April 30, 2009
350 LAWYERS ATTEND NEW YORK STATE BAR
ASSOCIATION’S FREE WEBCAST SERIES TO HELP LAWYERS IN A DOWN
ECONOMY
Committee on Lawyers in Transition Offers Seminars
on Career Development
(Albany, N.Y. -- 4/30/09) – With daily announcements about deep
law firm and in-house counsel layoffs due to the economy, 350 lawyers
attended the New York State Bar Association’s first, free live
webcast in a series devoted to those who need career development
assistance. The initiative, one of the first of its kind in the
United States, which launched on April 22nd, is spearheaded by the
Committee on Lawyers in Transition, chaired by Lauren J. Wachtler
(Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, LLP). The Committee provides
free information and assistance to lawyers who are unemployed, looking
to make a career change, leaving a current job or transitioning back
into the workforce after time away from the legal profession.
“In these difficult times, the State Bar, as a resource in good
times and bad, has a profound mission of helping lawyers and their
clients. This core obligation is to provide resources to help
attorneys get back on their feet as quickly as possible. I applaud
Lauren Wachtler and the entire Committee on Lawyers in Transition for
their leadership in this heroic effort,” said Bernice K. Leber
(Arent Fox LLP), President of the State Bar Association.
Ms. Wachtler added, “Our goal is to establish outreach and free
mentoring programs for lawyers who, for a variety of reasons, have
temporarily left the legal profession. The first webcast series is
just one way we provide valuable guidance and aid. I hope every
attorney who is either looking for a job or thinking about making a
career change will take advantage of this program.”
350 people registered for the first webcast and another 50 signed up to
attend the live session. The first webcast is available for
viewing at www.nysba.org/LITWebcastLink. “We
are making the webcast available at our Web site so that lawyers can
take advantage of the speakers’ expertise, even if they were
unable to hear the program live,” said Leber.
The webcast sessions are as follows:
April 22 Interviews: 10 Most Difficult Questions
and 10 Best Answers and Positive Minded Networking: Creating a
Gameplan.
May 14 Comeback Lawyers: Selling Yourself & Using
Flexibility as an Asset in a Down Market.
June 3 Crafting Your Resume for Today’s Market: How to
Make Them Want to Meet You and Selling Yourself in the Interview: Listen
First Then Speak .
Pre-registration is required for all programs. For information on how to
register, go to the committee's Web site at www.nysba.org/LawyersinTransition.
The career development webcasts are one element in an overall program to
help attorneys who need a helping hand in reentering the job
market. Others services include a Lawyers in Transition blog that
provides updated information on networking opportunities, seminars, job
postings information, and other information for career searches and
skill development. Also available on the committee’s Web
site is information on a variety of volunteer and pro-bono
opportunities, legal career re-entry programs, CLE Scholarships and
career consulting businesses.
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The 76,000-member New York State Bar
Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the
nation. Founded in 1876, the Association’s programs and
activities have continuously served the public and improved the justice
system for more than 130 years.
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