We have all been given ample advice on how to network, but many of us are still unsure about how to nurture a robust professional network. These following tips aren’t going to answer all of your questions, but they will help you move in the right direction.  All of these things helped me along the way in law school and in other professional settings.

1. Business Cards

Create a business card for yourself and make sure to always have them handy. Not only should you give out your business card, but make sure to get them from the people you meet. You never know when you will need it.  You can get free business cards here.

2. Follow Up

Make sure to send a quick note to the people that you meet and connected with. Email communication is fine for more casual encounters, but handwritten notes are more appropriate on more formal occasions. When you follow up, make sure to include something from your conversation to ensure that the person remembers you. Following up will ensure that your new contacts keep you in mind and can easily contact you if further networking or even potential job opportunities arise.

3. Be a Joiner

Join different groups so you can meet different types of people from different professional backgrounds. Take advantage of their mixers, happy hours and other social events.  This is the best way to meet others that have a common interest.  Aspiring attorneys should become active in local bar associations, the ABA, or the Inns of Court, for starters.

Don’t forget that law school is about creating a network of future peers, so get involved on campus with one of these student organizations: NBLSA, NAPALSA, NLLSA, Phi Alpha Delta, National Lawyers Guild, Lavender Law, American Constitution Society, or the Federalist Society.

It really is all about who you know, so the more people you know, the better!

We move pretty fast these days, texting instead of writing letters and swinging by the drive-through instead of enjoying sit-down dinners.  Your firm dinner will be an opportunity to get to know your potential future employer in a more formal setting, perhaps even with a client present.  Paper napkins, sauce packets, and sporks won’t be on the table.  Not entirely comfortable with formal dining etiquette?  Not sure which fork to use first?  Do you put your napkin in your chair or on the table if you have to briefly excuse yourself?  Do you spoon your soup towards you or away from you?  Should you order the least or most expensive entree on the menu?  Is alcohol a definite no-no or simply keep it to a minimum?

A little prep will go a long way to increasing your dining confidence and putting your best foot, or more accurately, your best fork, forward.  Do a little online research or stop into your nearby bookstore for some pointers to help you do your best.  No one expects you to be Ms. or Mr. Manners but you will feel more comfortable and able to focus more on making a good impression all the way from the courtroom to the dining room.

The Wall Street Journal reports that an Arkansas murder conviction was recently thrown out simply because one juror was tweeting throughout the trial.  Though judges typically do not allow the use of smartphones in the courtroom, jurors still have access to a wide variety of social media outside the jury box, and this has been causing headaches for attorneys across the country.

Convictions and appeals are increasingly being challenged by attorneys who claim that jurors are improperly communicating with each other outside the courtroom on Facebook, and even sending Facebook friend requests to defendants and plaintiffs.

Courts are struggling with ways to prevent jurors from using social media improperly during trials, but the fact remains that this type of behavior is very hard to detect without compromising juror privacy.  Some attorneys have begun to request that jurors turn over their Twitter handles or even allow access to their Facebook accounts during the course of a trial so that any inappropriate communications can be detected, but this again opens a new can of worms when it comes to privacy concerns.

When it comes to those coveted BigLaw jobs, grades and class rank are really the only proxy for ability, because these types of firms base their hiring decisions almost entirely on first-year grades.  Such firms are not really interested in the kind of legal skills a student might have acquired, largely because the firm will provide the new associates with the kind of training required for that particular law practice.

Tip #1: Aim for the Middle

Mid-sized and smaller firms typically do not have the time or resources to spend on training green attorneys, so they are less interested in class rank and more interested in the tangible skills an applicant possesses.  While still in law school, seek out clerkships in the type of firm where you would ultimately like to land a job after law school graduation.  Don’t set your heart on getting an offer at that particular firm, as most smaller firms simply don’t have the budget to hire new associates every year.  But, make the most of the time you have at the firm by seeking out attorneys to provide mentoring, and by learning all you can about that type of law practice.  Keep asking for new and more complicated tasks so that you will be able to set yourself apart from other former law clerks.

Tip #2: If Government Work is What You Seek—Volunteer

Lots of new law students dream of being a prosecutor or public defender, but with budget cuts and hiring freezes, these positions are increasingly hard to come by.  The only way to have a shot at this kind of job is to intern at a public office and “put in your time.”  Almost all of these positions go to applicants who have volunteered their time throughout law school, so don’t wait to seek out this kind of internship.  If your state permits it, you would also be well served to secure a pro bono license to practice law under supervision (for example, an Illinois 7/11 license).  These offices have specific application cycles for interns, so keep track of deadlines for different offices.

Tip #3: Be Realistic

Above all, be honest with yourself about what kind of work you will actually be able to obtain.  It’s fine to be ambitious and shoot for the stars, but you have to be realistic about the career goals you can actually achieve when you are working with less-than-stellar credentials.  Don’t waste your time or money on mass mailing resumes to firms that may or may not be hiring.  Only apply for jobs in firms where you have some exposure to that area of law.  And focus your efforts wisely.  The time to apply to the small and mid-sized firms is in the spring, when they have a handle on their budgets and hiring needs.

Though it’s hard to believe while you’re still toiling away in law school, grades really aren’t everything, and with a solid strategy for building up your legal skills and professional network before graduation, you will be able to overcome a bad GPA.

1.   Not Realizing That the Job Could Be Yours to Lose

If you have made it to the interview stage of the hiring process, it means that you have been deemed to be qualified for the position.  Employers have gone through dozens if not hundreds of applications to identify interview candidates, and that pool is very small.  When you are called into an interview, what the hiring party is really looking for is whether or not you, personally, would be a good fit for the team.  This is where many applicants get into trouble, because they believe that they have to continue to prove their credentials instead of merely being themselves and showing the employer that they would be a good fit for that office.  Employers want to know that you will be able to get along with everyone and that you will not be difficult to work with, so focus on letting your personality shine through.

2. Making Disparaging Remarks About Your Former Employers

It is almost inevitable that you will be asked why you left your last job, and this is where so many job applicants end up shooting themselves in the foot by making negative remarks about their last employer.  You will not endear yourself to a prospective employer by reciting a litany of horrors that you experienced in your last job.  For one thing, it shows a severe lack of judgment on your part.  In addition, it demonstrates a lack of loyalty.  How is the potential employer to know that you won’t be making these kinds of comments in a future interview to another employer?  Make sure to keep your answers to these types of questions respectful and positive.

3. Making Disparaging Remarks About the Employer’s Clintele

This seems like a no-brainer, but it actually happens more than you would think.  Many applicants believe they can curry favor with a prospective employer by being “in the know” about the people the company deals with.  Sometimes this manifests itself as being disrespectful to the very people that keep the company in business.  Some applicants will even report that the very reason they left their former position in the first place was because they could not stand dealing with the company’s clients.  As a new employee, you will have no choice in which clients are assigned to you, and you must be able to demonstrate to an employer that you will treat them all with dignity and respect.  Avoid maligning clients at all costs.

4. Failing to Research the Position/Hiring Firm

Employers want to know from the get-go that you want to work for them specifically.  They want to know that you have done your homework and not only understand what the position you are seeking entails, but also that you understand how the company as a whole functions.  When you are in an interview, remember that it is all about what you, personally, can do for the employer and not the other way around.  You should be able to articulate how your particular education and abilities are peculiarly suited to the position and to the organization overall.

One thing you can do to demonstrate this is to find out who will be interviewing you ahead of time and do your research on that person.  An interviewer will appreciate it if you can demonstrate knowledge of his or her own personal accomplishments within the company.  This type of preparation shows that you are detail oriented and serious about the job.

Gaining entry to the legal services market is more challenging than ever, because there are twice as many applicants as job openings.  Setting yourself apart from the competition is crucial, but many law students are unwittingly setting themselves up for disappointment by neglecting to present themselves in the best possible light on their resumes.  Here are just a few of the ways that your legal resume is failing to impress potential employers:

1.   Not Including a GPA

Many students whose grade point averages are less than stellar steer clear of pointing out their academic shortcomings on a resume, and rightly so.  It’s better to focus on your personal achievements and transferable skills when grades are not the best way to demonstrate what you have learned.  However, some students believe that they shouldn’t list their GPAs unless they are in the top of the class.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  When an applicant fails to include grades, most employers assume that the applicant’s GPA was lower than 3.0.

Remember, the law is a prestige-oriented profession, and your academic standing will be an issue throughout your career.  While it is true that once you have actually forged concrete legal skills your grades will be less important, for the first several years, grades matter.  Add your GPA to your resume if it is 3.0 or above to avoid being unfairly judged.

2.  Exaggerating Accomplishments

It is tempting to embellish and elaborate on the practical legal skills you have obtained through clerkships and other summer positions, especially if your grades are not the best.  But one way that you will quickly frustrate employers is to characterize yourself as possessing significant legal experience when really all you have done are mundane daily tasks.  For example, veteran legal recruiter Joe Ankus cautions that candidates who claim to possess “extensive pretrial and motion experience” typically only conducted very simple tasks in their previous positions, such as attending calendar calls, and did not actually write or argue substantive motions.

Recruiters and employers quickly see through these kinds of overstatements, so be honest.  If you are lucky enough to make it to an interview, your puffery will quickly be revealed when it becomes clear that your deposition “experience”  boils down to having merely watched one instead of actually defending one.

3.  Including an Objective Statement

In the legal profession, these are simply a waste of valuable space on a resume.  Employers don’t really care what your personal goals and aspirations are, they just want to know whether or not you have the qualifications to do a given job.  Most objective statements tend to be vague and unenlightening anyway, so just leave it off your resume.

4. Including Political or Religious Affiliations

Politics and religion have always been delicate subjects, and pointing out your personal political leanings or religious views on your resume is something of a Catch-22.  In some cases, it can be the thing that gets you an interview, and in others it can be a one-way ticket to the circular file.  If the position you are seeking is with a certain political party or a church in which you are an active member, then go right ahead and highlight that.  However, you should avoid automatically including any affiliations that might be considered offensive or controversial to a given employer.

5.  Leaving Questions Unanswered

The most common example of this is the dreaded resume gap.  Many job applicants struggle with this because they dare not reveal that they have been unemployed for any length of time, even though it is not an automatic black mark against them.  It is not wise to try to paper over a spell of unemployment by trying to stretch out the dates you were actually employed.  When you only list the years and not the dates of employment, an employer might assume that you are trying to cover something up.  So, be honest.  If you have been working intermittently on project work, say so.  If you had to take time off to care for family members or perhaps to have a child, simply state that.  Just remember that any question you leave unanswered, employers will answer for themselves—and it could result in your resume being rejected.

After working for ten years as a deputy district attorney, Lawyer decided to open her own law practice and represent plaintiffs in personal injury actions. In order to attract clients, Lawyer asked her friends and family to “pass the word around that I have opened a solo practice specializing in personal injury law.”

Lawyer’s brother, Bert, works as an emergency room admitting clerk at a local hospital. Whenever he admits patients who appear to be victims of another’s wrongdoing, Bert gives them Lawyer’s business card and suggests that they talk to her about filing a lawsuit. Each time Lawyer is retained by someone referred by Bert, Lawyer takes Bert out to lunch and gives him $500.

One such referral is Paul, who suffered head injuries when struck by a piece of heavy equipment on a construction site at Dinoworld, a local amusement park. Recently Lawyer filed a personal injury action on Paul’s behalf against Dinoworld. Dinoworld’s attorney immediately filed an answer to the complaint. Lawyer and Dinoworld’s attorney agreed to set the deposition of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Dinoworld within the next ninety days.

Lawyer’s brother-in-law holds an annual pass to Dinoworld. Two weeks ago, he invited Lawyer to a special “passholders-only” event at Dinoworld, at which Dinoworld’s CFO led a tour and made a presentation. At the event, Lawyer declined to wear a nametag and avoided introducing herself. She asked CFO several questions about Dinoworld’s finances, and made some notes about his responses.

Which of the following is the best argument in support of the position that Lawyer breached an ethical duty by having her brother pass out business cards to patients on her behalf?

(A) A lawyer may never solicit employment directly from a potential client.

(B) A lawyer may only solicit a client where pecuniary gain is not the lawyer’s primary interest.

(C) A lawyer generally may not have another solicit, on the lawyer’s behalf, a potential client who has no prior or professional relationship with the lawyer.

(D) A lawyer is not permitted to solicit one who has been injured and thus in a particularly vulnerable position.

Get extra practice for the bar exam with our MBE Questions of the Day every Tuesday and Thursday at Facebook.com/KaplanPMBR.  And try our free MBE Flashcards for iPhone/iPod Touch!

Wild World, Inc. (“WW”) owns and operates Wild World, a wildlife preserve in northern New York State. Fred, a New York resident, was a regular visitor to Wild World.

On May 5, 2001, while hiking on a well-marked trail, Fred decided to leave the trail to see a beaver dam. While attempting to climb down the steeply sloped and muddy riverbank, Fred suffered severe injuries when he lost his footing and fell. As Fred was being taken to the hospital, Don, the ambulance driver, gave Fred the business card of Anne, a lawyer, and told him that Anne could help him get money for his injuries.

After his release from the hospital, Fred discovered that his car had been stolen from the garage at his home, and he immediately made a claim under his Acme Insurance Co. automobile insurance policy. Acme, a State X corporation, denied coverage and retroactively cancelled Fred’s insurance policy based upon misrepresentations in his insurance application. In order to pay lower premiums, Fred had stated in his application that he resided in State X and that the car would be principally garaged in State X. However, Acme’s investigation revealed that from the time Fred applied for the policy, which had been issued and delivered in State X, Fred has resided and garaged the car in New York.

Fred consulted Anne and Anne told him that for a flat fee of $1,000 she would get the cancellation of his insurance policy rescinded. Fred paid Anne $1,000 and gave her the cancellation notice that he had received from Acme. Anne also said she would file a negligence action against WW. She told Fred not to worry about the cost of the lawsuit and that her fee would be “a fair percentage” of any recovery. Fred did not sign a written retainer agreement. Anne sent Don a check for $500 for referring Fred to her.

Anne commenced an action against WW to recover damages for Fred’s injuries, alleging that WW’s negligent operation of the wildlife preserve and its failure to warn of a dangerous condition had caused Fred’s accident. Fred testified at his deposition that he knew that the riverbank was steep and saw that it was muddy before he began to climb down. After the completion of discovery, WW moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. The parties stipulated that WW had neither fenced off the area where Fred was hurt nor posted any warning signs in the area.

Anne also commenced an action against Acme Insurance Co. to rescind the cancellation of the automobile insurance policy based on New York law, which prohibits such retroactive cancellation. In its answer, Acme asserted as an affirmative defense that the court should apply State X law, which permits retroactive cancellation of such an insurance policy.

Why is Anne’s $500 payment to Don improper?

(A) Because Anne did not inform Fred that she would be making the payment.

(B) Because it is a referral fee.

(C) Because Don is not an attorney.

(D) Because it was excessive.

Get extra practice for the Bar Exam with our MBE Questions of the Day every Tuesday and Thursday at Facebook.com/KaplanPMBR.  And try our free MBE Flashcards for iPhone/iPod Touch!

By the time Bar Exam Eve rolls around, you are as prepared to tackle the test as you are ever going to be.  Avoid the temptation to spend your last hours cramming, because, for most bar takers, this will only result in increased anxiety and confusion.

The best thing you can do for yourself the day before the exam is simply to take a breather.  You’ve put in the hours, done the practice questions, and pored over endless practice essays.  Be confident that you did everything you could to succeed and visualize success.  Having a positive attitude going into the test is really half the battle.

Many bar takers treat themselves to a day of relaxation that is completely free of all bar exam concerns.  See a movie, get a massage, or simply meet up with friends for a nice meal.  Being calm and rested will be crucial to your performance, so pamper yourself…you’ve earned it!

There are, however, some practical matters that you can take care of the day before the exam to ensure that everything goes smoothly on test day.  First off, make sure to plot the best route to the testing site.  Time how long it takes you to get there and plan out alternate routes in case of any unforeseen delays.  Make sure you know where you can find parking if necessary, too.

Some bar takers choose to stay in a hotel within walking distance or a short drive from the test site to alleviate anxiety about arriving at the exam late.  It’s also a good idea to avoid public transportation where possible, as the one day the buses or trains stop running will invariably be the first day of the bar exam.

Another thing you might want to consider is to scout out the testing site.  If you can gain access to the room, it is a good idea to check out what the temperature will be, where the closest restrooms are, and what the seating will be like.  You should also determine what your lunch plan will be, whether you bring your own or whether you can scout out a location that will not be swarmed with other bar examinees.

Getting a full night’s rest is important to maintaining mental acuity and focus, so if you have trouble sleeping before big tests, do what you can during the day to tire yourself out.  Hit the gym, go for a run, even pull out the Wii Fit!  You’re less likely to lie awake worrying about the exam if you are too tuckered to think.

Finally, make sure that you are fully conversant with all the rules laid out by your state bar examiners.  Make sure you are dressed appropriately, have the correct writing implements, and that you do not mistakenly bring in a prohibited item that could result in your dismissal from the exam.

Stay focused, stay strong, and you will conquer the bar exam!

Get extra practice with our MBE Questions of the Day every Tuesday and Thursday at Facebook.com/KaplanPMBR.  And try our free MBE Flashcards for iPhone/iPod Touch!

The first thing to do is to get organized.  You need to take a hard, honest look at yourself, at the work you have already done, and assess your progress.  Through your daily practice sessions, you should have a good idea of what your individual strengths and weaknesses are so that you can identify the subjects where you will need to direct your focus.  Now is not the time to avoid revisiting subjects that you find confusing or tedious, but the time to take control and build confidence so that you will be able to handle anything the examiners throw at you.

Once you know which subjects will require more review, create a realistic plan of action.  10-12 hours of studying per day is optimal, but it might not be right for you, so think about how you have studied up to this point and how much time you can actually devote to bar preparation before becoming physically and mentally exhausted.  When you have decided how long you can reasonably study each day, you can begin to schedule specific tasks that will be best suited to your particular needs.

Try to schedule study time at the beginning and the end of your final study plan to address the subjects where your performance requires improvement, while plugging in slots for maintaining your skill level in those subjects where you are stronger throughout your remaining study time.

Practical application of your knowledge is the key to heading into the exam with confidence, so prioritize practicing every component of your state’s bar exam under test-like conditions.  Schedule time each day to do mixed-subject sets of MBE practice questions under timed conditions.  Make sure to also allot time for attempting timed essay questions and for reading and outlining essays in as many subjects as you can.

Another good thing to do is to practice different exam tasks at different times of day so that you can gauge how your performance changes depending on whether it’s morning or afternoon.  Your accuracy and speed might decrease as you tire, so you might want to consider planning for strategic rest breaks during the exam.  For example, you could plan to complete the first 66 MBE questions in a session then take a brief bathroom break just to stretch your legs and clear your mind, or write half your essays and then take a quick breather before launching into the rest of the questions.

If timing is an issue for you, the final study period is the time to craft strategies for ensuring that you will be able to stay on task and complete every question before the clock runs out.  You should be able to answer MBE questions at an average rate of 1.8 minutes each, or 33 per hour.  You should also hew closely to time allotted for each essay.  For the MEE, give yourself no more than 10-15 minutes to read and outline your answer and devote the remaining time to writing the essay.  For the MPT, spend no more than 45 minutes reading and organizing your materials and the remaining 45 minutes completing the task.  Make notations of your start and end times in the margins of your question book or answer sheet so that you don’t lose track of the time as you work.

Above all, remember that you will never achieve complete mastery of every subject by test day, and that is not the bar examiners’ expectation.  Your goal is simply to demonstrate that you can think like a lawyer and deserve to be awarded that license to practice law!

Get extra practice with our MBE Questions of the Day every Tuesday and Thursday at Facebook.com/KaplanPMBR.  And try our free MBE Flashcards for iPhone/iPod Touch!