Legal Career Center Debuts
On Nov. 1 the State Bar launched an online legal
career center on WisBar.
by George C. Brown,
State Bar executive director
THE STATE BAR HOSTS RECEPTIONS FOR NEWLY sworn-in lawyers and
their families. Most of the new State Bar members are young, recent
graduates of the U.W. or Marquette University law schools. A few of the
new members are older - either returning students or experienced lawyers
from other states who have recently passed the Wisconsin bar exam.
These Admissions Receptions are joyous times. New lawyers are looking
toward a bright, prosperous future in their chosen profession; parents
can once again save for retirement.
Whenever I participate in these receptions, small talk inevitably
turns to the question of the new lawyers' employment. Lately, however,
I've stopped asking that question. Too frequently, the response has
been, "I'm still looking," followed by an awkward silence.
A few months ago, State Bar President Gerry Mowris, I, and several
State Bar staff met with the leadership of WALA - the Wisconsin
Association of Legal Administrators. We meet annually to review how best
our organizations can work together to benefit our members. Every member
of the WALA leadership expressed concern over the difficulty in hiring
qualified staff, particularly legal secretaries. The paucity of
qualified legal secretaries, or support staff who could be trained as
legal secretaries, is a tremendous challenge in many law offices,
whether in private, government, or corporate practice.
In these situations, the question that occurs to every association
executive is, "How can we help to bring employers and job seekers
together?" A decade or so ago the State Bar closed down a little-used
job bank program that had not functioned properly for years. It didn't
seem wise to try to recreate that same limited system, even if it
included other legal professionals, such as paralegals or legal
secretaries. Enter Legalstaff.com.
Legal Career Center. On Nov. 1, the State Bar
launched an online Legal Career Center on WisBar, the State Bar Web
site, in partnership with Legalstaff.com, the largest national
legal-only job and resume site. The site lists nearly 3,500 job openings
for lawyers, paralegals, legal administrators, and legal secretaries.
Employers and agencies can post job openings for a fee, but job seekers
can confidentially search the local or national database for free.
Employment-related resources also are available on the site, including
sample contracts, letters, resumes, and interviewing tips. Applicants
can even post their confidential resume online for employers to
review.
Wisconsin Lawyer
