Liberal Arts Voices

Read the perspectives of our current students

Kobre & Kim LLP Seeking Litigation Assistants

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Company Description:
Kobre & Kim LLP is a litigation boutique focusing on international disputes. The firm has offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Miami devoted solely to litigation and arbitrations, with a focus on financial products and services litigation, insolvency and debtor-creditor disputes, offshore trusts and asset recovery, and U.S. government enforcement and regulatory investigations.
Further information about the firm’s practice is available at www.kobrekim.com.

Job Description:
This position will include responsibility for assisting our legal team of lawyers and analysts by performing tasks such as filing court documents, organizing case files and documents, maintaining case indices, and assisting with electronic and physical document control

Primary Responsibilities:

  1. Assisting with document production compilation of legal documents, binders and indices, coordinating pick-up and delivery of documents, organizing documents in trial or hearing bundle order to assist in preparation for interim hearings or trial. Photocopying and scanning sensitive files and documents and take responsibility for the same when outsourced.
  2. Filing documents with and obtaining documents from various courts and agencies.
  3. Assisting in implementing electronic and paper document control systems.
  4. Maintain and organize case files and storage rooms.
  5. Review and analysis of legal and primary documents.
  6. Proof read and edit documents and letter to clients/opposition/courts.

Position Requirements:
We are looking for a highly organized and motivated individual with strong interpersonal skills to assist with administrative tasks for legal staff.
Must possess the ability to work both independently and as a team player in a fast-paced and high pressure environment.

Anyone interested should send their resume and a cover letter to Sean Wiederkehr at Sean.Wiederkehr@kobrekim.com and Tiffany Yang at Tiffany.Yang@kobrekim.com. There are Litigation Assistant openings in the New York and San Francisco offices. Employment would begin in early March.

For those graduating in May, Kobre & Kim LLP will be hiring more later in the year for a start date in June. If you have questions about Kobre & Kim LLP  or if you are interested in future positions, contact Jessica Maynor at jmaynor2014@gmail.com. 

 

Full-Time Legal Assistant Position

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Job Title:Legal Assistant (Office Automation)

Department:Department Of Justice

Agency:Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys and the Office of the U.S. Attorneys

Job Announcement Number:15-SDNY-11D

Open Period: December 18, 2014, and closes Wednesday, December 24, 2014

For more information and to apply, visit the job posting on USAJobs.gov (https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/389587700)

JOB SUMMARY:

If you are looking for an exciting and challenging career, this is the position for you! With a diverse and talented workforce of over 100,000 men and women, Justice leads the Nation in ensuring the protection of all Americans while preserving their constitutional freedoms. You will be part of a dedicated team helping to enforce Federal criminal and civil laws that protect life, liberty and the property of citizens.

The United States Attorneys Office is a great place to work. The Department of Justice ranked #5 out of 33 large Federal cabinet agencies and the Executive United States Attorneys Office/United States Attorneys Offices ranked #55 out of 240 agency subcomponents in a study, “The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, 2013 Ratings” published by the Partnership for Public Service. See www.bestplacestowork.org.

For more information on the Department of Justice and the United States Attorneys Offices, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/.

DUTIES:

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If selected for this position, you will join a well-respected team that is responsible for reviewing and analyzing claims for legal merit in compliance with the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act.  Typical work assignments will include:  preparing legal documents; utilizing a case tracking system to input data and query reports; and analyzing claims to determine the type of indebtedness.

 

Responsibilities will increase and assignments will become more complex as your training and experience progress.

First consideration will be given to the first 25 applications received; we will additionally consider applications received on the same day as the 25th application, through 11:59pm EST.  Applications received after the first 25 may or may not be considered. 

For more information and to apply, visit the job posting on USAJobs.gov (https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/389587700)

Apply for Penn State’s Explore Law Program

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APPLICATIONS FOR PENN STATE LAW’S EXPLORE LAW 2015 ARE OPEN!

In the Explore Law program, undergraduate students explore the study of law, the analysis lawyers use to solve client problems, and the American legal system. Students learn to brief a case, analyze a statute, negotiate like a lawyer and write like a lawyer. Students also learn how to write an excellent mock LSAT essay exam answer, learn about the other parts of the LSAT exam, and begin studying for the LSAT with help from an expert.

Led by Professor Michele Vollmer, this tuition-free program provides a structured way for students to gain insight into the experience of going to law school.  The program will be held from May 17 – 22, 2015.

For more information:  https://pennstatelaw.psu.edu/explore-law

Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management Launches DOJ Law Jobs Mobile App

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The Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management (OARM) launched a new, free mobile app that allows law students and attorneys to easily search for legal internships and attorney positions with the Department. The mobile app is called DOJ Law Jobs and is available now on Apple iTunes for iPhone and will be available soon on Play Store for Android and tablet-based technology. The mobile app was developed by the Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management and Office of the Chief Information Officer. Users of the app will be able to create personalized job searches based on practice area, geographic preference, and hiring organization.

DOJ Law Jobs includes the following key features:

  • provides instructions on how to apply to attorney jobs and legal internships;
  • saves search criteria for quick access to future opportunities;
  • allows users to save, share, and email their favorite jobs; and
  • provides access to hundreds of attorney jobs and legal internships at the U.S. Department of Justice.

    To review the full press release, please go to: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-law-jobs-be-available-itunes-and-play-store.

Liberal Arts Law Careers Panel and Networking

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Thinking about a career in law? Planning to go to law school?

Don’t miss this fabulous opportunity to learn about a variety of law careers and law schools from Penn State lawyer-alumni in private practice and government.

Panel Presentation and Q&A
Thursday, October 16, 2014
7:30 PM
101 Chambers Building

You also can schedule a one-on-one appointment with any of the panelists to ask any questions you’d like, in a no-pressure setting, about law school, what it’s like in the courtroom, balancing work and family, etc. You also can get resume suggestions and interview tips.

One-on-One Appointments
Friday, October 17
9:00 to noon
322 HUB

Advance sign-up is required for one-on-one meetings and can be scheduled at:
http://alumni.la.psu.edu/alumni-lawyers/alumni-lawyers-mentoring

LSAT Preparation Course September 13-14

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A Law School Admission Test (LSAT) Preparation Course will be offered on Saturday and Sunday, September 13-14 2014, at the Penn State University Park campus, 112 Lewis Katz Building. The registration deadline for this course is Friday, September 5, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. The registration fee is $350.

The course includes an introduction to the LSAT, exam strategy including general tips and approaches to each type of test question and recommendations regarding additional LSAT practice to take place after the end of the course. Click here for the registration form and information about the class.

Jurors Needed for Mock Jury Trial

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Jurors Needed:  Penn State Dickinson School of Law is seeking undergraduate students to serve as jurors on mock jury trials as part of its Advocacy II class.

The trials will be held on the nights of April 9th, 10th, 14th, and 16th.   All trials will take place at the law school (Lewis Katz Building), and will start at approximately 5:00 P.M.  We ask that volunteers arrive around 4:30 P.M. so we can begin promptly at 5:00 P.M. We will provide food and drinks for the jurors.  The jurors can plan on leaving around 9:30 P.M. (although not every trial took the entire allotted time last year).  Ideally, we would like to have at least ten jurors per trial, but we can accommodate as many jurors as are interested.

This is an excellent opportunity to experience being a juror and to observe third-year law students in action.  Jurors do not need to have any legal knowledge or experience!

For more information or to sign up as a juror, please contact:

Bryan Vannini,Trial Advocacy Board l Vice President
email: btv5019@dsl.psu.edu
phone: (860) 309 -2127

EEOC – Protecting America’s Civil Rights

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This is my third and final blog entry regarding my internship in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the fall of 2011 (my previous blog posts can be found here and here). I still consider it to be one of the greatest professional experiences I’ve ever had.

From returning phone calls to charging parties (those who have pending cases with the agency), to keeping records and notes regarding individual cases in our electronic software system, to conducting over the phone preliminary interviews, to potential new charging parties, one day in the office was never the same as another. At times, it was exhausting, but always enjoyable!

It was helpful to have a good idea of employment law and practice prior to the internship, but much was learned during it as well. I took an employment law course at the same time, so that worked out very well. It’s important to note that my internship dealt strictly with federal anti-discrimination laws and cases. Wrongful termination and other laws, particularly state and local laws, are not part of what the EEOC enforces. It was surprising to learn what was legal and what was not. It was also interesting to learn that not all “discrimination,” in its purest sense, is illegal on the federal level. 

As an intern in such a position of influence, I, along with fellow interns, had a considerable amount of discretion in how cases would be handled, rated and ultimately passed on to investigation or mediation. We also had the power to dismiss cases if the merits were considerably weak or the issues weren’t under the agency’s jurisdiction. For instance, claims arising under the Family and Medical Leave Act fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor, not the EEOC. We had to refer them appropriately.

The office staff was great! They were helpful and fun to work with – literally like one big work family. As interns, we were welcomed and made to feel included at all times. This made a huge difference in the experience. We also made friends and were able to use people we worked with as references for future opportunities. Such an experience was truly priceless!

The EEOC safeguards civil rights in the workplace in the United States. Its role continues to change and grow as new laws are passed. I gained tremendous respect for the agency and its mission while I was there, and the knowledge acquired and experience gained was unlike any other. I will forever be proud of my work there and grateful for the chance to be part of protecting civil rights for those in the workplace. As my office’s deputy director told me on my last day, “Come back and visit – you’re part of the family now.”

I’d especially like to thank Mindy Weinstein, acting office director, and Cheryl Mabry-Thomas, acting deputy director, for granting me the chance to be a part of the EEOC’s Washington Field Office. They, along with everyone else there, will always have my greatest respect and deepest gratitude.    

 

Liberal Arts Voices: Episode 35 “Undergraduate Research and Pre-Law Opportunities”

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Episode 35 of Liberal Arts Voices is dedicated to undergraduate research opportunities and pre-law enrichment experiences. Multicultural Equity Programs Director Earl Merritt and undergraduate liberal arts students Carshena Culmer and Jason Bundy join this podcast to talk about a variety of enrichment programs.

Earl Merritt begins the program by discussing the ways in which he encourages students to take advantage of the variety of research and enrichment programs on and off campus.  He tells students to start their first year at Penn State with a plan.  For Earl, it is never too early to begin to think about how participating in an undergraduate research project or pre-law program can better prepare you for your future career. 

Psychology and Communication, Arts & Sciences double major Carshena Culmer talks about her participation in a pre-law program at Northern Illinois University through the Council on Legal Education Opportunities (CLEO).  At the pre-law program, Carshena received LSAT preparation, training from current law school students, and had the opportunity to network with faculty and professionals in the field.  Carshena discusses how participating in this program gave her confidence in her ability to succeed and inspired her to continue to pursue her goal of attending law school.  Carshena also explains how her PSYCH and CAS majors set her apart and gave her an advantage in the program.

Lastly, Jason Bundy reflects on his participation in the 2011 CIC Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP), which enabled him to perform his own research project under the supervision of faculty member Dr. David Puts. Jason explains how his interest in the patterns of human relationship formation eventually led him to study evolutionary biology and anthropology.  His summer research project focuses on how monotonicity of male voices impacts the listener in categories like attractiveness and physical dominance.  This research project gave Jason the opportunity to create a hypothesis, design a study, apply for IRB approval, run participants, and write an extensive research paper.  Jason talks about how his participation in this research experience will better prepare him for graduate school.

“Liberal Arts Voices: Episode 35 “Undergraduate Research and Pre-Law Opportunities”

To subscribe to Liberal Arts Voices through iTunes, click here.

We encourage all of our listeners to write to us with comments, questions, or suggestions at laus@la.psu.edu. We may even respond to these comments on the next episode of Liberal Arts Voices.

My Path from Liberal Arts to the Department of Justice

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DOJ Corner
Originally uploaded by M.V. Jantzen

It goes without saying that searching for a job in today’s economic climate is an arduous task for a recent college graduate, especially with a liberal arts degree. It is difficult to translate a liberal arts education into qualities that potential employers seek when hiring qualified candidates. A degree in the liberal arts is often joked about as being a “useless” degree, and for many graduating seniors it is easy to accept this cynicism when faced with such daunting obstacles. Liberal arts graduates are overwhelmed by the sheer variety of possible careers. Instead of feelings of exhilaration at your options, you’re instead left with fear and paralysis. The perceived ambiguity of a liberal arts degree can be a hindrance in a job market that places high value on specific qualifications and skills.

These were the feelings I felt as I approached graduation earlier this year. I had degrees in Political Science and Crime, Law, and Justice, and as I weighed my options late into my senior year I felt that my hard work in the College of the Liberal Arts had been in vain. Like too many liberal arts students, I had planned to enter law school after graduation. But after researching the costs of a law education and the unfavorable employment numbers, I realized that law school may not be the right option for me at this time. Law school seemed like an easy fix to my problem because I was completely unaware of what I could do with my liberal arts degree other than more schooling. This realization came to me two months before graduation. I had not thought to visit career services and had not received career advice of any kind.

So I made the difficult transition from student to job market. I had to learn independently how to write my resume, how to draft appealing cover letters, how to interview well and how to market my degree to employers. I learned these lessons the hard way by trial and error, missing out on many fantastic opportunities because of simple errors that could’ve been avoided. I struggled to translate my experiences in the classroom into qualifications that employers look for in potential employees. I didn’t have enough tangible work experience for most positions, a fact exacerbated by a tough economy flooded with more qualified unemployed professionals. I also had no guidance as to what entry-level careers were open to me with my degrees, and I was left to the mercy of cold calls, online job databases, unpaid internships, and whatever research I could find on my own.

Finally, I received an email from the advisors at the Crime, Law and Justice/Sociology Department. A Penn State Alumni from the College of the Liberal Arts had contacted them about positions as Paralegal Specialists with the Antitrust Unit of the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. It turns out the federal government values liberal arts majors because many of the skills learned – critical thinking, document analyzing, intellectual flexibility -are perfectly suited for government law. I asked for more information, emailed the Alumni, interviewed for the position and was hired last month. I never would’ve found this position researching vague government websites or entering keywords into an online job search engine. A simple email coupled with the advice of a Penn State graduate at the Department of Justice who guided me through the process was vital to my current employment. How many other students aren’t as lucky?

The value of a liberal arts degree cannot be overstated, but it would have been nice if the transition from student to workforce was a bit easier. In many ways, Penn State provides these tools through their career center, one of the best in the country. However, at such a large university the career center is limited in providing advice specifically for liberal arts majors and the correct counseling on how to market their degrees. It is also difficult to be adequately educated on all the opportunities that the College of the Liberal Arts provides to their students. The College provides so many exceptional and challenging opportunities that can greatly enhance a resume, but many students are completely unaware of these opportunities. It is unfair and easy to blame students for their own ignorance. How can even the most motivated students know about every opportunity at a university of this size (especially transfer and branch campus students)? And how many students look for opportunities and fail to find them? I know I would’ve greatly appreciated the guidance if I had been forced to think strategically about my post-graduate career earlier in my college career. And I’m sure I’m not alone.

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