By Julie Bagdikian, The Pollack PR Marketing Group

Social media can be used to build a thought leadership platform, increase market share, improve business intelligence, network and attract new talents. There is no cookie-cutter recipe for success on social media though. It’s just like baking desserts; the ingredients must be carefully chosen and measured. If a single thing goes amiss, the whole dessert is ruined. The soufflé collapses. The meringue crumbles. But the good news is, the framework of a social media strategy is no different than a recipe

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By Ellen Rosen, New York Times

Like other Silicon Valley giants, Facebook has faced criticism over whether its work force and board are too white and too male. Last year, the social media behemoth started a new push on diversity in hiring and retention.

Now, it is extending its efforts into another corner: the outside lawyers who represent the company in legal matters.Facebook is requiring that women and ethnic minorities account for at least 33 percent of law firm teams working on its matters.

Numbers alone, however, are not enough, under a policy that went in effect on Saturday. Law firms must also show that they “actively identify and create clear and measurable leadership opportunities for women and minorities” when they represent the company in litigation and other legal matters.

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By: Howard Flack, Law360

By now, I hope we’ve all looked in the mirror and seen our own reflection as it relates to our respective lateral recruitment efforts. It is, of course, interesting to see the results of a number of the surveys and much of the research done around the topic of lateral partner recruiting. Some focus on the very simple question of whether firms consider their lateral partner recruitments to have been "successful" or "profitable." 

Others focus on why lateral partners are leaving their firms, and, based on actual research, rank the factors that appear most important to a lateral partner's decision to leave. What is interesting, though, is that virtually all of the focus on the "success" of lateral partner recruiting in general, or why lateral partners consider moving in the first place, is on the individual lateral partner and not the firm.

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By: David Ruiz, Corporate Counsel, The American Lawyer

SAN FRANCISCO — As corporate legal departments push for increased diversity in the outside counsel they hire, many departments are mirroring those efforts in-house, working with a national organization that provides training and education to minority attorneys through several programs.

Early this year, HP Inc. said it would withhold payments from outside counsel that do not meet diversity requirements. And an April 3 The New York Times report said Facebook Inc.'s legal department requires outside counsel teams working directly on a matter to be 33 percent composed of women and ethnic minorities. Law is still one of the least diverse professions, according to many surveys.

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Courtney Carter

Diversity & Inclusion Manager

Jenner & Block

How long have you been a member of WALRAA? What has been your favorite experience so far?

By Kristina Evans, www.recruiter.com

The job search process can certainly be difficult, but it’s important to understand that some of these “best practices” aren’t as important to recruiters as the experts claim. Specifically, here are four things recruiters really don’t take as seriously as you do:

1. Cover Letters

Most recruiters don’t even read cover letters. On the rare occasion we do read one, it usually turns out to be a template-based document that adds zero value to your resume. Anytime I have found myself on the job seeker side of the fence, I haven’t taken the time to craft a cover letter.

Now that I’ve been in the recruiting industry for years, I am a firm believer that cover letters are and will forever remain dead. Instead of obsessing over a cover letter, you should spend more time on updating your resume and LinkedIn profile.

2. Double-Spacing

Articles like this one state that job seekers who double space after periods in their resumes may be seen as “old” and, therefore, screened out. I’ve seen my fair share of poorly formatted resumes riddled with misspellings and grammatical errors – but that’s a different story. However, I have never invested time in checking out the spacing at the end of your sentences.

I see two major flaws when it comes to worrying about double-spaces. One, if a recruiter has time to review spaces in a resume, they aren’t taking the time to review the things that matter. Two, if a recruiter decides to pass on a candidate due to double-spacing, they probably don’t represent a company culture you want to be a part of anyway.

Focus on creating a resume that highlights what you bring to the table. Don’t worry so much about whether or not you use one or two spaces at the end of your sentences.

3. Reference Checks

You’ve gone through the interview process, and now it’s time to provide your professional references. While you might stress over contacting your old bosses and coworkers to make sure they are available for the recruiter when they finally call, references really aren’t that serious.

Recruiters know that you’re only going to provide individuals who will give you a phenomenal reference. Unless you provide someone who is going to give you an awful reference, you shouldn’t really worry.

I am not going to tell you to ditch the references because, quite frankly, companies are still doing these checks. Just have your reference list ready to go, and don’t be too concerned as long as your references are responsive when the time comes.

4. Mailed Thank-You Notes

I’ve never met a recruiter or hiring manager who prefers to receive a mailed thank-you note after an interview. Any expert that tells you otherwise needs to get with the 21st century. In today’s digital age, it’s more acceptable to send an email thank-you note after your interview. Not only will your interviewer receive the note quickly, but you also might just get a response.

How many of these do you identify with?”

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By: Elizabeth Olson, New York Times

Cornell Law School, one of the top-ranked law schools in the nation, plans to offer a new juris doctorate program at the soon-to-be opened Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island in New York City.

Students at Cornell Law — which is in Ithaca, northwest of New York City — will be able to study legal issues including technology information, especially privacy and cybersecurity, at Cornell’s new technology campus starting in the spring semester of 2018.

The new program in information and technology law will accommodate up to 20 full-time law students each semester.

The law school is No. 3 in job placement among law schools, but establishing a beachhead in Manhattan will put its students closer to a major tech center at a time when more legal employment is centered in and near cities.

By: Michelle Kim Hall, U.S. News & World Report

The Law School Admission Council maintains standards of conduct in the admissions process that both law schools and applicants are expected to follow.

By: Meghan Tribe, The Am Law Daily

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius recently became the latest large firm to offer flexible work options when it announced a new policy allowing U.S. and U.K. associates with two or more years at the firm to spend one to two days a week working remotely.

Since the plan was officially unveiled on March 7, about 100 Morgan Lewis associates have signed up for the initiative, said firm chair Jami Wintz McKeon. The program, which launches on May 1, includes an in-home office setup with dual monitors, a headset and docking station.

In the business world, flexible working arrangements have become increasingly common. A recent study by Deloitte found that nearly two-thirds of millennials said that their employers have adopted some sort of flexible work arrangement. But in recent years the trend has picked up steam in Big Law as a way for some firms to attract and retain new talent, particularly the ever-elusive millennial hire.

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By Jacob Gershman, The Wall Street Journal

March 8, 2017

Harvard Law School will allow applicants to take the Graduate Record Examination test as part of a pilot program that could potentially challenge the Law School Admissions Test’s longstanding, national dominance over law-school admissions.

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