Author: cdtalaw

Keeping The Perfect Mentor

Keeping The Perfect Mentor

Now that you have found an excellent mentor, it is time to allow the mentor to get to know you and see your dedication and commitment to the practice of law. After all, the mentor must see purpose in his or her mentorship and that the protege is worthy of the mentor’s time and contributions. Ask It will come down to one simple question: “Will you be my mentor?” Similar to the idea that you must look for something to actually find it, you must also ask someone to be a mentor to obtain a mentor. It is essential...

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Finding The Perfect Mentor

Finding The Perfect Mentor

Keeping the perfect mentor is one thing, but, first, you must find the perfect mentor, which is easier said than done. As we move down the path of law school from the first year to graduation, we read and brief a lot of cases, listen to a lot of people talk a lot about the law, and, hopefully, grow personally and professionally. We also meet a lot of people and forge lasting relationships. Many of the people we meet on this path are well-established scholars, professors, and, of course, attorneys, of the legal profession who typically offer us and place their...

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For First Years – Not The Way You Exactly Envisioned Your First Year Of Law School Ending

For First Years – Not The Way You Exactly Envisioned Your First Year Of Law School Ending

The first year of law school typically ends with final exams (of course) and then the realization that you truly made it through a year of law school followed by some celebration. It may then turn to thoughts about a summer internship and the opportunity to practically apply what you learned during your first year. Completing the first year of law school is certainly a time to be excited about your professional future. And then there was COVID-19. . . There is still a level of uncertainty about the future despite what the politicians may say. After all, their goals and...

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The Oath To Practice Law

The Oath To Practice Law

Ethical matters must always concern a lawyer. Young lawyers must be more than familiar with the ethical requirements of the practice of law from the first day they begin to practice law. Lawyers have a responsibility not only to clients but also to society. They must zealously represent the client to the fullest extent permitted under the entire body of ethical rules, standards, and statutes without offending or damaging the legal system. Intermittently, a lawyer should read the oath given upon admission to the practice of law. This will help remind the lawyer of his or her basic duties to clients...

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Last-Minute Baby Bar Tips

Last-Minute Baby Bar Tips

The California First-Year Law Students Examination, otherwise known as the “Baby Bar” is scheduled for June 23, 2020. Whereas the Supreme Court of California, on April 27, 2020, postponed the summer California Bar Exam scheduled for the end of July to September 9th and 10th, it chose to carry on with the summer Baby Bar as scheduled. Here are some last-minute Baby Bar Exam tips. CDTA students study and prepare for this test regularly, using weekends to focus their development on test-taking skills. CDTA students have a 65% FYLSX pass rate, one of the highest pass rates in the State of...

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Sharing Office Space

Sharing Office Space

As most people know, lawyers may share office space with other lawyers but with ethical considerations, such as client confidentiality, advertising, and conflicts of interest. For example, attorneys may not advertise their services in such a way that they mislead the public into believing that the lawyers sharing space are members of one law firm. In a shared office scenario, attorneys sublease with other practitioners. The office’s common areas such as lobby, kitchen, conference room, etc., are shared by sub-tenants, who are required to either make equal or proportionate contributions based upon use for the common space, furniture, office equipment, select...

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About IOLTA Accounts

About IOLTA Accounts

A strange acronym with which every attorney who starts his or her practice becomes familiar is IOLTA. This stands for Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts. And this interest raises money to provide civil legal services to indigent individuals. Any lawyer who handles client funds that are too small in amount or held too briefly to earn interest for the client must participate in the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts program. Such IOLTA accounts may only be kept at approved financial institutions. Attorneys routinely receive client funds that must be held in trust for future use. If there is a large sum of...

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Some Ethical Considerations Of Billing

Some Ethical Considerations Of Billing

A law practice's method of billing may directly impact the financial viability of the practice and is an important component of an individual lawyer's ethical and professional obligations. Most states grant lawyers a large degree of discretion to develop billing practices that are suitable to the law practice and beneficial to the client. However, the billing practices of a law firm are not solely important because of the necessity to ensure the firm’s financial stability, but because attorneys have an ethical duty to engage in proper billing practices. A primary focus of attorneys throughout their practice is the collection of outstanding fees....

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Law Practice and Marketing

Law Practice and Marketing

Law firms vary by practice area, location, client-type, experience, and many other facets. Each additional factor causes the marketing requirements of each business enterprise that much more distinctive and unique. While they all share the reality of operating in an overly competitive legal industry, they must find their niche within this industry, then develop and sustain this niche over time. The law is extraordinarily varied and offers law students and established attorneys a wide menu of specialties from which to choose.  These choices may become narrower based on geographic location and client-type. It is important and rewarding to know that none...

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Identify Your Time Thieves

Identify Your Time Thieves

While time efficiency is a daunting subject to any person, it is especially intimidating to law students. At the undergraduate level, time efficiency was less important as it related to making it to class and completing each assignment. Students improvised, adapted, and muddled through. For law students, it is important to identify those habits, tendencies, inclinations, and - whatever else you want to call them - that expend, exhaust, waste, and - whatever else you want to call it - our precious time. The idea is to identify those things that take, like thieves, our valuable time that may never be...

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