide much-needed legal advocacy to underserved and marginalized populations. All 1Ls and 2Ls are encouraged to apply.

To learn more about eligibility and program requirements, please view a copy of the fellowship application. You may obtain a copy of the application at the HOPE website or on the CDO Student Portal.

Center for Ethics and Public Service Public Interest Law Summer Fellowship Program (1L students)

The University of Miami School of Law is pleased to announce the 2009 Public Interest Law Summer Fellowship Program. This program is open only to current first-year law students. All 1L students who will begin second-year classes at UM in the Fall of 2009 are eligible to apply.

The Public Interest Law Summer Fellowship Program is specifically designed for students who have a sincere, demonstrated interest in public service work and in providing free legal assistance to the poor. The program is an intensive and serious commitment, involving full-time work at a public interest law office, classroom sessions, and a legal research & writing project.

The program will run for approximately nine weeks. The students selected must be available for the entire program, from orientation through the closing session. The students selected will each receive approximately $3,000-$3,500 as a fellowship stipend, in addition to three (3) academic credits, tuition-free. Approximately 17 public interest student fellows will be selected for the program, contingent on the funding received from the Florida Bar Foundation Interest on Trust accounts grant program and other grant sources.

The topic for the summer program is Public Interest Advocacy for indigent clients. The student fellows will experience firsthand how lawyers can make a significant difference in the lives of indigent clients by representing them in domestic violence, mental health, education, disability, immigration and other proceedings.

Students selected for the program will work 40 hours per week in placements arranged by the Program Directors. All legal work handled by the students will be supervised by attorneys at their respective placements. This summer’s placements are expected (but not guaranteed) to include the University of Miami Children & Youth Law Clinic, University of Miami Community Health Clinic, the Public Defender’s Office, the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Legal Services of Greater Miami, Legal Aid Services of Broward County, and the Legal Aid Society of the Dade County Bar Association. Student fellows will need to be distributed evenly among the placements. Students selected must agree to accept any placement that they are assigned
by the Program Directors.

To learn more, you should attend the information meeting on Thursday, February 19 at 12:30 p.m. in Room E265. You may obtain a copy of the application on the Center For Ethics and Public Service website or on the CDO Student Portal.

Summer 2009 Florida Supreme Court Internship Program

Each summer, students from the Florida law schools are selected to serve as judicial interns to the Florida Supreme Court through the Florida Supreme Court Internship Program for Distinguished Law Students.

To apply for summer 2009 positions, you must pick up an application in the Career Development Office, Room A-112. First and second year students are eligible to apply. The application deadline is Monday, February 23rd.

An information session will be held on Monday, February 16th at 12:30 p.m. in room 108. Former interns will be on hand to answer questions about their experiences at the Supreme Court. The application and selection processes will also be discussed.

Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court Intern Program (Spring 2009)

2L's and 3L's: Are you interested in Interning for a Judge this semester?

The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court program places second and third year students in a direct working relationship with County and Circuit judges in the Civil, Criminal, Juvenile, Family and Domestic Violence Divisions. A minimum of 5-10 hours per week is required. Interns are not permitted to work with any law firm or other legal agency while participating in this program. All students who apply are assigned to a judge.

If interested, please read the following important information:

Application Deadline: Thursday, January 22, 2009

Mandatory Intern Orientation: Tuesday, January 27, 2009, Rm. A110, 5:30 p.m.

Internships Begin: Monday, February 2, 2009

Internships End: Thursday, April 2, 2009

Quick Facts

Your application consists of the following documents: (1) page one of the application form (see below for how to obtain an application); (2) your resume; (3) a short writing sample (5-7 pages).

You may submit a hard copy of your application to the Career Development Office, Room A112 or an electronic copy to npierrelouis@law.miami.edu. Copies of the application are available on the CDO Student Portal, under the "Judicial" folder. To access the Student Portal, you must log in using your UM law email address and password.

All students who apply are assigned a judge.

You must devote a minimum of 5-10 hours a week to the internship.

Applicants should not have any outstanding applications to law firms or other legal employers. According to the rules of the program, you are not allowed to work for a firm or any legal entity while completing the internship.

Once you apply and are assigned a judge, you are obligated to accept the internship. If you are unsure about a possible offer from a firm, please do not apply to the internship program this semester.

This is NOT a summer internship program.

This is NOT a paid internship.

No class credit will be offered.

By accepting this internship you are representing the University of Miami School of Law and it is important to follow through with your commitment to the internship for the entire 8 weeks of the program.

If you have any questions about the program, please contact the Career Development Office (305-284-2668).

Wal-Mart Legal Department Summer Internship Program

Wal-Mart's Legal Department welcomes first and second year law students to submit applications for the Wal-Mart Legal Department's 2009 Summer Internship program to be held in Bentonville, Arkansas from May 18, 2009 – August 7, 2009.

The 12-week program is designed to expose law students to legal issues in a corporate retail setting and to enhance practical understanding of the law. Projects will include providing research and analysis, writing and drafting reports and other documents, and attending meetings with in-house attorneys and internal business clients in the assigned practice areas.
Interested students should apply online at http://walmartstores.com/Careers/8139.aspx?p=7745 (select the green "Search for a position" button and locate the job posting by using the "detailed search" option and keying in Job ID: 27673).

Wal-Mart will begin to review applications in February and offers will be extended no later than March 23, 2009.

Panel Discussion on Marketing Yourself in Today's Economy

The Florida Bar Young Lawyer Division's Law Student Division Presents:

A Panel Discussion on Marketing Yourself in Today's Economy


at this year's Florida Bar Mid-Year Meeting

Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 3:30 p.m.


Hyatt Regency
400 S.E. 2nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33131



Reception to follow. Admission is free for law students.

The Career Development Office invites you to attend the following presentation:


“Choosing Smart: Tips for Finding a Job in Tough Economic Times”
presented by Donna Gerson

Wednesday, January 14th
12:30 p.m.
Room 352.

An engaging speaker, Ms. Gerson is the author of an award-winning column for Student Lawyer magazine, which focuses on career issues in the legal profession.