Volunteer
In keeping with the Law Alumni Association’s mission to build a lifelong relationship between alumni and the School of Law, many opportunities are afforded alumni to be actively involved in planning and implementing programs designed for the benefit of students, the law school and for alumni themselves.
Current annual programs where alumni volunteers are needed include:
Alumni Advisor Program
This program offers a direct link between students and alumni who can provide insight and advice on career choices, course selection and information on various fields of legal practice. The highlight of this program is the annual Careers in the Law event where alumni may volunteer to serve as a panelist, an on-site networker with law students or as a representative at one of dozens of informational tables about specific fields of law. Alumni who are unable to attend the event may still participate in the program by allowing their contact information to be included in the Alumni Advisor Directory, which is published in conjunction with Careers in the Law and distributed to all law students.
“Brown Bag” Discussion Series
Three times each year, alumni volunteers meet with first-year law students over lunch for an informal discussion session about issues of key concern to students as they evolve through their first year in law school. Topic titles include:
- “First-Year Survival Skills”
- “After Finals – Now What?”
- “How to Spend the Summer Break – Surf, Work or Study?”
Law Firm Challenge
The goals of the Law Firm Challenge are to increase alumni participation in giving to the Law Annual Fund, to increase annual gift donations at the Maudsley Fellows level ($1000 and above) and to reengage graduates in the law school. The program emphasizes personal solicitation by firm agents. In law firms where there are three or more USD law alumni, volunteers are needed to serve as Law Firm Challenge agents. Their role is to
- consider making their own gift to the Law Annual Fund at the Maudsley Fellows level or at an alternate level appropriate to them and
- encourage support of the Law Annual Fund by all partners and associates in the firm who attended USD School of Law.
All firm agents routinely receive assistance from the Office of Development and Alumni Relations in developing solicitation strategies for their firms and receive regular updates on their firm’s progress.
The firms with the highest participation and giving levels are acknowledged and thanked in law school publications and at special recognition events. More Information
Mock Interview Workshop
On Saturday, March 25, 2006 the Eigth Annual USD School of Law Mock Interview Workshop will be hosted by the Recent Alumni Committee in conjunction with the Office of Development and Alumni Relations and the Career Services Office. The workshop will be held on campus at Warren Hall.
The workshop is designed to help first, second and third year law students improve their interviewing skills before they begin their real job search. The past 7 workshops were huge successes and greatly appreciated by all participating students. Of the students surveyed after the last workshop, 100% responded “yes” the interview provided them a valuable experience and they would recommend more mock interview workshops in the future.
We need your help to make this workshop successful and ask you to participate as a workshop interviewer. The workshop takes place on Saturday, March 25, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 noon and will consist of five 25-minute interviews, with 5-minutes for transition between each interview. Alumni who participate will be asked to conduct this interview as they would a professional interview for an actual entry-level law position. You may critique the student's interview style and offer personal advice. I assure you that your gift of a few weekend hours to a current USD law student can last a lifetime for that student's future job market success.
We ask all participants to conduct at least 2 or more interviews. Schedules and student resumes will be handed out prior to arrival. Please arrive 30 minutes prior to your first interview slot in order to review resumes. Complimentary coffee, juice and breakfast pastries will be provided.
The number of alumni who elect to participate shall determine the number of slots we can open to the law students. Please RSVP to Brent Wakefield in the Development and Alumni Relations Office no later than Friday, March 3 at bwakefield@sandiego.edu or (619) 260-4692.
We greatly appreciate your willingness to share your time and advice with current USD law students.
Moot Court Competition
Hundreds of alumni are needed each year to serve as volunteer judges for the Paul A. McLennon, Sr. Honors Moot Court Competition. The majority of volunteers are used as judges for the preliminary rounds, usually held over a four-day period at the San Diego Superior Courthouse in downtown San Diego. The final rounds of the competition are presided over by distinguished panels of jurists which have included United States Supreme Court justices.
Lawyering Skills
Alumni may volunteer to serve as judges in mock trials held on campus each spring as first-year students make oral arguments. Alumni offer invaluable feedback to students to help them hone the lawyering skills they are learning.
Class Reunion Agent
During the annual Law Alumni Weekend, classes celebrate their anniversary years on a five-year cycle. For each anniversary year class, at least two class members are recruited to promote class participation at Alumni Weekend and to garner support for their class by encouraging their classmates to contribute to the Law Annual Fund. The class agents work with the Office of Development and Alumni Relations to achieve the goals for the Annual Fund and the Law Alumni Weekend.
Class Agents:
- Assist the Development staff in designing and executing a fundraising strategy for their class.
- Recruit other class members to serve on the planning committee and encourage their classmates to attend the Law Alumni Weekend.
- Solicit their classmates throughout the year either personally or by signing a solicitation letter(s) asking for support of the Law Annual Fund.
- Assist the Development staff with identifying members of their class that are capable of making leadership gifts.
- Set an example for their classmates by making their own gift to the Law Annual Fund.
- Serve as an ambassador for their class by advising the Office of Development and Alumni Relations of any information regarding classmates such as marriages, births, address changes, job promotions or other interesting information.
- Attend the Law Alumni Weekend.
For more information about these volunteer opportunities, please contact the Development and Alumni Relations Office at (619) 260-4692 or lawalum@sandiego.edu.
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