careers

Mentors: Who Needs ‘Em? (Hint: You)

/ Seung Hye Yang / Leave a comment

Being a law student means you’re constantly feeling like you’re missing something, feeling like you have something due in a week or a final looming over the horizon of the semester. And when everything is so chaotic, it’s easy to forget that your legal career will consist of much more than the grade you get on your torts final.

As a 3L looking back on my law school journey, one thing I never knew would be so integral in my career development was mentorship. For 1L me, mentorship was merely a buzzword that was thrown around with no actual instructions on how to cultivate such a relationship. In fact, when you’re a 1L, you don’t really have the luxury to think about anything other than briefing cases for the next day—and therefore, I believed mentorship to be a chore, an extracurricular on top of everything else I had to do. I never anticipated that it would be one of my favorite parts of the legal journey.

Continue reading →

1L Interviews: How to Sell Your Story in 20 Minutes or Less

/ Alex Mostaghimi / Leave a comment

The most industrious Common Poorwill, a nocturnal bird native to North America, will only hibernate for one month before once again starting its daily habit of hunting moths, grasshoppers, and beetles. So too does the North American law student awaken from their month-long winter break to re-initiate their habits of daily readings, writings, and cold-calls. But the inexperienced 1L also faces a peculiar challenge upon their return: the law school interview.  

Just as the prudent squirrel buries nuts for the winter, the thoughtful law student heeds the call of their Career Services Office to send out applications before winter break. Similar to the forgetful squirrel’s nut budding into a strong oak, the forgetful law student’s application can turn into a fruitful 20-minute interview. However, how much ground can be covered in 20 minutes? How simple is it to sell yourself as a professional in an industry you’ve only formally joined three months ago?

Continue reading →

I Used to Be Normal. Then I Went to Law School

/ Michael Deere / 1 Comment

I used to be normal. With normal ideas about normal things. You know, everyday stuff. I knew that only people could be people. I knew that property divided broadly into “houses and similar,” “cars and similar,” and “other.” I understood the Constitution. And I didn’t have this recurring dream where I’m waiting for a train and fireworks are going off, but instead of pinwheel lights and colorful explosions, the fireworks spell out “No Liability Without Fault.” The law (and lawyers…) was something best left alone unless absolutely necessary, and when it was necessary, I imagined it looked a lot like Judge Judy’s courtroom. It was a simpler time, with simple ideas and dreamless sleep.

Then I started law school.

Continue reading →

Get to Know the CSO: Michelle Grossfield

/ Tess Halpern / Leave a comment

A career services advisor can be an amazing resource in law school as you navigate OCI, externships, clerkship applications, and more. However, it’s important that you find the advisor who can best help you reach your personal goals! To do so, follow along with this new series to learn about each CSO advisor at Boston College Law School. Here is our interview with Michelle Grossfield.

What was your path to the CSO, and why did you choose to go into career advising?

After law school, I practiced child welfare law at the public defender’s office in Massachusetts. It was an incredibly rewarding and challenging experience to represent children, families, and legal guardians in the Juvenile and Probate and Family courts in Plymouth and Worcester counties. The stakes in care and protection matters are incredibly high for families, given the fact that parental rights can be terminated, and parents may have no ability for future contact during a child’s upbringing. I was fortunate to have excellent mentors, colleagues, and training early on in my career, and was honored to advocate for the children, mothers, fathers, and parental figures appointed to me as they navigated incredible societal barriers and multiple complex systems.

Continue reading →

Get to Know the CSO: Dorothy Commons

/ Tess Halpern / Leave a comment

A career services advisor can be an amazing resource in law school as you navigate OCI, externships, clerkship applications, and more. However, it’s important that you find the advisor who can best help you reach your personal goals! To do so, follow along with this new series to learn about each CSO advisor at Boston College Law School. Here is our interview with Dorothy Commons.

What’s the best piece of career advice you can offer students?

Believe in yourself and embrace a growth mindset. As an advisor, I often browse through LinkedIn to identify alums who are in certain practice areas or settings, and while doing so, I come across many who I worked with when they were law students. This has become a fun practice, because our alums are doing some really cool things with their careers — which should be no surprise because, like you, they are smart people who went to a great law school! I often notice that many are in very different positions from the first ones they had, and some have pivoted a few times. I know some started with what they thought was their dream job, and others began in positions they knew they would move on from. The common thread here is that they worked hard, remained curious, believed in themselves, and moved forward. 

All the stresses of law school can, at times, make some students doubt themselves, and the stress of any job search is real. But please remember that you are here for a reason. Believing in yourself, putting yourself out there again and again, and reflecting on your experiences will help you learn, grow, and find opportunities. 

Continue reading →

A Note to Public Interest-Minded Students

/ Haley Cole / Leave a comment

Entering law school with a focus on public interest can be a daunting process, especially at a school where the majority of students end up going into Big Law. You may have started school with the conviction that public interest was your calling – but what does it mean to engage in that kind of work? 

The diversity of paths within the public interest field can provide some comfort, but it can be overwhelming to navigate law school without a clear understanding of what this work really entails. It’s challenging to stay steadfast in your public interest passions when the first year of law school emphasizes concrete doctrinal teachings and does not elaborate on the abstract idea of what it is to be a lawyer. If you’ve found yourself questioning your goals or feeling lost on how to explore the broad field of public interest work, I want to offer some advice. 

Continue reading →

Embracing the Process

/ Justin Sells / Leave a comment

As 1L year advances, I find myself asking this question more and more: “What type of lawyer do I want to be?” Speaking to many of my peers, I am relieved to know that I am not alone in experiencing this repetitive self-inquiry—they too ask themselves this question almost daily. Though to be clear, by “type of lawyer,” I am not merely referring to a specific area of practice, but also to the values that I see myself striving to uphold as a practicing attorney. In attempting to answer this question, I tend to reflect on the emphasis that my professors place on applying a critical perspective to the cases and issues we explore both in class and in everyday life. Our job as lawyers in training, so it seems, is not just to understand the letter of the law, but also to understand the motivating forces behind the law, the law’s impact on the judicial process, and the law’s impact on society at large. Why did the court rule the way it did? What are the societal implications of the court’s ruling? Does the ruling complement or negate public policy? How should the court have ruled? 

Continue reading →

4 Ways to Stay in Touch With Your Summer Mentors

/ Tess Halpern / Leave a comment

While interning at a law firm, nonprofit organization, or government agency last summer, you likely found some professionals who you really clicked with. Maybe they were your direct supervisors, or maybe they were just attorneys with positions or career paths that really spoke to you. Either way, it’s important that you don’t let the busy school season prevent you from maintaining the relationships you cultivated just a few months ago. To make sure you aren’t forgotten by your mentors, follow these four tips.

Continue reading →

Get to Know the CSO: Naomi Bass

/ Tess Halpern / Leave a comment

A career services advisor can be an amazing resource in law school as you navigate OCI, externships, clerkship applications, and more. However, it’s important that you find the advisor who can best help you reach your personal goals! To do so, follow along with this new series to learn about each CSO advisor at Boston College Law School. Next up is the Associate Director of Career Services, Naomi Bass.

What is your role in the CSO?

Since 2021, I have been an Associate Director in the CSO. My role includes advising JD students about career options and decisions at all stages of their law school experience. Our team collaborates to create and deliver professional development programs, conduct mock interviews, review application materials, and engage with BC Law alumni on a range of programs to support our students on their career journeys.

Continue reading →

Law School: Stepping Stone or End Goal? 

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

By Alyssa Leston

So you made the decision to go to law school. 

Maybe–like me–you realized it was the last day to sign up for the LSAT for the upcoming application cycle, forcing you to spend a frantic few weeks studying and then researching which school was the right fit. 

Or maybe you’ve known for years that this was your path; months of preparation, tours, and networking brought you to the school you are at now, feeling ready and excited to start achieving your dream.

Or maybe, now that you’re here, you’ve stopped caring about how you got to where you are, because you realized that regardless of the process, you’re not excited to be there after all. 

So, what now?

Continue reading →