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American University Washington College of Law Lawyer Re-Entry Program
Reconnect, Refocus, and Reclaim Your Legal Career

The decision to re-enter the legal profession after an absence may feel daunting - but it needn't be so. The Washington College of Law Lawyer Re-Entry Program makes this transition a rewarding, exciting, and energizing process. This six-day program, with a two hour follow-up one-on-one coaching session, will prepare you to renew your legal career in a way that works for you, your life, and your family.

The faculty and professional coaches who designed the program appreciate the work/life challenges many lawyers face. In the program, you will explore career options, update your knowledge, and refresh your job search skills. You will also work one-on-one with a professional coach to create a personal action plan for re-entry into the profession. You and your coach will meet individually for two hours after the program to sustain your re-entry efforts. Washington College of Law's exceptional faculty, together with experts in the field of career and professional development, lead and facilitate this program.

The Program is co-sponsored by the Women's Bar Association of DC, the National Association of Women Lawyers, and the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project.

Program Faculty

Washington College of Law has brought together an extraordinary group of WCL faculty members, practicing attorneys, career and professional development experts and coaches to ensure your experience is a success. The program is led by Executive Director Linda Mercurio, founder of Transformative Impact, a leadership coaching and consulting practice.

In addition, the program features outstanding leaders in the field of career re-entry. This year's featured speakers will be announced soon. Please stay tuned. For information on last year's faculty and featured speakers click below. Read more about our program faculty and featured speakers.

What you can expect:

• Instruction by Washington College of Law faculty
• Facilitation by leaders in the field of career and professional development
• Interactive and practical sessions
• One-on-one professional coaching
• Creation of an individual action plan for re-entry
• Opportunities to connect with peers who share similar backgrounds and work/life challenges
  

A Founder's Tradition

American University Washington College of Law has a unique history. Two pioneering women -Ellen Spencer Mussey and Emma Gillett-founded the school more than 100 years ago, at a time when women were generally excluded from the legal profession. The founders fostered a tradition of providing opportunities for women, and their extraordinary foresight and perseverance form the foundation of this law school.

To carry on our founders' mission and as a testament to their ideals and tenacity, Washington College of Law has developed a specialized program for lawyers who have temporarily put their careers on hold and now want to re-enter the legal profession. This program may particularly interest women lawyers-one-half of law school graduates-whose participation in the legal profession is vital. The program provides a gateway for women and men alike to reclaim their legal careers and contribute to the profession.

This program will help you:

• Develop a career vision
• Identify strengths, transferrable skills, and further training needs
• Reinforce confidence and self-assurance
• Develop a successful job search strategy
• Learn how to reestablish a professional network
• Update basic legal research
• Gain exposure to new technology and technology-based research

Program Schedule (Schedule for Fall 2009 Sessions)

Dates for the Fall 2009 Program to be announced soon.

A six-day program, from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays this Fall, with one, two hour individual coaching session post-program.

Curriculum

Using classroom workshops, discussions, team interactions, individual counseling, and web-based self-assessment and research tools, the four-part program curriculum covers:

Part I: Self Assessment, Career Visioning & Goal Setting

• Regaining a sense of self as a lawyer and professional
• Creating a career vision
• Setting realistic and attainable goals congruent with your values
• Identifying strengths, transferrable skills & additional training needs
• Creating an action-oriented job search plan to meet your professional & personal objectives
• Learning how to search for a job and manage other competing priorities or obligations
• Negotiating with a focus on how to ask for and get what you want

Part II: Effective Tools for Securing a Job that Enhances Professional and Personal Development

• Resume and cover letter writing, including how to account for time away from the profession
• Interviewing - how to address questions about your time away
• Networking - how to engage effectively within your current network and how to re-build a professional network
• Positioning yourself as an attractive re-entry candidate
• What to expect once you re-enter the profession and navigating workplace “culture shock”

Part III: Legal Research & Technology

• Legal research refresher
• Information technology and technology-based research updates with hands-on practice

Part IV: One-on-One Professional Coaching

• One two-hour individual coaching session to help align goals and actions, eliminate possible internal hurdles to success, inspire performance, and provide support during the job search.
  

Program Fee: $2,500.00

Reduced fee and/or sponsorship support may be available. Please call for details.

Program Application

To apply, please email the following items to lawyer.reentry@wcl.american.edu:

• a brief statement of interest (no longer than 2 typed pages) including your career goals;
• a current resume, if available; and
• an unofficial law school transcript and/or other evidence of bar admission/degree earned.

Or mail to:

Lawyer Re-entry Program, Office of the Dean
American University Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 366
Washington DC 20016.

There is no application fee.

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