Sexual harassment is generally defined as unwelcome advances of a sexual nature that are explicitly or implicitly linked to an individual’s employment.  It may include such things as:

• leering
• sexual innuendo
• ‘accidentally’ brushing sexual parts of the body
• lewd & threatening letters
• tales of sexual exploitation
• graphic descriptions of pornography
• pressure for dates
• sexually explicit gestures
• unwelcome touching and hugging
• demanding, “Hey, baby, give me a smile”
• inappropriate invitations (e.g., hot tub)
• sexist jokes and cartoons
• hostile put-downs
• public humiliation
• obscene phone calls
• inappropriate gifts (ex. lingerie)
• pressing or rubbing up against another person
• soliciting sexual services
• stalking
• leaning over, invading a person’s space [1]

While we like to think the legal profession is comprised of people who would not engage in such behavior, the legal work place is not immune.   In a fairly recent case, a former associate of a large law firm alleged that one of the partners at the firm was flagrantly disrespectful to the women he worked with.  The women had to deal with “numerous unwelcome comments about his sexual experience and desires,” and he often referred to them as “toots,” “honeybunch,” “little girl,” and other “more vulgar and derogatory terms.”[2]  These cases are not often reported because victims don’t want to be further victimized by being labeled as someone who is hyper-sensitive or not a team player. 

In an online resource, a former summer associate described her experience at a large New York law firm. [3]  While there she was targeted by an associate who was clearly interested in more than developing a friendship.[4]  While it is common to have group lunches in the summer, he consistently asked her to lunch alone.[5]  She made a number of excuses before finally suggesting that she would go to lunch with him as long as he invited other attorneys to join them.[6]  He agreed; but, when she arrived at the designated meeting spot, the other attorneys were absent.[7]  She inquired about their whereabouts and he replied that they cancelled.[8]  To which she replied, “Really? Well, where are we going? Someplace quick?”[9]  He said, “No, I got reservations at a really fancy French place. You’ll love it, it’s great.”[10]  Despite her misgivings she went to lunch with him.[11]  During lunch he tried to “play footsie under the table. . . and he insisted on ordering a bottle of wine “for the table,” at 12:30 on a Tuesday.”[12]  When he tried to kiss her in the cab on the way back she told him “Stop that! What are you doing?”[13]  To which he responded, “Whatever, why are you being such a bitch?”[14]

This type of behavior is not limited to the law firm setting.  It often occurs outside of the employer/employee relationship.  The harasser may be an attorney from another office, or a judge, or a client.  In either situation, it is important that you follow your gut.  If your gut suggests that some behavior is suspicious, don’t dismiss it.  Instead, think critically about whether the offending action is, in fact, sexual harassment.

What do you do when these types of things occur?

Depending on the situation and your level of comfort, you might consider direct action.  One author suggests the following:

• Do the unexpected: Name the behavior. Whatever he’s just done, say it, and be specific.
• Hold the harasser accountable for his [or her] actions. Don’t make excuses for [the harasser]; don’t pretend it didn’t really happen. Take charge of the encounter and let people know what [was done].
• Make honest, direct statements. Speak the truth (no threats, no insults, no obscenities, no appeasing verbal fluff and padding). Be serious, straightforward, and blunt.
• Demand that the harassment stop.
• Make it clear that [everyone has] the right to be free from sexual harassment. Objecting to harassment is a matter of principle.
• Stick to your own agenda. Don’t respond to the harasser’s excuses or diversionary tactics.
• [The] behavior is the issue. Say what you have to say, and repeat it if [the behavior] persists.
• Reinforce your statements with strong, self-respecting body language: eye contact, head up, shoulders back, a strong, serious stance. Don’t smile. Timid, submissive body language will undermine your message.
• Respond at the appropriate level. Use a combined verbal and physical response to physical harassment.

End the interaction on your own terms, with a strong closing statement: “You heard me. Stop harassing [men/women].”[15]

If the harassment occurs in the employment context with a colleague or supervisor, an alternative to the direct approach would be to utilize the procedure available through the employer.  Because sexual harassment is so prevalent and employers have taken measures to limit their liability, many employers have sexual harassment policies that will include a complaint process.  You should also be sure to document the events and, if appropriate, take pictures. 

For more information about sexual harassment, check out the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-sex.cfm

____________________

 [1]Feminist Majority Foundation, Sexual Harassment Fact Sheet, http://www.feminist.org/911/harasswhatdo.html  (citing Martha Langelan, Back Off! How To Confront And Stop Sexual Harassment and Harassers) (accessed May 20, 2013).

For 1Ls and 2Ls, please let us know if you have found a summer position or if you are still looking.  It may be late in the process, but we have been receiving job postings every day this week, and we would love to send you an email notifying you of opportunities if you are still looking.  1Ls and 2Ls should take some time in the next month to update your resumes to include your current position, as well as make any changes to your GPA, extracurricular activities, honors, and awards, and your reference list.  Feel free to send it to one of us for feedback.  Regardless of where you are spending your summer, it’s a great time to network with local attorneys, and our office can help you identify alumni and other contacts for purposes of informational interviewing.  Although the CDO will be staffed and open all summer, our members spend the summer doing employer outreach, and each of us hits the road regularly to meet with prospective employers and network with them at local bar events and the various conferences held over the summer.  If you are planning to attend a bar event or networking opportunity, let us know.  You may find that one of us plans to attend, or we can put you in touch with a few alums who may be attending, if it would help you to know that there is a friendly face in attendence.

New graduates, CONGRATULATIONS!  Class of 2013 has been a fantastic class at Mizzou Law, and we will miss you and cheer for you as you enter this next phase of your careers.  If you have not let the CDO know where you will be working after graduation, please drop any of us a quick email or fill out the Graduate Employment Survey.  For those of you who are still seeking employment, please know that we are available to assist you and are interested in knowing where you land.  Please keep in touch!

During the summer, the blog will post twice a week.  We will be spotlighting the “Student View” section.  If you would like to write a blog about your summer experience, please contact Linda Lorenz.

Enjoy your summer!

I was pleasantly surprised at how valuable a tool this guide can be, which can be easily saved as a pdf document and easily accessible. The document details each of the departments within the Department of Justice including but not limited to the Tax Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and the Criminal Division. Furthermore, it tells how many attorneys work in each office.

For those seeking internships, there is information regarding deadlines for summer internships, the application process, and eligibility. It details which divisions hire summer interns and the different locations nationwide that students can intern. Overall, this is an excellent resource that I would recommend that all students and young attorney’s seeking employment review regardless of the practice area they are interested. The Department of Justice has a wide range of practice areas and all job seekers can find this excellent resource useful.

Eligibility requirements include:

• You must have eligible loan types
• You must make 120 payments in a qualifying repayment plan (and they don’t have to be consecutive)
• Maintain full-time employment status
• Work for a qualifying public service organization

Besides the obvious (the forgiveness of student loan debt), another sought after feature of PSLF is the income driven repayment options.  The two most common include – Income Based Repayment (IBR) and the new Pay As You Earn (PAYE).  Both plans help borrowers to keep their monthly student loan payments affordable while working in Public Service.  To qualify for either plan, you must have a “Partial Financial Hardship”.  So what’s a financial hardship?  Uncle Sam defines it this way – You have a partial financial hardship if the monthly amount you would be required to pay on your eligible federal student loans under a 10-year Standard Repayment Plan is higher than the monthly amount you would be required to repay under IBR or Pay As You Earn.  For more information on income driven repayment plans, visit the Federal Student Loan Repayment Plans website. 

There are many career choices available that would qualify a borrower for loan forgiveness under the PSLF program.  For a comprehensive list of public service jobs, check out the PSLF Fact Sheet.       

One other piece of good news about the PSLF program is – the IRS does not consider the forgiven amounts as income for tax purposes.  Hey, now that is good news!  To sum it up, make sure you educate yourself on the PSLF program.  You can find out more by checking out the PSLF website or visiting the Student Financial Aid Office.     

The one piece of advice I would suggest you follow, and which helped me tremendously, is don’t rehash your exams.  Don’t think about what you could’ve or should’ve said.  Don’t talk to your classmates about what they wrote or the issues they thought were key.  Don’t pore over your notes or casebook trying to determine if you gave the correct answer.  No good will come of this.  You can’t change what’s done, and it will almost certainly cause you undue anxiety and stress to continue to think about it. 

To those of you who are celebrating another year of law school completed, I offer my sincere congratulations.  I know how challenging the last few weeks have been, but if you didn’t have the ability to meet challenges head-on, you wouldn’t be in law school.  Surviving finals is just one of the many challenges you will face as you move through life and advance in your career.  Consider exams training for what’s to come.   I encourage you to continue to rise to the challenges that confront you, and challenge yourself every day to be the best you can be.  Be ambitious, be courageous, be determined, and you will make the world a better place.

If you are currently facing the challenge of not having a job, know that you are not alone.  Although the economy and the legal market have improved, finding a legal job, whether for the summer or for after graduation, is not an easy task.  For 1Ls and 2Ls, paid summer jobs performing legal work have always been limited, and remain so, with fewer than half of our students successful in finding these positions.  For graduating 3Ls, only about 50% of you will have secured employment at the time of graduation, and this is consistent with years past.  However, 9 months later, the employment numbers are typically closer to 90%, with many of you finding jobs found after the Bar exam and following the swearing in ceremony.  This doesn’t mean you should sit back and do nothing to further your job search for the next several months, but I hope it will give you some perspective on what to expect.

The bottom line is this – if you are a graduating 3L and you don’t have a job, don’t be discouraged, don’t give up, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.  As much as I’d like to wave a magic wand and produce the perfect job for each and every one of you, finding a job takes time and effort.  Most jobs, especially entry-level jobs, don’t just fall in your lap. You will likely face numerous rejections before you find success, and this can lead to feeling worthless and hopeless.  If you find yourself feeling this way, wallow for a minute or two, then pull yourself up and get back on task.  Remember, you are not alone, you will be successful, and the staff in the Career Development Office is here to help you along the way.  We know what works, and what doesn’t, and we are happy to help you develop a strategy and coach you through the process. 

- Dean Lisa Key

The website has a job board that can be searched by state and lists internships, jobs and fellowships.  Recent articles pertinet to public interest can be found on the site as well as a variety of printed resources.  The association also provides legislative and public policy advocacy in support of  legal aid and indigent defense.  Attorneys who choose to join the association have access to the NLADA insurance program’s professional liability products.

NLADA also sponsors trainings and conferences throughout the year.  This week, NLADA has teamed with the ABA to sponsor the Equal Justice Conference being held in St. Louis May 8th – 11th.  Two members of the Mizzou Law Career Development staff will be attending. 

Once finals are over, take time to check out the website and see all that NLADA offers.

Regardless of whether your summer job is a “dream job” or simply the only available option, you can emerge from your summer experience with valuable skills, useful feedback, and helpful contacts, if you go into it with the right mindset and attitude.  Focusing on the skills you are developing and on the contacts you are making can make any job valuable to your future in ways you may not fully realize until later.

Step #1:  Act like no job is too small or too big for you.  Whether it is an accurate depiction of history or not, almost every attorney with whom you work will remember themselves as diligent and hard-working young rookies who gratefully worked their way up to their current position by tirelessly and meticulously toiling on terrible assignments that no one else wanted.  Letting your lack of enthusiasm show when you’ve been tasked with creating a chart that compares the standard of review for JNOV in all 50 states will not impress employers or win you the “reward” of more responsibility and a more interesting next project.  Yes, as a summer intern, you may get some of the grunt work that no one else wants to do, but acting like you don’t want to do it says more about your professionalism than your ability.  Don’t agonize over every detail or procrastinate, just get it done as quickly and effectively as you can so that you can move on to the next thing.  On the flip side, you may be given an assignment that seems to be out of your league.  Don’t give up too easily or get defensive.  Go as far as you can through your own research to at least identify the key issues and understand them, and then follow up with a few good questions that can help guide you to completion.  Look for less-senior attorneys who might give you some pointers, or ask the assigning attorney for a model or recent example of something similar that you could use as a guide.  It may be an unfamiliar area of law, but learning the ins-and-outs of a new area of law is exactly what law school is training you to do.  Appearing confident in your abilities and willing to work on anything can greatly improve the types of projects you receive.

Step #2:  Relentlessly seek feedback, and then use it.  Attorney supervisors can be surprisingly reticent (or just too busy) to provide summer interns with feedback regarding the work product they turn in.  Students often prefer to wonder in silence about how they are doing rather than risk asking for feedback, in case it’s not good.  If possible, meet with attorneys directly to go over the research you have done with them.  If you turn in a memo or brief to an attorney and never hear back, stop by their office when the door is open or send an email simply asking “Were you able to understand and use the information I found regarding such-and-such case?  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Also, I would welcome any feedback you may have that could help me improve my legal skills.”  When an attorney gives you some feedback, handle it graciously, and thank profusely.  Then actually put it into practice!  For example, if your supervising attorney tells you to state your conclusions more clearly at the outset of each argument, ask if you may redo the assignment. Be sure to do so in all future assignments as well.  Strive to do so artfully rather than just symbolically – taking your conclusion sentence from the end of the paragraph and moving it up to be the first sentence is probably not what the attorney meant.  Attorneys will expect that a student intern does not know everything, but if they give you a chance to learn something and you don’t seize it, they will likely just choose not to work with you again, or to give you an assignment that is not very important.  You may also be surprised to receive feedback that is better than you expected.

Step #3: Make an effort to connect with as many people as you can.  Notice that it says “people” and not “attorneys” and “connect” rather than “network.”  Take advantage of your work schedule and geographic location to meet people in the legal industry wherever you are this summer.  Use your lunch breaks to schedule brief informational interviews with attorneys in some of the other divisions or practice areas of your office.  The Career Development Office can give you the names and contact information of some Mizzou Law alums who work in your city, and you could reach out to them to meet for a quick coffee break or lunch meeting.  Filing something with the court may not require a JD, but it is a perfect opportunity to get to know the Clerk of Court and other staff in that office.  Don’t save your brightest smiles and collegiality for attorneys that you think have hiring power, be kind and courteous to everyone. Make small talk while you are waiting for the elevator rather than rolling your eyes and texting a friend.  If you have time off or a flexible schedule, go to the local courthouse and observe a day in court.  If an attorney stands out to you, follow up with him or her afterward.  Mention that you saw them present in court and what was notable, and ask if you could schedule a brief meeting to discuss their practice and any tips they might have for you in your job search.  Prepare your “elevator pitch” in advance, so that you have a concise way to describe your interests that is memorable, and always follow up with a thank you note, thank you email, or LinkedIn invite, depending on what’s appropriate.