Law Student Research Corner: Career Resources
Welcome to the Law Student Research Corner! This is a resource created by law students, for law students. I’m a 3L at King Hall, and periodically I’ll highlight a legal research tool you might not know about. My goal is to share practical strategies you can use in your classes, summer jobs, and beyond.
This week’s post is about jobs! How to find them, how to prepare for interviews, the best places for a diverse student to work, how to get the scoop on a firm or judge, and more. Lexis+ has a fully equipped “Interview and Career Corner” with all sorts of helpful links, and Bloomberg Law has a “Career Resources” page you should know about. I will show you how to find them both, and highlight some of the tools found inside.
Lexis+ Law School Career Section: How to Find It
As always, start by logging in to Lexis+. On the right-hand side of the home page, towards the bottom, you’ll see a section called Tools and Resources. The second-to-last link is to Law School Resources. Click on that.
Then, under Law Schools, there is a section for Career. Click there.
And there you go! You’ve arrived at the Interview & Career Corner. Here you will find all sorts of handy links that will help guide you in selecting organizations you might like to work for and landing that job offer. There are a few different sections, including Upgrade Your Applications, Win the Interview, and Prepare for Public Interest Practice.
The one I want to highlight is the Find the Best Big Law Fit, specifically the link that says Diversity Snapshot.
Click there (and make sure you aren’t blocking pop-ups like I was), and you’ll be taken to a page for Law360 Pulse’s annual Diversity Snapshot. Among the links available is a list of firms, sorted by size, scored by how diverse they are. If you are like me, you want whatever organization you ultimately join after law school to be open and welcoming to people of all backgrounds. This is a great way to see where you might find the best fit for you.
Bloomberg Law’s Career Resources: How to Find It
Start at the Bloomberg Law home page. Scroll down until you see the section called Top Picks from Your Practice Areas. You will either see a box labeled Career Resources, or click on the Go to BLAW Skills Center and find Career Resources there.
Just like in Lexis, once you locate the “Career Resources” page, you'll find a wide range of tools to explore. These include People Search, a directory where you can look up profiles for attorneys and judges; Dockets and Litigation Analytics, which let you research a firm or judge’s current and past litigation trends; and many more resources designed to help you research employers and prepare for interviews.
The section I want to highlight is in the bottom right under “Career Advice,” specifically the article on “Asking About Work/Life Balance.”
Recently, I interviewed for a job at a law firm. At one point, they asked me if I had any questions for them. Balance between work and the rest of my life is important, so I asked my interviewers about that. I immediately felt them get nervous, and I wasn’t sure why.
This article explained that asking about work/life balance is something you do after you get the offer, not during the interview. Asking too early can signal to the potential employer that you are trying to get out of long work hours, even before you have the job. This was a helpful tip for me, and is just one of the links you’ll find here in Bloomberg Law's Career Resources page.
If you don’t have a login, are having trouble accessing Lexis or Bloomberg Law, or have any questions about the resources mentioned in this post, feel free to contact a reference librarian at lawlibref@ucdavis.edu and they will be happy to help you.