069: Building the 21st-Century Lawyer

Welcome back to the Law School Toolbox podcast! Today Lee is leading a panel discussion about what it takes to succeed as a 21st-Century lawyer. In this discussion, we dive into the characteristics of successful lawyers in today's legal workplace and talk about how to gain those skills and traits while still in law school.

Many thanks to Thomson Reuters, the sponsor for this episode. You likely interact with their products every day when you're using useful tools such as WestLaw, TWEN, and Practical Law. Thomson Reuters brings you tools and insights to help you perform your best now and when you go pro as a practicing attorney. You can visit them at lawschool.westlaw.com. We appreciate their support!

We would also like to thank the following panelists for participating in the discussion:

Katie Walter, Marketing Director for Law School Business, Thomson Reuters

Chris Mammen, Lecturer, UC Hastings College of Law; Partner, Hogan Lovells

Diane Downs, Director of Attorney Recruiting at Morrison and Foerster LLP

Dave Maurer, Managing Director/Office Leader for San Francisco, Major, Lindsay & Africa

In this episode we discuss:

• What do law firms want in a candidate?
• How to present yourself in a hiring situation
• 4 characteristics that are important in a 21st-Century lawyer
• Curiosity and why it's important as a law student and young lawyer
• Mastering a class vs. getting a good grade
• How to distinguish yourself from other candidates
• The importance of mastering your craft
• Why you need to be a good legal writer
• How to improve as a writer
• Mentorship in the legal and law school setting
• Taking advantage of the resources available to you in law school
• The importance of feedback
• Ways law students who came directly from undergrad can gain valuable workplace experience
• The importance of building a network as a law student

If you enjoy the podcast, we'd love a nice review and/or rating on iTunes. And feel free to reach out to us directly. You can always reach us via the contact form on the Law School Toolbox website (http://lawschooltoolbox.com/contact).

Thanks for listening! And thanks again to Thomson Reuters for sponsoring this episode!

Alison & Lee