National Jurist - October 2007 - (Page 24) BEST Andrew Canter is a third-year law student at Stanford University who is also simultaneously pursuing a Masters of Public Policy at Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. By all accounts, he is the kind of law student who should have his pick of the large law firms who pay outrageous salaries. But Canter doesn’t care. Instead he is the poster boy for the millennial generation that places far more focus on training and work-life balance. “[Students] don’t want to just give up their entire lives to the firm,” Canter said. “Students at a lot of these schools have a lot of marketing power and influence on those law firms. What they think and what they ask for [matters]. And Canter is not the only law student who feels this way. “I’ve seen a significant increase in students talking about [work-life balance] and asking about it in counseling,” says Susan Robinson, associate dean for career services at Stanford Law School. “I’ve seen it in just how much more common it is for students to make that a focus in their job search.” From flex-time schedules to increased opportunities for telecommuting, firms across the board are 24 to work for Law students are speaking out — they want law firms to deliver a higher quality of life. In this feature package, we look at what makes a law firm a great place to work, offer interview advice to help you find great firms, and we profile the law student who is leading the charge and challenging the status quo. BY URSULA FURI-PERRY, J.D. beginning to pay attention to their associates’ desires for better work-life balance. Virtually every firm now offers increased flexibility over past years. And each year, firms are raising the bar higher, as evidenced by Vault.com’s annual ranking of the Best Law Firms to Work For. Canter, who co-founded Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession, says that even though students are still seeking law firm jobs in high quantity, they want to be engaged in the most interesting and cutting-edge matters. “The billable hour has a number of inefficient incentives and is also not a rewarding way to work,” Canter said. “Students today are looking for more meaningful work experiences and also time to develop their own interests. There’s a sense among law students that you can’t achieve work-life balance at law firms.” In this three-part feature, we look at the characteristics that the 20 Best Law Firms to Work For share in common (See story that starts on adjacent page). We provide interview advice to help law students find these firms (page 28). And we profile Andrew Canter, who is leading the charge to improve quality of life at the largest law firms (page 31). October 2007 Law firms THE NATIONAL JURIST
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