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Starting November 1, 2010, the Career Development Office will begin meeting with our Class of 2013 students for the first time for individual counseling sessions.  Per NALP guidelines, law schools must wait until November 1 of each year to begin one-on-one counseling sessions with the 1L class, hoping to encourage first-year students to adjust to law school and focus on studies before beginning to think about job searching.  While the NALP rule makes a lot of sense and is incredibly important, it has been a long wait to meet our wonderful 1L class! I am counting the days until I start to meet with each of them in person. Counseling 1Ls is always such a great experience.  They arrive in our office full of promise and enthusiasm, excited about putting their newly acquired legal skills into practice for the very first time.  As a counselor, it is such a rewarding experience to talk with them about their ideas, hopes and interests, and about why they chose law school to begin with.  It's also fun to see what types of interesting summer positions the first-year students acquire. 

Last year, we had over 60 students working as volunteer interns to judges in various chambers throughout the US.  Another large chunk of the class volunteered their time at non-profit and public interest internships.  A segment of the class always volunteers at various district attorney's offices and public defender's offices across the country.  Another group will secure summer associate positions with firms through our Spring Interview Program, or work as law clerks with small and mid-sized law firms.  Some of our sports law students worked in interesting sports internships last summer, including those with the NFL, Octagon Sports Agency, the NCAA, the New Orleans Saints and Hornets organizations, the New York Jets, and Friedman Salisbury Sports Management. Of course, there are always students that surprise us with interesting and unique internships. Last year, a 1L worked at the Tate Museum in London, another volunteered at the Documentation Center of Cambodia, and a third worked for the United Auto Workers Union in Detroit.  The Class of 2012 was very determined in securing 1L summer internships, and I can't wait to see what the Class of 2013 can do. More importantly, I can't wait to get to know all of them!

- Katie O'Leary
Assistant Director, Career Development Office

Yesterday, Tulane Law School students heard Ms. Lilly Ledbetter speak about issues related to equal pay for women in the US. Ms. Ledbetter was the plaintiff in the employment discrimination case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. that ultimately reached the US Supreme Court. Congress subsequently passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, reversing the Court’s holding. Students listened intently to Ms. Ledbetter’s remarks as she shared her personal litigation journey, as well as the current landscape that led to the passage of the Fair Pay Act. A gifted storyteller and passionate equal pay activist, Ms. Ledbetter enthralled the students during her 50 minute presentation. Her conclusion that women still do not receive equal pay for equal work reminded the students about the importance of lawyers in our society and the continued struggles to end discrimination in the workplace. I suspect she inspired more than one future lawyer in the audience.

Mondays are usually typical days for most people. Not around Tulane Law School, and not for me. I can always count on updates, projects, and exciting news. The day began with the great news that one of our second-year students, Juan Bernal, was elected Regional Director for the South Atlantic region at this year's National Latina/o Law Student Association (NLLSA) Conference. Mr. Bernal is a current member of La Alianza del Derecho here at Tulane Law School. He will now represent the interests of Latina/o law students from the South Atlantic region at NLLSA. La Alianza, under the leadership of its current president, Ms. Ana Rivera, will be quite busy this academic year. They are slated to help host the upcoming spring Moot Court competition for the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) at Tulane Law School, while simultaneously present a proposal to host a future NLLSA conference here at Tulane as well.

Later in the morning I received more wonderful news. Ms. Joy Green, a third-year law student at Tulane, received a financial scholarship from the Louisiana Black Judges Association. Ms. Green accepted the award at a special luncheon held in New Orleans, LA. I'm particularly proud of Ms. Green and her well earned award; positive recognition by judges is always a remarkable accomplishment.

The day culminated with a terrific public lecture by Anita L. Allen, Deputy Dean and Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Dean Allen discussed the topic "Veiled Women in the American Courtroom: Is the Niqab a Barrier to Justice?" Prior to her lecture, Dean Allen also presented a thought provoking lecture to the faculty about privacy rights and tort remedies -or lack thereof- for LGBT plaintiffs.

Overall, the day was full of excitement and thought provoking issues related to diversity and the law. Let's see what next Monday brings.


Carlos Dávila-Caballero
Assistant Dean for Career Development
& Diversity Initiatives

As the Assistant Director at the Career Development Office, I spend a majority of my time assisting Tulane students and alumni in their quest for judicial clerkships and internships.  I have been working with many of our current third-year students as they prepare for interviews with federal and state court judges for clerkships following graduation. We are fortunate at Tulane to have our alumni working as judges and law clerks in courts throughout the country, but I am also reminded of what a great city New Orleans is to observe the judicial process.  New Orleans is home to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, which houses both the federal district and bankrupcty courts.  The US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is also located in downtown New Orleans, and the court hears appeals from federal district courts throughout Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.  Right near the federal courts in the historic French Quarter is the Louisiana Supreme Court, and there are state appellate and trial courts throughout the metro area.  With hot-button issues like the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and various multi-district litigation cases argued every day, the courts in Southeast Louisiana are always busy shaping judicial precedent.  Tulane students are encouraged to witness our judicial process at work by observing arguments and trials as they happen, volunteering as summer judicial interns or receiving class credit through the Law School's judicial externship program.  The city is also lucky to welcome judges from across the country to various conventions, like the upcoming National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and the Association of Administrative Law Judges Education conferences, both happening in New Orleans in October 2010.  Our stellar court system is just another reason why New Orleans is a great place to be a law student, and why Tulane is fortunate to be located in such a wonderful city.