In the on-going series, the Law Career Services Public Interest Coordinators share their greatest hits of advice and resources. A great resource for finding professional bar associations globally, can be found here.
Joining organizations can further your career search in at least two meaningful ways. First, membership in general bar associations such as the Chicago Bar Association can expose you to many practice areas and specialties of which you may not have been aware. Beyond the informational and organizational meetings conducted by these groups, there are often opportunities to be exposed to tangible applications involving the particular area of law of the specialty committee or section, including various pro bono, community service and Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars. These opportunities highlight the second major benefit of organization membership, which is networking and socializing that is a significant portion of most meetings and events. The chance to meet attorneys, judge, and fellow law students will allow you to begin to make inroads and contacts in your area of interest well in advance of graduation, a necessary and valuable advantage in the increasingly competitive legal market.
