Far too many attorney job seekers under estimate the importance of a carefully crafted cover letter as a pivotal tool in their job search. The attorney cover letter is an important introduction to who you are, what you have to offer, and why you are interested in the firm (or company or other entity) to which you are applying.  Skimping on or glossing over its contents show the recipient of your application that you are not serious about wanting to work for them, or that they are only one in a long line of places to which you are sending the identical, slipshod letter.  Furthermore, many attorney jobs are writing intensive.  Employers assume if an attorney can’t even write a good cover letter, their same inattention will carry over to their legal work on the job.

Too many attorneys assume that the cover letter will go unread, and that the recipient is only interested in the applicant’s resume.  This is simply not the case.  Employers receive hundreds of resumes for one position, and do not have time to review every resume in depth.  The cover letter provides a capsule description of yourself and motivates the reader to turn to your resume, rather than discard it for the next one in the pile.  This article will advise you how to write a winning attorney cover letter that will be sure to get you noticed.

Building a successful career as a female attorney comes with its own set of unique challenges and obstacles to overcome.  Female attorneys often find the demanding practice of law hard to balance with raising a family.  In addition, despite the tremendous strides women have made, it is still an unfortunate reality that law is still a male dominated field, despite the facts that law school student classes now have a proportionate number of male and female students.  This article will discuss how female attorneys can have a successful and rewarding career as an attorney.

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Choose Employers Who Employ High Level Women.  Certain employers are much more women friendly than others.  When considering applying to a law firm, take a look at their website and see how many female partners (or even associates) that they have.    A firm that counts a decent number of female attorneys amongst its ranks, particularly in a leadership role, are far more likely to be support of the success of female attorneys.  If you are considering working in house, do your homework and see how many women hold executive positions.

Seek Out Family Friendly Employers.    Many progressive employers now have part time and flexible/alternative work arrangements available.  Review a prospective employer’s employee handbook, or don’t be afraid to ask.  Your prospective employer’s response should give you some idea as to reasonable the company or law firm is with respect to family issues.