Valerie A. Fontaine earned her JD from UC Hastings College of Law and her BA, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, from UCLA. She was on the Editorial Board of COMM/ENT, a Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law. Valerie practiced law with a prominent Los Angeles law firm and entered the legal search profession in 1981. Valerie is Secretary to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) and Chairs its Newsletter Committee.
Declining a job offer can be anxiety producing. You might feel guilt or fear anticipating the prospective employer’s disappointment, frustration and—possibly—annoyance. Your refusal is the final chapter of the interviewing process with that prospective employer and you want your last impression to be as positive as your first obviously was with them. The legal marketplace…
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To get ahead in your legal career, you must help your superiors and clients look good. The key is making their lives easier by, essentially, managing your relationship with them. Whether you are junior or senior—and whether your goal is to make partner, earn a promotion in your corporate legal department, or otherwise move up…
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New technologies give rise to new opportunities for lawyers as expanding industry sectors require new regulatory schemes and implementation. The development and commercialization of emerging technologies of course involves the types of legal expertise utilized by any new business or product, but they need creative applications of the law or innovative solutions, as well. Because…
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Are you nervous about your upcoming job interview? Don’t try to calm down. Get excited instead. Much has been written about how to banish pre-interview jitters, but a better strategy is to use that energy to enhance your chances of success. Reframe your feelings The trick is “anxiety reappraisal,” as described in a March 23,…
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