• Practice Much Animal Law?

Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog describes what ‘animal’ law is. He says that a while back saying you were in animal practice law was similar to saying ‘you were going to focus on alien abduction claims’ but now it’s actually starting to become a recognised practice area. Personally, I’ve never heard of it – but maybe it could be a fun quirky thing to bring up now and then. Who doesn’t love animals?

• Does a PowerPoint Presentation Have to Be Boring?

The Law Librarian’s Blog has a quick read on the importance of understanding Power Point to get the best out of it. It doesn’t have to be an outline. They link to this Microsoft Guide which might come in handy.

• Can ‘Professionalism’ be a Smokescreen for Mediocre Lawyering?
  

Students currently studying Civil Procedure might want to take a quick look at this. Is it always a good idea to courteously allow opposing solicitors and counsel an extension? Is it in the best interests of your clients?

• Google Voice

The Young Lawyers Blog wrote about the wonders of Google’s new Google Voice service and it does sound quite awesome. At least, it would have been awesome but a huge number of Google Voice iPhone app, that would help you to really make use of the service, got pulled from the Apple store. Then Apple expected the app developers to pay the refunds from their own pocket. And now it seems that the US Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) have sent Apple a few ‘please explain’ letters as to why the apps were suddenly pulled from the iTunes Store.

But anyways, when Google Voice does come out it sounds pretty cool.

• Two Aus Blogs
  

David Starkoff has written a great post about copyright law. Any students interested in IP should definitely have a read of it.

Open and Shut, a blog concerning FoI and privacy, writes about Open Australia being shut down by the Queensland Parliament

• Lifehacker Tips

Two helpful Lifehacker articles. Firstly, learn How to Work a Crowd. Secondly, learn When It’s Okay to Skip Class.

• Courtoons Takes a Break

I suppose it was unrealistic to expect David Mills to be able to keep putting out funny Courtoons every day, but it is still a bit disappointing to see that they will be slowing down. I really, really enjoyed his sense of humour (and it was always an easy way to find a law related joke to link to in the GG Grab) so if you haven’t already checked out his blog – go do so now!

• When You Go to Heaven…

Is it just me, or is it slightly poor form to take a photo of a dead lawyers office and use it as an example of what not to do? Either way, it’s a pretty good way of getting a message across. Make sure you have a work system in place that makes sense and would assist someone else that might have to take over for you at the drop of a hat … Perhaps you won the lottery and quit your job in glee … while still completely alive …

It has been two weeks since I have done a GG Grab, which has meant that there were 1000+ items for me to sort through in Google Reader.  So this week’s structure will be slightly different to account for the content.

I apologise if I’ve taken a link without sourcing it – I don’t think I missed anyone but I’m a little bit brain dead after sorting through hundreds and hundreds of posts!

• The New Lawyer Stuff

TNL did some nice stuff while I was away. There is a two part series on lawyers working in rural areas. Also, an article quite relevant to current students, Grads Spill on the ‘Boys Club’ Legal Profession. And also they raise the idea of new Carbon Trading as a Criminal Loophole.

• Getting a Job Stuff

A blog written by a young lady in recruitment, the Lets Talk Turkey Blog, has listed their Top 3 Interview Mistakes. She has also written about Whether You Should Have a Visual CV (which is like your resume, except on Youtube).

Lifehacker explains why we need to Get Comfortable Bragging to Perfect Our Elevator Pitch. The Simple Dollar has a list of Ten Unusual Ways to Improve Your Confidence.

The Mac Lawyer has written about How and Why a Lawyer Should Implement a Getting Things Done System.

Slaw considered whether there Is Such a Thing as Work Life Balance.

• U.S. Stuff

The Young Lawyers Blog have compiled a list of some of the stuff ups U.S. students have made with Web 2.0, entitled the Web 2.Oh No! Awards. They also comment on the awkwardness of recommending someone via LinkedIn right before you fire them LinkedIn Recommendations Not Recommended.

This one is actually Canadian, but chances are they don’t read this so I will put in here anyways – Law Librarians are Loving the Facebook (if you’re wondering why I linked this, it’s because good Law Librarians are solid gold – make friends with one).

If you’re someone who likes to get in on the ground floor of stuff, you might want to check out HUBStreet (via Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites)

While we don’t condone violence, this New York lawyer definitely is definitely more awesome’er than I am – Above the Law, Lawyer of the Day: Kick Ass Korean American Attorney.

• Funny Stuff

The Insider blog has a list of 8 Reasons Not to Go to Law School. (via Law Librarians Blog)

Above the Law ran a vote on Megyn Kelly v Sonia Sotomayor: Who Wore it Better? (News anchor and U.S. Supreme Court Nominee both wear the same outfit in television interview).

Slaw are asking whether there should be a law Against Shaving Your Head While Driving?

Legal Geekery have done up a nice chart to show students How Employable They Really Are …

A friend of mine linked this on Facebook. It’s an Australian Commonwealth DFAT Minute from 1963. Note,

“a man normally has his household run efficiently by his wife, who also looks after much of the entertaining. A woman Trade Commissioner would have all this on top of her normal work;”

Finally, Courtoons.

• I Don’t Wanna Work. I Just Want to Bang on the Keyboard All Day.

We’ve all been here. Study week, exams looming, textbooks open and a blank stare at an empty Word document. Procrastination sucks, slowly. This article discusses ways to get out of Struggletown and not suprisingly it comes to the conclusion that the best way to beat procrastination is to just get started.

• Tech Degrees a Waste for Lawyers.

The New Lawyer has written a nice piece that is relevant to law students looking to get into IP and tech areas. A senior partner from the firm Gilbert + Tobin advises people to focus on building a foundation of core legal skills first before thinking about developing any specialisation in the tech industries.

• Career Alternatives for (Laid-Off) Lawyers: Interior Designer

Above the Law do a great series that focuses on alternative careers for lawyers who are looking for a bit of a change. Generally they’re pretty zany out there alternatives, like professional gamblers or  wrestlers. But this one seems pretty reasonable. Guy gets laid off and turns his interior-designer hobby into a new career. Good for him :-)

• Great Firewall of China Descends on Tiananmen Square

Yesterday (or now in the slow parts of the world) was the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident, where the dude stands in front of the tanks. Slaw has written about the measures the Chinese Government have taken to stop the Chinese people talking about this historic event.

In a somewhat related topic, it seems the Chinese Government have also taken steps to block access to Twitter.

• Read the Hays Report on the Legal Sector

One of the few little grabs that I have actually stumbled upon myself, Hays have released their 2009 Sector Commentary on the legal sector. This information could be extremely useful to graduates. It gives some advice to graduates looking for work (for example, you should highlight your ability to ‘hit the ground running’) and also gives a general outline of what is happening in the market.

Information like this is solid gold to graduates as it helps you sound like you know what you’re on about. It’s pretty much common sense and stuff that we’ve been saying for a while, insolvency up banking and finance down etc – but it is definitely worth a read. It also has some statistics on average salaries and the like, information that can be extremely helpful if you’re fortunate enough to make it to the negotiation stages.

• Courtoons

• GenPink: Gen Y: It’s All in Your Head

Take a look at this excellent roundup of some ‘Gen Y’  blogs. To be honest, I really hate this ‘generational branding’ that’s become so popular. but some of the pieces that are linked to might be able to help inspire. Well worth a quick look.

• 3 Geeks Continue to Investigate Crowdsourcing

The last GG Grab linked to the 3 Geeks’s Crowdsourcing Experiment. Well they have continued to investigate the Crowdsourcing concept and the results are really interesting. It looks like an anonymous mob can be good for something other than taking oversized televisions from shop windows.

• Above the Law: Pls Hndle Thx

Exams are fast approaching. This article, ‘Smokey the Bear Says: Help Prevent Bar Exam Fires’ is a refreshing read. Stress less. Learn to cram. Profit. It’s obviously meant to be a tongue in cheek response, but the overall theme is right on the money in my opinion.

• Distraction is Good For You – Get Distracted

This piece from Lifehacker, argues that we’re living in an interconnected world and if you’re not losing concentration to Facebook quizzes then pal you just aint living! Well, maybe not. But it does suggest that distractions are a part of life and instead of punishing yourself for losing your focus, you should accept things and learn a way to just run with it.

• Lawyers Weekly: Firms Enter the Final Frontier

Lawyers Weekly have written a good article about law firms that are finding new ways to use their websites to build their brand.

I’m suprised they dont mention Deacons, who in my opinion are setting the standard when it comes to building an internet brand. Corporate websites are no longer limited to being point of sale systems. Or electronic signposts. Now, the internet is about community building and I’m looking forward to a ‘Final Frontier’ that includes more firms, like Deacons, willing to embrace Web 2.0 and contribute to an online community.

• 3 Geeks Test Crowdsourcing
  

Crowdsourcing is a new twist on the established concept of outsourcing. Essentially, companies use the internet to outosource their work to ‘crowds’ (that is, an anonymous group of people) and use that output in part of a bigger, usually internal, project.

The people at 3 Geeks and a Law Blog are testing whether this new Crowdsourcing method can be useful for law firms. At the moment they are yet to come up with any kind of solid conclusion, but I imagine the results will be quite interesting.

Fake Edit: It looks like the initial results are pretty positive.

• Matt Homann’s Ten Rules of Networking

Matt Homann, from the blog the [non]billable hour has come up with a nice list of his ‘rules’ for networking. Definitely worth a look.

• Make Your Own Business Cards with Business Card Star

Now that you’re an expert on how to schmooze, you need business cards, right? Well a new free service called Business Card Star will help you get them. All you need is some thick card like paper (and everyone loves an excuse to go to Office Works) and a home printer. Get to work!

(Remember to make sure you identify yourself as a law student, or whatever your current status is. There will likely be laws against palming yourself off as a lawyer if you’re a student or articled clerk!)

• “Judicial Smackdown” in the States

To be honest, I think I’d have a much easier time remembering the ratio of a judgment if I knew that its author could beat me up.

• US Judge “Knows His Sex Toys”

I’d also be more inclined to pay attention to judgments if I thought the author .. well, see for yourself.

• Swine Flu Will End All Life As We Know It.

The Good News – We have something to talk about that isn’t the depressing global financial crisis.

The Bad News – A global flu pandemic is racing across the globe. Did you ever see that movie 28 Days Later? Yeah … yeah …

As exams approach, perhaps now might be a good time to forge a strong relationship with your law school Dean. “I’m sorry <Insert Dean’s Name Here>, but my poor results were a result of my fear of contracting Swine Flu in the exam room.” Let us know how it works out!

Read more here:

- Flu Pandemic: Is Your Company’s Business Contiuinty Plan Ready?

• National Legal Profession

Last week the Council of Australian Governments announced their plans to get all of the States onto the same page and enact national legislation to regulate the legal profession. This is going to be kind of a big deal to us students, who are going to be the first lot of lawyers through any national system.

Read more here:

- The New Lawyer: National Profession Within 12 Months and Imminent, but Hurdles Remain.

- The Australian: Kevin Rudd to Create New Regulations for the Legal Profession (this article is actually back from Feb, so it looks like this has been toyed with for a while).

• Defence Spending Goes Beserk

Staying with the Government, the Commonwealth also released a whitepaper this week that announced a huge increase in military spending. 09 Graduate’s might want to consider graduate positions in the Defence Force (there are civilian positions for wusses like me) as it sounds like they’re about to come into a bit of money and might be hiring.

Read more here:

- Crikey: Rudd Sticks with “Fortress Australia” Among Funding Doubts

- The Australian: We Can Afford Defence Spending Spree

• Courtoons

Another funny Courtoons cartoon.

-

It seems that a nice little theme has developed for this Green Grads Grab, although I will say that it was quite untintentional. Anyways – stuff has happened, let’s recap.

• LinkedIn Promotes New Graduate Services

I’m not quite sure what new services actually come as part of their new Graduate promotion. At first glance it looks like the whole thing is just about signing up graduates to LinkedIn (which should be a no-brainer, anyways). There is a new Grad ‘09 Group, though, and it is probably worth joining.

I think LinkedIn is a great idea and definitely something that all Grads should be registering for, but I don’t think it has quite the same impact in Australia as it does in the States. But maybe in a few years..

Also, read: Lawyerist: How Law Students Should Use LinkedIn

• In a Poor Job Market, Students Look to Online Networking

This is an article (again from the States) which argues in favour of students using online networking to promote themselves professionally. It suggests that “In five years, you’re not going to need a resume,” as all the relevant information will be online.

• Google Launches New Profile Service

Following on from those two pieces nicely is Google’s new service which claims to help you control what comes up when someone types your name into a Google Search. The jury is still out on this one, with some people claiming it will be used to create a more detailed profile for market research purposes, and others saying it’s all good. Personally, I think it might be worth a try.

You can read more about this service:

The Other Blokes Blog: Google Profile – Yes or No

SEOmozBlog: Google Profile Search (aka How to Rank for Jennifer Lopez)

• ‘Cisco Fatty’ Teaches us an Important Lesson About Twitter

Finally to bring some levity to things, we have a great story about a perfect example of what not to do.

Stuff has happened, let’s recap.

• IceTV Beats Channel Nine in the High Court

You might remember this case from late last year, when we referred to it in our Tuesday Transcript section. Well the case is now over and Ice TV has emerged victorious (Note, I’m taking the high road and not making any ‘icy’ or ‘frost’ type puns).

If you’d like to look at this case further you can take a look at IceTV’s statement and summaries at Crikey and LawyersWeekly.

• Building a Better Legal Profession Students Still Dream of Power

This is an interesting article about an American student-group named Building a Better Legal Profession. In a way it is similar to what Green Grads is all about, except it looks as though the students there might be getting a bit carried away with their good intentions.

The article suggests that some students are actually turning down job offers because their potential employers aren’t progressive enough (specifically, are not doing enough pro bono work) for them? We think it’s great to be idealistic and it’s important to want to innovate and change the way things are for the better — but it’s very hard to do that when you’re unemployed. Take the job!

• Learn Willpower Techniques from the Marshmellow Test

A friend of mine told me about this research a few months ago but I’m only just now stumbling onto it myself.  It is pretty interesting. Enrolling into law school is, for a lot of us, very much a decision about delaying short term goodstuff for what we think will be a greater amount of goodstuff in the future.

How many law school students would end up eating the marshmellows?

• Laid Off Lawyer of the Day: Hudson River Plane Crash Passenger Frank Scudere

Man survives a plane crash into the New York Hudson River. His employer, who had planned to fire him the very next day, decide to give him a reprieve and allow him to keep his job. Man then loses job anyways two months later. Man then uses plane crash publicity to voice his anger.

You know personally, I think the buzz of ‘holy shit I just survived a plane crash into the Hudson River’ would probably see me through the rest of the year. Sure losing a job sucks, but, come on – your plane fell out of the sky!

• Top Ten Home Office Hacks

Not all of us spend a lot of time in the law library, some of us prefer to get our work done at home. If you’re one of those people then make an effort to jazz up your home office. These simple little ‘hacks’ can end up making a big difference and it’s pretty obvious that if your study area is a nice place to work, you’re going to get more done.

Stuff has happened, let’s recap.

• Allens Offers Redundancies

Not really great news for us, really. Though it does say in the article that they have no plans to reduce their recruitment, it potentially makes for an eery vibe.

• Succeed or Else!

Tired of sitting down to study hard only to find yourself trawling Facebook wondering where the last four hours went? Well, why not voluntarily hand over what’s left of your Rudd money to a random internet company, who will keep generously agree to keep your money unless you meet your goals?

We’d all have to be idiots NOT to do it!

• Harvard Law School Grade Reform

A while ago Harvard Law School agreed to award all of their grades on a pass / fail basis. I think that this is a great idea and I wonder which of the Australian Law Schools will have the guts to follow their lead. Perhaps once the Melbourne Model gains some more traction here we can expect some innovative changes to the way our law schools do things.

• “It’s Going to Be Teabagging Day”

Well, this is awkward.

[via Above the Law]

• Courtoons

David Mills from Courtoons is running another of his Caption Contests. Come up with a funny caption and he’ll send the original cartoon out to you, though I’m not sure if he’ll send it internationally. He seems pretty cool though so my uninformed and potentially incorrect opinion is that he definitely will, with no problems at all.

One of his funny Courtoons:

1. Alternative Pricing for Lawyers

3 Geeks and a Law Blog have written some interesting pieces regarding billing alternatives to the old faithful billable hours. According to the 3 geeks, billing alternatives “have become the new mantra” for clients. While I wouldn’t suggest fighting for a billing overhaul in your first six weeks of articles – as a new wave of graduates we are probably the most likely group to accept innovating new ways of getting paid.

The series is worhwhile reading and you can find it here.

2. Kick Your Gmail Account Into High Gear

Remember that Tech Tips segment I was doing a while ago? Yeah, yeah. That was great. Anyways, until I find time to write about it some more – have another read of Tech Tips: GMail and then follow that up with this article, 90 Tools and Tips to Turn You Into a GMail Pro.

(via Jim Calloway’s Law Practice Tips Blog).

3. Fiji Constitution Suspended

In World Affairs, the Fiji President has reappointed a former coup leader as Prime Minister. Our own Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, has described the current Fiji as being a ‘virtual dictatorship’.

This all follows the recent suspension of the Fiji Constitution. You can read a good summary of everything over at Slaw.

Just goes to show that these laws that we all spend so much time studying are really just pieces of paper. And when society breaks down, guns > pieces of paper.

4. Lawyer’ing Sucks? Have You Considered a Career in Professional Gambling?

Tell ya what, as soon as steamboats come back into fashion I’m taking this up and calling myself Maverick.

Above the Law: Career Alternatives Poker is a Better Bet than Yale Law School.

5. Ten Reasons for a Law Student to Blog

Green Grads needs more contributors, so to convince you here are 10 Reasons for a Law Student to Blog.

Of course, the writer doesn’t really mention any of the risks in law student blogging. Putting your thoughts up on the interwebs generally increases the chance of a potential employer finding something they might dislike about you.

However, he is right. If the only thing you get out of blogging is that it means there are a few more Google hits before someone gets sent to your drunken Myspace / Facebook pictures – that has to be a good thing, right?