anyone know any lawyers in the st. louis area?

[legally blonde]

I recently graduated from SLU law and am looking for a job. I'm doing everything I can to network with anyone who knows an attorney interested in hiring a new grad. I'm mostly interested in criminal defense and family law, but a general practice (including estate planning and tort claims) would also be interesting.

Any information, tips, or even job searching advice would be greatly appreciated! :hi:

[SheilaT]

1. Did you do an internship

or whatever the equivalent is for an attorney?

I graduated paralegal school back in December and got lucky and found a job with a wonderful attorney who does civil rights and personal injury stuff. Sadly for you he's not only happy as a solo practitioner but in the Kansas City rather than St. Louis area.

Talk to some of your professors. They'll know what firms do the kind of work you're interested in.

I can tell you this, based on my six months as a paralegal: There's an endless need for the legal profession, and if you can afford to rent office space somewhere and an answering machine and run an ad in the local newspaper for six weeks (not to mention your Yellow Pages listing) you'll soon have as much business as you can handle.

I think that the conventional wisdom is to go with a big law firm at first, and a lot depends on what your loan situation is.

As for criminal defense, does the local DA's office need defense attorneys? They usually do, from what I understand, but the pay isn't wonderful. Or go to your local law library and read through the local bar associations lists of law firms.

Good luck to you. Finding that first job is always tough. I know how incredibly lucky I was to get hooked up with my attorney. It happened because I was telling everyone I knew that I was looking for work, and a friend said she'd send my resume off to a couple of lawyers she knew, and my guy happened to have relocated his office and needed a new assistant.

Job searches can be frustrating, so don't give up hope.

[legally blonde]

2. I did two summer internships

with the public defender's office. Ideally, I would love to work for them. I've been contacting some old professors and bosses about anyone they might know who I can send my resume to. I just started my job search (I took the bar two weeks ago) so I'm trying not to get overwhelmed and frustrated just yet. It's highly likely that I won't get a job until after bar results (which isn't until Oct. 4). However, it's hard not to be anxious.
Thanks for your advice. Hopefully I'll find something soon.
:) LB

[SheilaT]

3. Pulling together your resume

is probably the most important thing you can do at this point.

Does your law school have a placement office you can work with? I found my junior college to be enormously helpful in that area. In my case, because I hadn't had regular paid employment for a long time I needed a lot of help with my resume. Yours should be a lot more straightforward.

I had applied with about four different temp agencies, and one kept on leaving me messages on my phone, and by the time I'd get back to them they'd already filled the job. Originally I thought I'd want to try a series of temp jobs to see what kind of law I wanted to do. I'm extremely happy with what I've wound up with, although I'm sure that at some point I'll want a change. Maybe, maybe not who knows.

I do know how frustrating it can be, and how easily you can start thinking no one will ever hire you. In my case because I graduated in December, I knew there was no point in a real job search until the holidays were over. With you, it's the results from the bar exam. Hopefully you can get your resume out there in the meanwhile.

Best of luck to you.

[legally blonde]

4. Thanks SheilaT

I've been revising my resume (which needed a little tweaking) and my cover letter (which needs a lot of help). I have been working with career services at my school. But, sometimes the best way to get a job is all about who you know.