Prospective Students

The single most important function of our office is counseling. All our career counselors are former practicing attorneys who were involved in recruiting at their prior employers or were recruiters in the legal area at their previous employers. To advance our counseling practice we have also developed the following initiatives:

• CPC House Liaisons
  Each CPC career counselor is a Liaison and Point Counselor for a 1L House. More than just your 1L House Liaison, your CPC counselor will continue to reach out to you throughout your time in law school to alert you to programming and resources, check in on your job search progress, and Invite you to one-on-one and group counseling sessions. Your CPC counselor follows you throughout your law school career until you obtain your first permanent post-graduate position, whether your goal is for that to be in the legal profession or another area utilizing your law degree.

• Career Counseling Sessions
  Interactive one-on-one counseling sessions engage you in the job search process through: self-assessment, identifying your career path and options, critique of application materials, job search advice, navigating hiring processes and career resources, and developing your networking persona or approach.
  
  Small group counseling sessions allow you to benefit from your peers' questions, experiences, and backgrounds. Some small group counseling session topics include Summer Legal Job Search, Strategy Sessions for Small and Midsize Law Firm Job Searches, and International J.D. Student Career Development.
   
• Preparing You for an Interview
  Performing well in an interview is important, and we are here to help.
  1. Mock Interviews
     JD students and alumni are welcome year-round for in-person practice interviews with our career counselors. We also coordinate a large scale Mock Interview Program each July welcoming more than 50 attorneys from employers who participate in our Fall On-Campus Interview Program.
      
  2. Interview Prep Session
     This is a topic-based preparatory session, in-person or by phone, that includes proper interviewing etiquette, materials to bring to the interview, highlighting your strengths and researching prospective employers.
      
• Drop-In Hour Service
  Drop-ins answer your brief career-related questions (10-15 minutes). Each week we have 12 drop-in hours for you to avail yourself of, which can be either in person or by phone.

As an Evening Division student, you have a unique set of circumstances and are managing a delicate balance of important commitments, from work to law school to family. We have developed the following Evening Division Platform that is tailored specifically to serve you as an Evening Division student:

• 1LE House Liaison and Evening Division Point Counselor
  During law school, your House Liaison/Point Counselor proactively reaches out to you to alert you to programming and resources, check in on your job search progress, and encourage you to come in for one-on-one counseling sessions.  The Evening Division Point Counselor is particularly focused on the unique needs of evening division students and is a great resource for you in this journey!
   
• Career Counseling Sessions
  Interactive one-on-one counseling sessions engage you in the job search process through: self-assessment, identifying your career path and options, a critique of application materials, job search advice, navigating hiring processes and career resources, and developing your networking persona or approach.
  
  Small group counseling sessions allow you to benefit from your Evening Division peers' questions, experiences, and backgrounds. Some small group counseling session topics include Post-Graduate Legal Job Search, Strategy Sessions for Small and Midsize Law Firm Job Searches, and  International J.D. Student Career Development.
  ​​​​​
  To accommodate Evening Division students, as well as alumni, all sessions can be done by phone. We also have Evening Division Student Only Counseling slots.
   
• Evening Student Focused Career Development Resources
  We have developed specific proprietary career resources focused on the unique needs of our Evening Division students: (i) Career Planning for the Evening Division Students; (ii) Career Planning for the Second Career Student; and (iii) CPC Monthly Evening Student E-Newsletters.
   
• Programming
  Tailored programming for Evening Division students:
   
  1. Evening Student Pizza Nights
     Each year the Office of Student Affairs hosts monthly Evening Division Student Pizza Nights. The CPC Evening Division Point Counselor attends all eight pizza nights throughout the year to meet informally with students and answer questions. In addition, we host the programming during two of the Pizza Night Sessions:
     • Getting Legal Experience as an Evening Division Student Program (fall semester) is a panel of alumni and current law students that provides concrete and direct advice on how you can gain legal experience through engaging in law-related activities both inside and outside the law school.
     • Being an Effective Evening Division Student Program (spring semester) is a panel of alumni and current students that provides advice and guidance on balancing work, family, and school, as well as navigating the job search process.
        
  2. Skills-Based Programming
     Recognizing that you likely have had a full-time job or prior/current career in another field and are looking to leverage your current position or that prior experience, we have tailored programs with a second career focus:
     • Resume Workshop
     • Cover Letter Workshop
     • Interviewing Skills

Our office, in conjunction with the Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC), has developed a robust Professional Development Platform to guide you from your first-year through the first job and beyond. Working within the NALP Guidelines, we begin to work with you on October 15 of your first year.

The Professional Development Platform involves an integrated approach:

• CPC House Liaisons
  Each CPC career counselor is a Liaison and Point Counselor for a 1L House. More than just your 1L House Liaison, your CPC counselor will continue to reach out to you throughout your time in law school to alert you to programming and resources, check in on your job search progress, and Invite you to one-on-one and group counseling sessions. Your CPC counselor follows you throughout your law school career until you obtain your first permanent post-graduate position, whether your goal is for that to be in the legal profession or another area utilizing your law degree.

• Programming: Career Exploration and Skills-Based Programs
  Working alongside PIRC, we have created a rich series of programming for you, including introductory programs and orientations, career exploration programs, and skills-based programs. The 1L curriculum kicks off with Getting Started: Navigating Your Career Journey with the CPC, followed by the Roadmap to Summer Opportunities series, which focuses on different sectors of the legal market for summer jobs, as well as skills-based programs that focus on application materials and the legal interview. View a full listing of programs offered to the first-year JD class.
   
• Counseling: The Small Group Summer Legal Job Search Strategy Sessions
  Recognizing that students often enjoy working in groups, we created these interactive and dynamic Small Group Sessions (limited to five students) that offer direct advice and guidance on the summer job search. Each session explores the paths available to gain practical legal experience to complement your legal studies, including study abroad programs, research assistantships, fellowships, internships, and other opportunities.
   
• The Mock Interview Program
  Each year, we coordinate a formal Mock Interview Program designed to help prepare you for the Fall On-Campus Interview Program (Fall OCI). Held during two evenings in July, we welcome more than 50 alumni who work at employers participating in our Fall OCI Program. This program not only provides you with a practice interview and invaluable feedback from an attorney but also enables you to make connections with alumni.
   
• The Professional Development Handbook
  This online Handbook is a comprehensive career development resource. It also houses sections for second-career students and Evening Division students.
  
  Take a moment to look at the Table of Contents for this unique proprietary resource!

Each year, we offer a diverse array of programs for JD students and alumni, focusing on the following three key areas:

• Skills-Based Programs
  Although much of our skills-based programming falls within the First-Year Career Development Programming, after your first year we continue to help you hone your skills. We provide you with concrete tactics to enhance your performance during all stages of the job search, from identifying legal employers to drafting compelling application materials and excelling at the interview stage.
   
• Career Exploration
  What can you do with your law degree? What type of law practice will excite you? In which legal field might you excel? Explore different and exciting paths while meeting and interacting with alumni-attorneys from government agencies, public interest organizations, law firms both large and small, and corporations. Attend our unique Lunch with a Lawyer Roundtable series which provides you with the opportunity to enjoy lunch in an informal setting with alumni-attorneys in practice areas and settings of interest. 
   
• Career Success/Professionalism
  How do you put your best foot forward? What do legal employers expect of you? Our programs teach you how to showcase your best professional self. Some topics include: standing out as a summer associate, navigating diversity in the workplace, women in practice, and navigating your career as a first-generation law student. 

Throughout the year we welcome more than 150 alumni at our programs, providing you with the opportunity to interact with and learn from the Fordham Law network. We specifically dedicate time at the end of each program for a "Meet & Greet" with the panelists. Each year we partner with student organizations to put forth new and dynamic programming of interest to our students.

We have created a wealth of proprietary career-related guides and tip sheets to help you navigate your career journey. These resources provide advice and guidance on a host of career-related topics from refining application materials to interviewing and networking to career exploration. 

As a first-year student, you will also have access to the CPC/PIRC Professional Development Handbook. This online resource will help you kick off your career development at Fordham with sections about job search strategies, resume and cover letter drafting, interviewing, and more. 

Take a moment to view a listing of our other guides and resources on the CPC website under the CPC Job Search Guides and Materials heading.

CPC Specialty Career Development Guides include

• Government Job Search
• International Legal Job Search
• Alternative Legal Careers

Quick Tip Sheets and Mini Guides include

• Primer on the Compliance Field and Opportunities
• Taking Prosecutor & Public Defender Interview Preparation to the Next Level
• Networking for Success: Leveraging the Power of LinkedIn
• How to Have a Successful Summer Experience
• How to Have a Successful On-Campus Interview

As a JD student at Fordham Law School, you can take advantage of a number of programs our office puts together to make it easier for you to learn about employers, meet with their representatives, find out about their hiring needs, and apply for available positions. Some are available to you even after graduation, as part of the comprehensive career planning services we provide to Fordham Law JD alumni in perpetuity.

• Employer Receptions
  Each January, we host a series of on-campus receptions attended by close to 60 employers that participate in our Fall On-Campus Recruiting Program. Attendees range from law firms and corporations to government agencies and public interest organizations. As a first-year JD student, you are invited to attend these receptions, where you will be able to meet and mingle with attorneys and recruiting personnel, many of whom are Fordham Law alumni, in an informal setting.
   
• On-Campus Recruiting
  We want your job search to be as smooth and efficient as we can make it. Toward that end, our recruitment program is year-round. We welcome to our campus a wide variety of employers: law firms, corporations, financial institutions, government agencies (including district attorneys' offices), and public interest/not-for-profit organizations interested in our students because of their reputation for excellence.
  
  Check out this list of employers that interviewed on campus during the past academic year.
   
• Career Fairs
  If you are one of the many Fordham students interested in a career in public service or in the public interest, you can take advantage of the two largest public service career fairs in the country: the Equal Justice Works Career Fair (in Washington, D.C.) and the Public Interest Legal Career Fair (in New York City). The Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) coordinates Fordham Law s participation in these two career fairs.
   
• Online Job Bank
  While you are a student, access to our online job bank allows you to search for and apply to listings for summer and term-time internships, and full-time employment post-graduation. If you are a student in our Evening Division, you can even search for law-related full-time day jobs. As an alumnus, you will be able to search for and apply to lateral opportunities. The employers who post their hiring needs in our Job Bank include law firms of all sizes, government agencies, corporate legal departments, public interest organizations, and even courts. We are constantly engaged in employer outreach to expand our Job Bank.

**In 2019 Fordham Law launched the Center on Judicial Events & Clerkships (CJEC) as a distinct and separate center from the Career Planning Center.**

The Fordham CJEC has two intertwined mandates: engaging the judiciary and supporting our clerkship applicants. We develop innovative ways to engage with members of the judiciary to enrich the life of the School, such as through our Courts in Residence and Jurist in Residence initiatives.  At our core we provide comprehensive support to our students and alumni pursuing clerkships, from strategy to application materials to interviewing. 

In terms of judicial clerkship support:

Support to Create Your Best Clerkship Candidacy
The CJEC oversees the Clerkship Platform and works collaboratively with dedicated members of our faculty who are part of our Faculty Clerkship Committee.  We provide support that includes:

• one-on-one strategic clerkship counseling sessions
• application material review and critique
• communication regarding application timing and processes
• mock interview support
• guidance before a clerkship interview

Judicial Relationships: The relationships that the CJEC fosters with judges on the federal and state courts strengthen our clerkship opportunities.  

• Results: In the five-year period between 2014-2019, in any given term, Fordham Law has had between 45 and 55 judicial clerks at both the federal and state levels. During this time, federal courts represented have included the Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth and Federal circuits, the Southern and Eastern districts of New York, as well as many other federal district courts. State court clerkships during this time have primarily included New York and New Jersey. Over the last several years, the clerkship hiring landscape has seen two significant changes:
  1. Clerkship applicants secure their clerkship for a term one or two years out from graduation.
  2. An increase in the number of clerkships obtained by alumni following a few years of practice.

Our Alumni Clerk Network: The CJEC cultivates a robust alumni clerk network by continuing to provide support to our clerks in their post-clerkship employment, whether that path leads to prosecutors offices, public defenders, white collar boutiques or elsewhere.  

Our Key Judicial Clerkship Guides
We constantly monitor trends within the courts and engage in direct outreach to provide clerkship applicants vital and current information regarding clerkship opportunities, application processes, and deadlines. We take great care in our clerkship-related handbooks and guides, which are updated annually and include The Judicial Clerkship Handbook and State Court Clerkships in the Tri-State Area.

Key Judicial Clerkship Resources
We have also developed unique and proprietary resources, leveraging the Fordham Law School alumni network, to assist aspiring clerks.

1. List of Fordham Law Alumni Judges at the Federal and State court levels
2. Database of Fordham Law Alumni who are or were clerks on State and Federal courts over the past 10 years
3. Proprietary FLS Clerkship Interview Feedback 

Judicial Center Events

We host programs designed not only to educate and assist you with the clerkship process (such as Clerkship Informational Workshops) but we also host events designed to enable you to network with judges, faculty, and current/former clerks. Check out our upcoming events! 

All of this combines to create a judicial center that is uniquely positioned to enhance opportunities for our students and alumni. 

Visit the Fordham CJEC to learn more!  

The Fordham Law School alumni network is known for being exceptionally strong, active, and supportive and they are here to help you!

Consisting of more than 17,000 individuals, our alumni network represents an extraordinary and diverse group of professionals throughout the world. Through their efforts to advance Fordham Law s mission and reputation, our alumni engage and collaborate with fellow alumni, students, and the wider Fordham Law community. Spotlighted alumni resources and initiatives include:

• Fordham Law Alumni Association (FLAA)
  The FLAA is one of the largest law school alumni associations in the country as well as an excellent resource for students and graduates alike. The FLAA serves to deepen the already strong bond between Fordham Law and its alumni and emphasizes the importance of engaging students with the alumni network from day one.
   
• FLAA 1L Advising Program
  Launched in 2013 by the alumni association, the FLAA 1L Advising Program pairs each first-year section with a diverse group of alumni advisors that span different career paths, seniority levels, background, and experiences. The advisors serve as a resource for students on a variety of topics from mastering the first year to strategies for interviewing. Advisors meet with their sections as a whole a couple of times a year but are also available for students to reach out to on an individual basis.
   
• Worldwide Alumni Chapters
  Fordham Law alumni can be found in 49 U.S. states as well as 80 countries worldwide. The FLAA currently has 29 national and international chapters. These chapters are a great way to network and connect with Fordham Law alumni around the globe.
   
• Networking Affinity Groups
  The FLAA has established 11 affinity groups, which connect alumni, students, and faculty with shared interests, practice areas, and backgrounds.  Each of these specific affinity groups regularly host networking receptions, panel discussions, and committee meetings.  These affinity groups include Alumni Attorneys of Color, Business and Financial Law, Compliance, Entrepreneurial Law, Intellectual Property and Information Law, International Law, LGBTQ, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Public Interest, Service and Government, Solo/Small Firm, Women’s Networking – D.C. Chapter, and Women’s Networking – NYC Chapter.

• Entrepreneurial Law Advisory Council
  The Entrepreneurial Law Advisory Council was created in 2016 in order to provide students with a structured program that delivers practical problem-solving opportunities to serve the strategic and legal needs of start-up enterprises, yielding graduates with both marketable skills and a strong affinity for Fordham’s Jesuit tradition of service and ethics.
   
• Public Interest Advisory Council
  The Fordham Law Public Interest Advisory Council is a group of Law School alumni and local public interest leaders who provide advice on how best to prepare students for legal practice in public interest and public service positions, including legal knowledge, professional skills, and the ethos of service. The council will also provide feedback on the effectiveness of the School’s programs and serve as a source of ideas for better linking students to public service and public interest career.
   
• Small to Midsize Law Firm Leaders Dean's Advisory Council
  Composed of alumni in leadership roles at small to midsize firms, this council offers expertise and guidance as Fordham Law prepares students to excel in small-to-midsize firm settings. The council was formed as part of Fordham Law s ongoing initiative to offer more career-centered resources to its graduating students.

From participating in career development programming for students and alumni, to acting as mock interviewers and providing invaluable mentoring through informational interviews and other means, Fordham Law alumni stand ready to assist you as you enter and advance throughout your professional career. We encourage you to visit the Office of Alumni Relations webpage for more information.

Fordham Law School’s motto “In the service of others” is reflected in all aspects of the Law School experience. Whether you want to pursue a career path in public service at a nonprofit, NGO, or government agency—or you simply want to make a difference by doing pro bono work—Fordham offers an abundance of support, from the counselors in the CPC to the Public Interest Resource Center and the Faculty Fellowship Committee. Your journey begins with one-on-one counseling with us or the counselors in PIRC. You can then continue to explore paths and navigate the public service job search through our resources.

Our programming, in conjunction with PIRC’s as well as the Law School’s centers and institutes, provides you with the opportunity to meet attorneys in public service, often alumni.

Are you thinking about a public service fellowship? In collaboration with PIRC, a committee of faculty members will mentor you through the process.

Not sure you want to pursue a career path in public service but want to effect change? Fordham Law has a vast array of options for you to explore and in which you can get involved during your time here.

The PIRC-sponsored student groups, the Stein Center for Law and Ethics, the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, and the Feerick Center for Social Justice represent just a few of the myriad outlets for Fordham lawyers to make a difference.