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Supreme Court Amends Rule Of Professional Conduct Related To Competence

Supreme Court Amends Rule Of Professional Conduct Related To Competence

The California Supreme Court approved the amendment of Rule 1.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The new version of the Rule went into effect on March 22, 2021. The new version of the Rule contains a new Comment providing that a lawyer’s duty of competence encompasses a duty to keep abreast of the changes in the law and law practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology. The Rule reads as follows: Rule 1.1 Competence (a) A lawyer shall not intentionally, recklessly, with gross negligence, or repeatedly fail to perform legal services with competence. (b) For purposes of this...

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Top Five Legal Internships

Top Five Legal Internships

Legal internships provide law students with the opportunity to broaden many facets of their “legal personalities.” Internships help students increase their knowledge of the substantive areas of the law while participating in the environment of a real law practice. Interns also make valuable contacts that may provide useful later in practice. While some internships compensate participants, many do not. Nonetheless, many internship programs allow students to earn school credit. Many of the larger law firms base internship hiring decisions on superior academic performance and skills related to research and writing, thus, law review experience is typically very helpful. Here is a...

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Some Information Related To The California Bar

Some Information Related To The California Bar

The July California Bar The next California Bar Exam takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 27–28, 2021. Applicants can begin the exam once the first session password is released, but no later than 8:30 a.m. on each day. The exam is scheduled to conclude on Tuesday at approximately 6:30 p.m. and on Wednesday at approximately 5:00 p.m. The instructions for exam day will be posted in advance in a YouTube link on a California State Bar webpage. Applicants may watch these instructions at any time before the exam begins. It is recommended that applicants review the schedule of password delivery as well as the...

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Summer Law Jobs 101

Summer Law Jobs 101

For law students, it is hard enough to get a good summer law job, whether at a private firm or public agency. Once this is achieved, the elation is immediately tempered with a stark fear of failure. You experience the realization that you will soon be making the transition from student to lawyer, albeit in a limited sense. Once you have a summer job at a firm, how can you ensure that the people who hired you will be satisfied with your performance and, more importantly, remember you as a worthy candidate for an associate’s job in the future? *Always exercise...

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Things Every Law Student Should Do Over The Summer

Things Every Law Student Should Do Over The Summer

For law students, “summer vacation” typically means only one thing - work. Law students shift their focus from studying and school to working and employment. This job may be in the form of an internship or clerkship. A summer legal job provides an excellent, if not the best, opportunity for a law student to apply basic lawyering skills and gain real, practical experience. However, work should never consume any law student’s summer. These hot months also provide a chance to recharge for the following school year. The following are some things every law student should do during the summer. Focus Most law students work...

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Maintaining Your Focus as A Law Student: Finding A Routine

Maintaining Your Focus as A Law Student: Finding A Routine

Law school is a grind. Make no mistake. Law school is a marathon rather than a sprint. All cliches aside, law school requires law students to maintain an intense focus for the duration of their academic lives. Whether it is a three-year or four-year program, law school is a protracted undertaking into a vast, complex area of study. Maintaining your focus as a law student is therefore of the utmost importance. One good way to maintain focus is to create a routine and observe it each day. Doing so may be crucial to enjoying any success in law school. Establishing a...

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The Humble Lawyer

The Humble Lawyer

Humility is sometimes defined as freedom from pride or arrogance. Studies show that humble people handle stress more effectively and report higher levels of physical and mental well-being. Unfortunately, it can be challenging for mere humans to express humility. Typically, this is attributed to our misinterpretation that actively demonstrating humility is a sign of weakness. In truth, humility is a sign of inner strength. Unfortunately, lawyers are often portrayed as anything but humble. The words “egotistical,” “arrogant,” and “pompous” are some of the words often used to characterize attorneys. Many of the descriptive words used to describe lawyers have the prefix “self”...

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List Of Resources For Lawyers With Substance Abuse Problems

List Of Resources For Lawyers With Substance Abuse Problems

Attorneys greatly differ in how they deal with stress. Some can deal with the serious responsibilities involved in representing clients while others instead turn to alcohol and drugs to cope with maintaining a law practice. Attorneys can never have enough resources to help them deal with problems related to substance abuse. In recognition of this area of great concern, California requires that attorneys must include substance abuse education in the twenty-five hours of continuing legal education required by the State Bar every three years. California’s Alternative Discipline Program (ADP) also assists attorneys with substance abuse or mental health problems. However, the result may be the...

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Can I Study Law Online?

Can I Study Law Online?

The legal profession and law schools have traditionally been conservative and slow to adapt to change. That is until the COVID-19 pandemic gave them no choice. Of course, some legal institutions such as the California Desert Trial Academy took a progressive approach to legal education on the day they opened their doors. Even before the coronavirus pandemic necessitated some transition from the live classroom to distance learning, studying law online was becoming a reality at schools like the California Desert Trial Academy. In 2021, anyone with a computer can study online. While online law programs have existed for quite some time,...

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Update on the Summer 2021 Baby Bar

Update on the Summer 2021 Baby Bar

The California “Baby Bar” or as it is more formally known, the First-Year Law Students' Examination (“FSYLX”), is a one-day test given in June and November. The test consists of four one-hour essay questions and 100 multiple-choice questions. The exam only covers three subjects: Contracts, Criminal Law, and Torts. As it did for the November 2020 exam, the State Bar California will conduct the FYLSX under special circumstances because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exam in June will be offered remotely. The Baby Bar is taken by over 700 applicants. Those required to pass the First-Year Law Students’ Exam will not receive credit for any...

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