CBA Record May-June 2022

YOUNG L AWYERS S EC T I ON : COME TOGE THER

Law students can hone their research, writing, and communication skills in multiple ways during school. Practi cal experiences through a law school’s clinic and externship offerings are a good way to develop these skills. Publications through one of the law school’s jour nals, the CBA Blog, or the CBA Record (which requires co-authoring with a practicing attorney) are other solid ways to develop a student’s core skills on a particular legal area of interest. A less conventional way to advance your com munication skills is through community involvement, such as participating in the YLS Wills for Heroes program, the Edward J. Lewis II Lawyers in the Class room Program, and many more offered by the CBA and other bar associations. The idea behind tip #2 is to amass enough experiences during law school that show a commitment to research, writing, and communication. Since a great deal of time spent practicing law as a young attor ney involves researching issues, writing assignments, and communicating ideas, developing these skills during law school greatly helps with landing a job afterwards. Some hot areas of legal employment today require a degree of specialization. For example, according to an article published by Georgetown Law, intel lectual property, tax, real estate, ERISA, and bankruptcy law are in high demand in Chicago. Each of these areas of law also requires some foundational or background knowledge to enter the industry and to succeed within it. Law students interested in a special ized area of law can greatly help their chances of landing a job when – on top of applying tips #1 and #2 above – they take several courses in that area. For example, if a student is interested in tax law, but is not a CPA and does not have any background in account ing or economics, then they should take courses in federal income taxation, Tip #3: Use Classes to Bui ld a Specialty

finance for lawyers, and as many busi ness- and tax-related courses as possible. The takeaway for tip #3 is, if you are interested in specialization, estab lish a foundation in a specialized area of law through positive experiences with courses in that area. Because certain areas of law require some baseline knowl edge to enter that practice area, taking as many courses as possible to obtain that knowledge goes a long way in help ing secure a job within that area of law. HowYou Can Start Now In summary, remember that the legal industry is fundamentally a ser vices industry that runs on relation ships, reputation, and quality of work. Current and future lawyers show up to law school, YLS, and CBA func tions specifically to build, maintain, or expand their industry relationships. The YLS Meet the Committees Night, YLS Spring into Service Event, and YLS Law Student Career Immersion Mentoring Program are just a few of the functions where students can start building rela tionships and a reputation with practic ing lawyers that can help to land a job.

Ted Kontopoulos is a Co-Editor in-Chief of the YLS Journal in the CBA Record, a Chair on the YLS Business Law Transactions Committee, a Vice Chair on the YLS Federal Taxation Com

mittee, and a senior international tax consultant at BKD, LLP. Ted and Alex are siblings and the first lawyers in their large, extended family (which include 30+ cousins).

Alex Kontopoulos is a litigation associate in the Chicago office of Winston & Strawn, LLP.

Interested in getting involved in the Young Lawyers Section or writing for the blog or CBA Record? Send an email of interest to yls@chicagobar.org.

YLSChairTracyBrammeier andYLSMember ServicesManager KennyMatuszewski appeared on Fox 32 ChicagoNews to recruit attorneys for a little friendly competi tion at the Section’s Most Fit Lawyer Competition taking place on May 19. Event proceeds benefit the CBA Lawyers in the Classroom program.

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