First-Rate Faculty

By Joseph Gasser

One of the major highlights of a UConn Law education is our outstanding faculty. Curent students already know this and incoming students will be quick to find it out! We are fortunate to be surrounded by a network of excellent, accessible professors. Don’t be shy about tapping into that network.

Our professors at UConn law care about their students. They’re proud when their students engage in their coursework and class discussions and come away with a new or deeper understanding of course material. Outside of class, faculty members enjoy including students in their scholarly interests; many professors hire research assistants to help with their projects, on anything subject from legal philosophy to antitrust law to class action litigation, which is a ready-made opportunity to work face-to-face with experts working on cutting-edge scholarship.

And even beyond academics, our professors are eager to discuss interesting legal or other issues and developments in the law outside of class. This willingness to engage outside the classroom also extends to personal life; professors will stop students in the hallways to congratulate them on an achievement in a mock trial competition, on their journal note being published, on an engagement, etc.

Students shouldn’t forget that our professors are happy to be resources for us in other ways; when a student has worked hard in a class and developed a relationship with a professor, that professor will often write a letter of recommendation for a clerkship or other position, or serve as a reference on a job application.

In my three years as a law student here, I’ve never experienced any reluctance on a professor’s part if I asked for extra help in class, had a concern outside of class, or needed support while applying for a job. I’m thankful for each opportunity I had to meet and work with our professors and look forward to keeping in touch with them after graduation.

OCI: On Campus Interviewing

By Nina Pelc-Faszcza

Every fall, law schools across the country participate in the fall recruiting season, often called On Campus Interviewing, or “OCI.” During OCI, select employers (mostly larger law firms, but some small law firms, governmental agencies, and in-house departments participate as well) come to the Law School campus, or hold an off-campus event, to interview students for 2L summer associate positions, and sometimes even full-time after-graduation employment. Most summer associate positions at law firms come with the possibility of receiving an offer for after-graduation employment as an associate at that firm, so the positions are highly coveted and quite competitive. Many law firms use the OCI process as the sole method of hiring for their associate attorneys, so it is therefore crucial to take advantage of this opportunity if you are interested and able. 

UConn often has employer participation from most of Connecticut’s largest and most well-known firms, as well as several top firms in Boston and a few firms in New York City. Mid-sized and smaller Connecticut firms often participate in OCI at UConn as well, in addition to a few other firms around the country (typically limited to the east coast).

The application process has a few different steps. First, in mid-July, students will submit an application package electronically to all employers participating in the OCI program that they are interested in working for through a centralized database managed by UConn Law’s Career Planning Center. Each employer requests its own set of materials, but the typical documents include a resume, cover letter, and academic transcript. After the application deadline closes, each employer will review its received applications, and grant interviews to students who it thinks are qualified for the open position(s). Next, those students will have a 20-30 minute interview with a representative of that employer on campus (or off-campus - for example, the interviews for Boston law firms take place at a central location in Boston). If the initial screening interview goes well, the employer will then invite students to their office for a “call-back” interview, which typically consists of several separate interviews with attorneys, and maybe even an informal lunch. Lastly, the employer will extend offers to select students who it wishes to hire. The process takes place over a period of months, and students who receive offers will usually have them by November.

The most important thing to remember about the OCI process is that very few students find employment through this process. Each year, only an average of 10-15% of students will receive offers to work at OCI firms. Therefore, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and plan on applying for jobs on your own through direct application methods. Nevertheless, participating in OCI is a great way to practice your interview skills and make connections with employers that may end up helping you later.

Where to Go Hartford & West Hartford?

By Alexandra Cavaliere

Having lived on a farm in southern CT my whole life I never really had a chance to explore Hartford. Hartford doesn't often make the headlines for top places to visit but don't let that fool you into thinking Hartford is lacking in things to do. For me, good food and a place to show off my horrible dancing ability are the two things I look for when moving to a new place, and believe me, I found both. Hartford has become a place I go when I want a good night out with my friends or a romantic good date night. 

Over the weekend if I am looking for:

• addictive BBQ, I go to Bears Smokehouse
• great live music and the best beer selection I go to McLaddens or World of Beer
• a hot spot with dancing and great cocktails I go to Nixs
• great pizza.. well there are a ton of options: Joeys, Lunas, Harrys, Pepes and Park Lane
• upscale farm to table goodness I go to Firebox
• trivia, beer, pub food and bingo, I go to Half Door 
• cool art and food I go to Tisane 
• the very best Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food served by a local family, I go to Tangiers
• country music and dancing I go to Rocking Horse 
• a killer cocktail I go to Bar Taco
• and the BEST deli around brings me to Hall's Market

When it comes to shopping, which I do more often then I should, there are a few great options in the area. The West Farm Mall in Farmington is about 15 minutes away and has your staple department stores and eateries. Blue Back Square in West Hartford offers dozens of restaurants, retailers and boutiques (often a little more high end). Finally you have the Manchester Mall. It's about 30 minutes away but offers everything and anything you could need all in one area.   

In addition to the nightlife, Hartford and West Hartford are filled with a number of great places to go including: The Mark Twain House, Bushnell Park, The Convention Center, Infinity Hall, Connecticut Science Center, Connecticut Ballet, Historical Society, Hartford Symphony and more! 

There is so much more to do in the area and it only takes talking to a student or faculty member to find out. 

Hartford: http://www.hartford.com/
West Hartford: https://www.westhartfordct.gov/things_to_do/

Pro Se: Reflections: Managing law school and motherhood

By Jessica Colin-Greene ‘18

Motherhood is an exhausting joy. Law school, with its dribs and drabs of manic glory, is mostly just exhausting. Their contemporaneous existence is like living inside a Tetris game. You have to be one step ahead of those pieces; you have to slide them in just right or you suffocate. You implode.

Mornings are cramped. I wake up with a child on my hip. Getting two adults and a toddler out of the house is like lining up kindergarteners for an unexpected fire drill. There is sweating involved. When I’ve done all I can toward breakfast, diapers, teeth, hair, and clothing, I dart from the house with the dread of time closing in on me. I spill out onto the road like an unrestrained water hose, racing gracelessly toward Hartford. Am I wearing my house slippers? Yes. Yes, I am.

Every day is a mini deployment.

The first semester of my first year of law school was incredibly difficult. Its teeth have left marks. My call for mercy is echoing still, swiveling through the same great chasm that swallowed my gusto and coughed it up as madness, sometimes apathy.

The first thing I had to figure out was homework. Quite a conundrum, really, because my time belongs to my 18-month old daughter. And, of course, law school demands that my time belong to law school. The tension between these competing forces is an unavoidable psychological cruelty. But time management is an endurance course that gets easier with practice. Next thing you know, you’re an athlete. Or you’re passing out at the finish line, but you made it there.

I am developing two distinct muscles simultaneously. My capacity for efficient focus has grown tremendously, and that is my intellectual grit muscle. The other muscle is the how-many-hours-can-I-spend-away-from-home muscle. That is an emotional well-being muscle. It’s the weaker of the two. I have worked up to the amount of time spent away from home like you work up to a 5k run, but my capacity for it falters on occasions of overwhelming workload, late night mock trial scrimmaging, and mandatory orientations. The muscle whines when it’s weak. It refuses to perform. But that other muscle, it is strong enough to hold those Tetris pieces at bay, at least until the weekend.

Link to PDF of March Issue: https://uconnlawprosenews.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/march-issue-final.pdf

Preparing for Moot Court

By Brendan Horgan

The suit is pressed, the hair is perfect, the shoes are shined, and your notes are impeccable

A moot court argument is a mock appellate argument. The lawyer stands behind a podium and advocates to a panel of judges. During the advocate’s arguments, the judges can interrupt and redirect the conversation with questions. So, a lawyer can never be 100% prepared for a moot, because after all, who knows what the judges will ask?

A prepared advocate will anticipate the questions. By knowing the case law inside and out, a prepared advocate becomes an expert on the field being discussed. So, the advocate must prepare for the unknown by mastering the subject matter, and conducting practice arguments. Practice arguments get the advocate accustomed to thinking on their feet.

To paraphrase Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia, “Appellate advocacy is simply one lawyer attempting to educate other lawyers on a particular area of the law.”  So, in preparing for your argument, you must learn the applicable law and cases in a way that you can explain them to other people. Think of your argument not as a speech, but as a lawyer sitting at a table with other lawyers discussing the law. Your job is to keep the conversation travelling in the area you desire. The judges can ask any number of potential questions, but you must be able to answer their question in a way that brings the argument back to your major points.

There is nothing like the impending feeling of a pressure packed oral argument. A law student advocate is consumed in the days leading up to the big event. Thousands of potential scenarios are running through the advocates head. The key to success relies heavily on preparation. Preparation breeds confidence, and confidence leads to success.