Alumni Information
Welcome! We are happy to extend our assistance to University of Nebraska College of Law alumni. Whether you are a recent graduate or nearing retirement, our doors are open to you. As a graduate, you have access to:
Job postings.
Web resources such as ROSCOE and the CSO Guides.
General job-search counseling.
Resume and cover letter review.
Reciprocity with other law schools.
All of our services are coordinated through ROSCOE, the College of Law’s online system for career opportunities and education. You can find more information about ROSCOE here.
Hire a UNL law student or alumnus
If you are looking to hire a UNL law student, we can assist you with your recruiting needs. Please go to our Employers page for more information or call us directly at (402) 472-5130.
Volunteer Alumni Career Advisors
As an alumnus of the College of Law you are also eligible for our professional network of volunteer career advisors. To learn more about this please contact us at (402) 472-5130.
Exploring Alternatives
One of the biggest surprises for me when I took over the Career Services Office in the fall of 2005 was the number of students pursuing traditional law firm careers. I, like many others, assumed that it would be the vast majority of students who were leaving law school to join private firms. In fact, the most recent statistics available at that time were from the Class of 2004 and they indicated that only 47% of our students went into the private practice of law. As I started counseling students one on one, I discovered that many had chosen law school based on their belief in the often repeated saying that “You can do anything with a law degree.” These students were now looking for specifics on exactly what the word “anything” was referring to! In an effort to help broaden students’ employment horizons, I started the “Alternative Legal Career Week” in spring of 2006. The stated goal of the program was to expand students’ knowledge of post-graduate employment options and to create opportunities for our students to interact with our alumni who had successfully pursued these so-called “alternative” paths.
We held our 4th Annual Alternative Legal Career Week in February of this year. The format has been essentially the same each year as we host a week of panel discussions over the noon hour. Each panelist shares a bit about their career path since law school, what it is they do now and why they chose this path over the alternative of employment with a private law firm. Students are encouraged to follow-up with direct questions of the panelists. Many students have reported that the panel discussions have spurred them to research and pursue options for employment that they would have otherwise overlooked. In the last four years we have had panels which focused on opportunities in Insurance, Banking, Academia, Corporate Governance, Legal Publishing, Health Care Management, Investments, Federal and State Government, State Agencies, Politics and more. The focus of the panels has varied from year to year based on student interest and on trends in post-graduate opportunities. This year, for example, we had one day focused solely on regulatory compliance positions across a variety of industries.
This program could not have been as successful as it has been, or for that matter even possible, if it were not for volunteer panelists. Each year I have reached out to alumni and they have consistently and graciously agreed to give back to the law college by sharing their time and expertise with the students. Thanks to their overwhelming support, the Alternative Legal Career Week has become one of the best received programs by our student body. I can’t thank all those who have participated enough for their generosity and their willingness to share their own stories of success.
In addition to sharing a bit about the history of this program with you, I wanted to leave you with two items to consider:
The next Alternative Legal Career Week will be held February 22-26, 2010. I am always looking for interesting career paths to highlight and general topics for the panel discussions. Remember that “alternative” in this context refers to any position outside a traditional private law firm and includes both JD required and JD preferred positions. If you think you would like to be a part of this or other CSO programs, please contact me directly at teverman2@unl.edu.
We can post your professional job opportunities to our talented students & alumni for FREE! We always have talented law students and alumni looking for interesting, challenging, and rewarding job opportunities both in and outside the traditional legal profession. Please make a note to forward any interesting opportunities you learn about to lawcareer@unl.edu. If you would like to visit with me about a particular opportunity that you may not want posted, please don’t hesitate to call me directly at 402-472-5130.
Tasha Everman
Assistant Dean & Director of Career Services
