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Five Things I Wish I’d Learned In Law School

Omer,DavidThis post originally appeared on the Law Student Division page, where you can find it and more advice for newly minted lawyers.

By David G. Omer

Law school is a strange creature.  You spend three long years sacrificing your sleep, your credit rating, your relationships, and your sanity.  In return, you get the opportunity to take the bar exam and start a career where you get to challenge yourself every day, help countless people, and maybe even make a little money along the way.  As you’ve (hopefully) learned, law school is all about filling your brain with points of law and forcing you to think your way around the gray areas.  For all the substantive information you pick up during your time as a law student, however, there are some important things that get left along the wayside.  As a recently licensed lawyer in North Carolina, I appreciate the opportunity to fill you in on a few things I didn’t learn until I made it out into the “real world.”

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Extra Credit: Five Things I Wish I’d Learned In Law School

By David G. Omer

Law school is a strange creature.  You spend three long years sacrificing your sleep, your credit rating, your relationships, and your sanity.  In return, you get the opportunity to take the bar exam and start a career where you get to challenge yourself every day, help countless people, and maybe even make a little money along the way.  As you’ve (hopefully) learned, law school is all about filling your brain with points of law and forcing you to think your way around the gray areas.  For all the substantive information you pick up during your time as a law student, however, there are some important things that get left along the wayside.  As a recently licensed lawyer in North Carolina, I appreciate the opportunity to fill you in on a few things I didn’t learn until I made it out into the “real world.”

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Ask Not What You Can Do for Pro Bono; Ask What Pro Bono Can Do for You

By M. Rebecca Hendrix

Everyone should do pro bono work during law school.  While I could discuss at great length the merits of helping others, the focus of this article is how pro bono helps law students themselves.  Pro bono opportunities strengthen students in the classroom and eventually in a career.   Practical skills, networking experience, and a broader perspective are three things that students gain from pro bono work.

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There’s No Place Like Home: Job Searching from an Out-of-State Law School

By Aaron Lindquist

When attending an out-of-state law school, the stress of job searching can make you wish you had the ability to click your heels three times to return home like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” As a recent law school graduate and licensed North Carolina attorney, I can say that there are options and ways to ease the stress of job searching from an out state law school. After leaving North Carolina to attend law school in Virginia, I knew that I would need to be intentional with my job search if I wanted to return to North Carolina.

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Practice Series: Question and Answer with a Civil Litigator

Matthew D. Quinn is a 2009 graduate of the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University.  He practices with the Law Offices of F. Bryan Brice Jr. in Raleigh.

Q:  What kind of law do you practice?

A:  I have a general civil litigation practice.  I typically, but not always, represent the plaintiff.  Over the years, I have developed a niche practice of representing individuals and families injured by mold contamination.  In fact, I have found that the best way to build a practice is to find a discreet type of case and build up experience in that area.  There are not many mold litigators, so I receive a lot of those cases.

Q:  What do you like best about your practice?

A:  The diversity of duties.  I might spend one day reading, writing, and researching.  The next day I could spend in the field at a property inspection, or perhaps learning about a scientific issue at an expert’s office.  Then twenty-four hours later, I could be at a court hearing.  There is never a dull moment in civil litigation.

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The Practice Series – Question and Answer with a Family Lawyer

Jessica B. Heffner is a 2013 graduate of the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University.  She practices with Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP in Raleigh, NC.

Q:  What kind of law do you practice?

A:  My practice includes all aspects of North Carolina family law including absolute divorce, child custody, child support, property division, spousal support, separation agreements, postmarital agreements, and premarital agreements.

Q:  What do you like best about your practice?

A:  I enjoy practicing family law because it allows me to work with individuals.  Family law requires a great deal of client contact—in person, over email, and/or over the phone.  It’s a practice area where you interact with clients every working day.  Also, every family law case is unique and challenging in its own way.  As members of a “learned profession” we are challenged to consistently study and expand our knowledge of complex and evolving issue—it keeps my day to day job very interesting and rewarding.

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Tip Sheet: Networking Advice For Law Students

For a quick look at everything you need to know about networking in a nutshell, from the NCBA’s Law Student Resources Committee, check out the Networking Advice For Law Students tip sheet.