Volume 1, Issue 11
M
ILITARY
S
POUSE
JD N
ETWORK
Although we are thrilled with our White House and
congressional support, the branch of
government most important to us as attorneys is the judicial branch. So, it seemed only appropriate to request a meeting at the Supreme Court. Retired General William
Suter, Supreme Court Clerk of Court, answered our call.
Suter has been the Supreme Court Clerk of Court for over twenty years. As Clerk, he
manages the court's docket and calendar and coordinates the
compiling of briefs and certiorari petitions, and of organizing the court's heavy
paperwork demands. Suter appears in morning suit when the court is in session and is seated to the left of the bench. He swears in attorneys to the
Supreme Court bar, and he and his staff guide attorneys facing their first Supreme Court argument through the system, preparing them early, and attending to their needs on argument day. He was
instrumental in creating a lawyer’s lounge for
Continued page 3
Supreme Court Visit
May 25, 2012
Mission
Advocating for bar
membership and
admission,
Encouraging hiring
military spouses,
and
Supporting military
spouse legal
professionals.
MILITARY SPOUSE JD NETWORK
PAGE 2 MILITARY SPOUSE JD N ETWORK VOLUME 1, ISSUE 11
Ask the Hiring Attorney with Shauna C. Bryce, Esq.
Q: I’m a recent law schoolgraduate moving to another city, in another region, but I don’t have any connections there. I didn’t go to school there, and I don’t have any friends and family there. How can I start networking with alumni?
A: Dear Moving into the Unknown:
First off, congratulations for recognizing that reaching out to alumni is a smart move,
especially if you can build some relationships before you make this big change.
Your next step is to ask yourself why you want to connect with these alumni. Are you building contacts and ties with them, and asking for guidance in your transition? Or are you asking for help getting a job with them or their employers?
These are different goals that can eventually overlap, but for the initial contact, you should decide on one or the other and then stick to it. Your relationship with individuals may change over time, allowing you to move from a networking relationship to one where you both feel comfortable
directly asking for help with employment opportunities, but don’t assume a person who agrees to talk to you about life in the new city is also willing to talk about hiring you. You don’t want your new contact to be resentful (rightfully) because you asked him to meet with you to give you information about getting started in your new career and new city, when your actual agenda was to ask him to help you backdoor the hiring process at his company.
Your best bet for getting positive responses is to ask for guidance, not for help getting a job. The first allows for open
conversation and no
commitment, the second is a turn -off.
The next step is to find these alumni. Start with your
schools—undergraduate and law school, as well as any other alma mater that might keep track of its graduates (for example, private high schools). Some schools have internal online directories or networking sites. If yours do, then make sure that you yourself are listed in the directory, and then start search for alumni in your target area. Your schools
can also tell you if there are alumni association chapters in your target area. If so, join them and get involved.
By the way, after
you’ve identified and joined alumni associations in your target geographical area, do the same for other organizations you’ve been a member of— fraternities and sororities,
honors societies, affinity groups, and shared interest groups. Next, head over to LinkedIn. Again, if you’re not already a member, then join today! Set up your profile, and then start making connections. Here too, many alumni associations have groups on LinkedIn. Find all the applicable alumni groups— whether based on geography, shared interest, graduation year, affinity group, or whatever. You can also do an advance search to find alumni in your target city. Once you’ve identified groups and individuals on LinkedIn, go to Lawlink and other social networks where you can find
Hiring,
continued
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 11
PAGE 3 MILITARY SPOUSE JD N ETWORK
attorneys to prepare for their arguments. Thanks to his efforts, the lounge includes a women’s room as well as a men’s room.
After graduating from Tulane University Law School, Suter entered the army's graduate law program at the University of Virginia, beginning a career that would send him all over the world. From 1980 to 1984 he was commandant at the Judge Advocate General's School, and later served as chief judge of the U.S. Army Court of Military Review, now called the Court of Criminal Appeals. He was serving as acting Army JAG when he retired in 1990.
He runs the Court with discipline and tradition, traits lawyers and repeat the process
there.
The next step is to actually approach people. You can do this either by participating within group conversations on these social networks, or by emailing people individually. When you contact them individually, again be clear why you are contacting them. A short, friendly,
respectful email describing your situation and asking for a 10 to 15 minute call at their
convenience is a great way to start.
Good luck! And please keep me posted.
Sincerely, Shauna
Author’s Bio: Shauna C. Bryce, Esq. practiced law and served on a law firm hiring committee before starting Bryce Legal Career Counsel, a boutique offering resume writing and other career services for lawyers. www.brycelegal.com
She’s also the author of the acclaimed ―How to Get a Legal Job: A Guide for New Attorneys and Law School Students.‖ www.howtogetalegaljob.com Please submit questions to
admin@brycelegal with ―Ask the Hiring Attorney‖ as the subject. Unfortunately, questions can’t be individually answered, but may appear in future columns. © Shauna C. Bryce, 2012.
he said he learned in the military. He spent an hour with Mary Reding, Hon. Erin Wirth, and Lori Volkman, leaning about the Military Spouse JD Network mission, providing suggestions and contacts, and showing us around the Court. To our surprise, he was already aware of our work on behalf of military spouses. Our tour began with a photo of Suter with Elvis Presley, from their days in the service together. Then he demonstrated swearing in new attorneys to the Court with a historic bible. We visited the Courtroom, which is fairly small. The lawyers lounge was bright and relaxing. The East room and West room are used for receptions and events. The history in the building is incredible. We wish we could have brought all of you with us.
members are coping. The key concerns identified are: pay/ benefits, with specific emphasis on changes to retirement
benefits, the effects of
deployment on children, general operational tempo, military spouse employment, and issues surrounding Post Traumatic Stress, combat stress, and Traumatic Brain Injury.
Regarding spouse employment, the survey found that: 57% of military spouses said the military has had a negative impact on their careers. Of the 60% of spouses who are not working, 53% said they would like to be. The most common problems are lack of job alignment — being overqualified or underqualified for jobs in their geographic area — and lack of available or affordable child care.
These Blue Star Family surveys
are extremely influential. This year, they surveyed over 4000 families. If you have a chance to read the report, it will give you a much deeper understanding of the challenges facing military families. We are glad that MSJDN is working to address one of the most significant issues identified by military families — spouse employment.
Report available at http:// bluestarfam.org/2012survey.
PAGE 4 MILITARY SPOUSE JD N ETWORK
Volume 1, Issue 11
Blue Star Families released the results of its 2012 Military Family Lifestyle survey at the Atrium of the United States Capitol Visitor Center in
Washington, D.C. Mary Reding, Hon. Erin Wirth, and Lori
Volkman attended on behalf of MSJDN.
Senator Richard Burr, Senator Barbara Boxer, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Representative Sanford Bishop, the chairs of the Senate and House Military Family Caucuses, gave introductory remarks at the event. A panel spoke, including Mrs. Dempsey, wife of General Martin
Dempsey, Dr. Meg Harrell from Center for New American Security, Rich Morin from Pew Charitable Trusts, and Dr. Mary Keller, executive director of Military Child Education Coalition.
The third consecutive survey fielded by Blue Star Families, the 2012 survey results details the many challenges faced by military families after more than a decade of continuous war, and the ways families and service
2012 Blue Star Family Lifestyle Survey
Wirth, Dempsey, Reding
Department of Defense leadership inducted 34 new companies into the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP), which helps connect military spouses with jobs. These new companies join more than 100 of the Fortune 500 ―Plus‖ companies that already employ America’s military spouses.
MSEP has expanded rapidly in less than one year. The
Partnership’s member companies have pledged to recruit, hire, promote and retain military spouses in portable
careers. More than 22,000 military spouses have been hired and more than 446,140 jobs have been posted. Member companies sign the MSEP Statement of Support which pledges to:
- Increase employment
opportunities for military spouses; - Maintain employment status for military spouses as they relocate; - Provide career promotion
opportunities for military spouses; and
- Support pay equity for military spouses commensurate with their level of training, work experience, accomplishments and credentials. MSEP now lists over 150 attorney positions. These companies want to hire military spouses and we encourage you to contact them, even if they do not have a
position which is a perfect match for you. Please let us know if you find employment through MSEP – we would like to highlight successes.
Laura Dempsey, an MSJDN member who coordinates spouse employment initiatives at the US Chamber of Commerce, invited us to attend a reception with the MSEP employers. It was great to speak with the employers and hear all the reasons they want to hire military spouses.
Suzie Schwartz, wife of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton
Schwartz, spoke about how much she would have appreciated
PAGE 5 MILITARY SPOUSE JD N ETWORK
Volume 1, Issue 11
Military Spouse Employment Partnership
employment and licensing
support when she was starting her teaching career. She had heard of our organization and wanted to learn more about our wonderful military spouse attorneys. Before I made it home, she shared our information on her Facebook page. Her husband told me that this issue is important to him because it is important to her. For more information, visit msepjobs.militaryonesource.mil.
If you would like to coordinate a social event in your area, contact Sally Reddy at membership. [email protected].
DC: On May 10, MSJDN members met just outside of Washington, DC, for a social event. Co-founder Mary Reding was in town along with MSJDN Washington state team leader Lori Volkman. Attendees commiserated over the very challenging DC legal market and encouraged one another.
Members exchanged contact information and advice. It was
wonderful to see both old and new faces. To be added to our DC mailing list for information about social events and other activities in the DC area, contact Sally Reddy.
SoCal: Wednesday, May 16th saw several MSJDN members gathered for happy hour at Canapes Wine Bar and Bistro in San Diego. We had significant others from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and ranging from current students, recent grads waiting for bar exam results, to established practitioners. It was a delight getting to know such a dynamic group of ladies!
Our next SoCal Social is
tentatively scheduled for the first week of July, date and time still TBD. MSJDN co-founder, Mary
Reding, will be in town and we encourage everyone to make plans to attend! If anyone has specific questions on our SoCal schedule or would like to be included on the SoCal email blasts about
upcoming gatherings, please email Marianne at
[email protected]. Thank you to the many
applicants for officer and board of director positions. We are thrilled with the number of applicants and their impressive qualifications. Mary Reding and Hon. Erin Wirth spent the last week or so conducting interviews and we hope to have decisions out next month. For the people who have asked about positions after the
deadline, we hope that you will apply again next year and will participate in the organization in other capacities.
Sally Reddy negotiated an agreement with a large
international law firm to assist us, pro bono, with the incorporation process. We are meeting with the firm to finalize our incorporation documents. Once we are
incorporated we will be able to begin fundraising. To this point, we have been entirely funded by co-founders Reding and Wirth. MSJDN leaders who were in DC in May met at Judge Wirth’s home to discuss the future of our organization. Mary Reding led us
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Volume 1, Issue 11
Incorporation and Board Development
Social Events
though an exercise to develop goals and a mission. Although these will continually develop, we wanted to insure input prior to forming the organization.
Utilizing member’s input through the member survey, this strategy session, and personal interviews with all of our board applicants, we are developing new projects. The proposed mission is: An international network of legal professionals improving the lives of military families. This will be
We have had exciting progress in New York this Spring. The president of the New York State Bar Association [NYSBA] was very supportive of our efforts at the ABA House of Delegates mid-year meeting this past February, and the NYSBA co-sponsored Resolution 108. Riding on this momentum, within days after the ABA meeting, MSJDN drafted proposed rule, 22 NYCRR 523, and submitted it along with an accompanying report to the presidents of the NYSBA and the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York
[WBASNY].
Proposed 22 NYCRR 523 was then referred to the NYSBA’s Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct [COSAC] and the WBASNY's Professional Ethics Committee. The COSAC review is now complete with only a few minor revisions made to our original draft rule, and we have been notified by the
COSAC committee chair that the NY State Bar intends to co-sponsor our rule change petition to New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.
The NYSBA House of Delegates meets several times each year, with the next meeting in June. We are unsure whether proposed 22 NYCRR 523 will be on the agenda in June or whether it will be pushed to the next meeting in November 2012. While we await specific guidance from the State Bar regarding the timing of
New York Update
PAGE 7 MILITARY SPOUSE JD N ETWORK
Volume 1, Issue 11 Mary Reding Co-Founder Executive Director milspouse.bar@ gamil.com
Hon. Erin Wirth
Co-Founder [email protected] Sally Reddy Director of Membership and Development membership.msjdn@ gmail.com
Thank you to all our great state coordinators, team members, and volunteers!
Contact Us
discussed by the Board and may evolve. It is a broad statement that gives us flexibility to grow over time.
Advocacy for state rule changes continues to be a top priority. However, we would like to expand to provide additional employment and networking resources. In addition, we are in a great position to facilitate the provision of legal services by local civilian legal
communities to military families in need. We will be developing ways to utilize our training and experience to help our fellow military families. Not only will this fulfill a significant need, but it will enable our members to gain experience and relationships which can further their own professional development. Thank you to everyone who has assisted our organization – by working in the states, providing support to members on
Facebook, sharing your advice in our member survey, and by signing up to be members and be counted. Every one of you is important to our network. our petition to the Court of
Appeals, members are
encouraged to continue to educate their colleagues about our efforts and to seek their support. If a public comment period is opened, we will provide details on the MSJDN Facebook and LinkedIn pages. Thank you Christine Abramowitz for your great work in New York!
