March 2013

Cover Story

Student Loan Timeline for Graduating Students By Heather Jarvis

Graduating law students have a lot to think about. You’ll need to pay attention to your student loans while you are studying for the bar examination and conducting your employment search. An organized approach can keep your payments affordable, protect your credit rating, and help you avoid fees and extra interest costs.

The Ethics of Online Advertising

By G.M. Filisko

Before you begin practicing, make sure your seemingly innocuous online chatter does not expose you to an ethics violation.

Mind Your Mannerisms: It's Not Just What You Say But How You Say It

By Carla J. DeVelder

Communication studies have found that there are three elements to any face-to-face communication: words, tone of voice, and nonverbal behaviors. In addition, studies show that tone and nonverbal elements are particularly important for communicating feelings and attitude, especially when they are incongruent with the words being said.

Good Process = Good Ethics

By Mary Dunnewold

For lawyers, ethics and organization go hand in hand. So while the worst consequence for a messy room in high school or college may have been parental or roommate ire, in law practice, the consequences for a messy room, metaphorical or otherwise, can be much more significant.

Balancing Law School with Life

By Amy L. Jarmon

Law students often complain that they no longer have a life because law school is all-consuming. Becoming totally immersed in law studies and losing balance in one’s life may well lead to frustration, discontent, lower grades, and even illness.

In Session

ER Physician Uses Medical Skills as Law Student

By Eileen M. Laux

A large majority of law students have the same overwhelming feeling as they go through law school––not enough hours in the day and too many tasks to complete. First-year Quinnipiac University School of Law student Vanessa Brown somehow finds the time to complete her law school duties and save lives. Brown is a physician in the emergency room of Stamford Hospital in Connecticut.

I Wish I'd Known

By Delida Costin

Without full engagement, you won't learn all that there is to learn.

In Brief

Better bar exam, legal research, interview traits.

Critical Thinking Skills Have Been . . . Critical

By Leslie A. Gordon

Eric Tao went to law school “to defer life,” quips the 1995 graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of Law. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do.” Yet despite what he calls “aimless direction,” Tao says putting himself in the law school environment was the best decision he ever made. In law school, he fine-tuned his liberal arts college background and became “skilled at critical thinking.”

Division Dialogue

SLD Gives Students Experience in Elder Law
By Paul Bennett
Improving Procedural Fairness and the Sentencing Process
By Eliana Torres
Criminal Justice Globalized
By Genevie Gold
Mental Health Day Reminder
By Nicholas Cantrell

Officially Speaking

Recognize Your Peers and Get Involved in Your SBA

By Nick Guinn

Students, faculty, and staff are accomplishing great things at our law schools. Some of these leaders and entities are managing well-oiled machines institutionalized many years ago; other projects are in their infancy. Regardless of the longevity of such endeavors, most, if not all, deserve recognition. At the very least, we should bring attention to the efforts that these leaders put forth on a local level. Often, these leaders deserve more—perhaps national recognition.