The Cook County Bar Association (“CCBA”) is pleased to invite eligible law students to participate in the 27th Annual CCBA Minority Law Student Job Fair (“Job Fair”).  In an effort to keep the student-to-employer ratio as low as possible, we are only inviting J.D. students in the classes of 2012 (current 1Ls/rising 2Ls) and 2011 (current 2Ls/rising 3Ls).  Please note that students graduating in any month prior to December 2010 (current 3Ls) are not eligible.  All participating students must be from fully accredited law schools.  Students must also fall into one of the following categories:

•               attend a law school ranked among the top 30 as determined by U.S. News and World Report, or

•               attend law school at a historically Black college or university, or 

•               attend a law school located in the Midwest as defined by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP); or

•               be a fellow or associate of the Council on Legal Educational Opportunity (CLEO).

The list of eligible law schools can be found here List of Schools Eligible to Participate in the 2010 Job Fair

This year’s Job Fair will be held on Friday, August 13, 2010, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Please note that the Job Fair will return to the Embassy Suites Chicago – Downtown/Lakefront, located at 511 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60611.  The Embassy Suites is located two blocks from Chicago’s Magnificent Mile shopping and entertainment district and is minutes from Navy Pier, Lake Michigan and several world-class museums.  The hotel’s large suites are conducive to conducting formal interviews, as the sleeping area may be closed off while interviews are in progress. 

The Job Fair typically attracts more than 800 students from eligible US law schools.  Each year Law Firms, Corporations and Governmental Agencies register for Job Fair.  The CCBA Job Fair primarily is designed to obtain summer associate positions for rising 2Ls (current 1Ls) during their second summer in law school.  A limited number of employers also wish to interview rising 3Ls (current 2Ls) for entry level associate positions.  Rising 3Ls, please be aware that Job Fair interview slots for rising 2Ls typically outnumber those for rising 3Ls by a 3:1 ratio.

Students registered for the Job Fair will have the opportunity to submit their resumes to 25 employers, and employers will have the ability to view the resume of every registered student that wishes to interview with them.  Each employer’s schedule contains 16 interview slots.  Employers will pre-select one-half of their interview schedule(s) and rank 20 alternates.  With pre-selection, each employer is guaranteed to meet those students it considers most promising amongst the students expressing an interest in that particular employer.  The remaining one-half of the employer interview schedule will be filled based upon the student preferences selected during the bidding process. 

Interviews will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. and will conclude at 3:40 p.m.  Each interview will be 20 minutes in length and students will not be scheduled for back-to-back interviews to ensure that they will be on time for their next interview.  There will be a morning and afternoon break.  The 2010 Job Fair will conclude with an Open House Reception from 4:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. where registered students and employers will be allowed to mingle on an informal basis.  Students interested in a particular employer who did not receive a formal interview with that employer will be given the opportunity to meet that firm/organization’s representatives at this time.

Each registered law school’s career services office has provided us a contact person who will serve as that school’s Job Fair Liaison.  Students, your Job Fair Liaison will be the point person that should serve as your primary informational resource for our Job Fair.  Additionally, Job Fair Liaisons will be called upon to verify each student’s class year and graduation date once student registration closes.  If you are unsure about your eligibility, please first ask your school’s Job Fair Liaison. 

Student Registration is NOW OPEN and will remain open until May 31, 2010.  Please see your CCBA Job Fair Liaison in your individual law school’s career services office to obtain a copy of the registration instructions.  You must adhere to our registration process as listed therein.  Registration for the Job Fair is mandatory; absolutely no “walk-ins” will be allowed to participate.  Registration for the Job Fair must be completed in advance and online through Symplicity, an internet-based matching program.  We will not have any sort of on-site matching process.  If you did not register in advance, you will be denied entry. 

If you commit to attend our Job Fair, then you will be expected to show up and attend on Friday, August 13, 2010.  With the help of the law school career services offices, we expect to keep the amount of “no shows” to a minimum except in the cases of extreme emergencies only.  The CCBA reserves the right to impose severe penalties upon “no-show” students including reporting them to their respective law school for honor code violations and denied entry for future CCBA Job Fairs.