100 x J.D: Connected Lawyers are Happy Lawyers

1. 100 x J.D: Connected Lawyers are Happy Lawyers Lew W. Cramer, President & CEO Utah World Trade Center Eileen Doyle Crane, Prelaw Advisor Utah Valley University

2. Role of Networking in Career • Career satisfaction • Increases likelihood of getting a job • Process by which lawyers develop clients • Way to progress towards partnership, for those in law firms • Leads to leadership opportunities, for those in other, not-directly-legal environments

3. Where to Start • Fill out form that has been provided • Have an open mind to the best career path • Research the possibilities • Determine your interests • Breakdown your interests into the ovbious parts • Discover who is doing what you’re interested in doing • Set goals and create a timeline for yourself

4. 100 x JD Primary Goal For law students to meet 100 lawyers by the time they graduate from law school

5. 100 x JD Secondary Goals • To help law students create a personal AND professional safety net • To decrease the likelihood that future lawyers will avoid some of the problems that most professionals in highly stressed situations often experience, such as: • Depression • Divorce • Alcoholism • Suicide • Malpractice

6. Lew’s Story • Here’s where you tell your favorite networking story • Example of how it has worked for you • Ways in which it informs your current position • Ways in which it helped you in law practice

7. How to Build Your Network • Contact an attorney • Offer to take him/her to lunch, breakfast, meet at their office or somewhere mutually agreeable to discuss law as a profession • Respect the time and place requirements of the lawyer • Pay for the lawyer’s meal (most will not let a student pay for their meal and will offer pay for both) • Ask specific questions (see Lawyer Interview on website) • Ask for the name of two other attorneys that might be helpful to learn from or meet

8. How to Build Your Network • Contact each of the two other attorneys • Invite each to lunch, breakfast, as above • Ask specific questions about the profession • Ask for names of two other attorneys to meet • Write/email/call the 1st attorney, thank him/her for the referral, and share what was learned in subsequent interviews • Continue till you have met 100 attorneys • Collect and file business cards as well as create and share one’s own card; write notes on the back of details that will help you remember something about this particular person

9. Bad Networking • Insert You Tube Video here

10. Anticipated Results • Students will : • have met and gotten to know lawyers working in a variety of legal settings • adjust a media-driven perception of law practice to a more realistic perception of day-to-day law practice • will meet professionals doing other things, if they are not intending to follow a traditional law practice • identify a potential mentor from among the many people they have met who will take a personal interest in the student’s professional progression

11. Risks of Inaction • Lower career satisfaction • Fewer contacts for professional support • Increased isolation in the practice • Career placement challenges • Exposure to fewer non-traditional placement opportunities, if student decides not to practice law • Difficulty or inability to repay school loans if un-, under-, or inappropriately employed

12. Mentors & Sponsors • Among those 100 lawyers you meet, you need to find mentors and sponsors • Mentor • Someone who is willing to take an interest in you, your work, and your professional progression • Teaches you how to navigate professional life and challenges • Sponsor • Someone who is willing to not only take an interest in you, but who is also willing to promote you to his/her friends and put their own reputation on the line in the process

13. Time to Practice • Now • Separate form into five parts • Share your forms with 5 other law students who you do not already know • During Conference • Write down same information on paper • Decide to meet at least 5 attorneys you do not already know • Make a post-conference appointment for a date or phone call • BEGIN TO BUILD & EXPAND YOUR NETWORK! • After Conference • Check out additional networking ideas and tips at: www.uvu.edu/prelaw/forms