JD Advantage: You Can Start Me Up

Startups are a wonderful area in which recent law school grads can thrive and build on their skills.

Yes, "Starting Up" - who DEFINITELY is real - asked U.S. News and World Report's Shawn O'Connor for advice about landing in a non-attorney role with start-ups and - BOOM SHAKALAKA - Shawn hits it hard.

I recommend taking some courses to round out your resume if you don’t already have that expertise.

At this point in the article, readers are probably wondering what classes are ideal for tech start-ups.  Let me suggest!  Let me think of a good law school for high-tech start-ups...  Why, Santa Clara! In addition to the standard, missionary-position slate of business courses, you can get this buffet of karma sutra-goodness:

Advanced Corporations:  249
Advertising and Marketing Law:  712
Assisted Reproduction[1], Cloning, and Genetic Engineering:  525 (special startups only)
Civil Practice, High Tech, and Social Justice Externship I and I:  590/597
Climate Change Law:  669 (hey, your business needs to know this shit!)
Community Economic Development:  513 (this too!)
Computer and High Technology Law Journal:  799
Corporate Social Responsibility:  363
Corporate Theory and Policy:  541
Entertainment Transactions:  324 (special startups only)
Improving America's Economic Competitiveness: 564
Internet Law:  793
Intro to High Tech Law:  717
IP Theory:  708
Leadership for Lawyers:  521
Legal and Business Aspects of the Entertainment Ind.:  649 (special startups only)
Legal Issues of Start-Up Businesses:  387
Legal Systems Very Different Than Ours:  353
Mass Communication I and II: Television, Cable, Satellite Video and Convergence:  429/520
Technology Licensing:  228

My god, you could start so many start-ups, you'd be like the Ed Sullivan plate spinner of the high-tech start-up community.

Back to the article:

The next thing I would do is explore organizations that pique your interest the most and research their legal needs. If listed on their website or LinkedIn, check out the list of employees and see if they are lacking a critical role. 

Once you have identified companies and their needs, don’t be afraid to cold call or email.

An area where I am constantly seeing new graduates fail is by not taking advantage of everything you can learn about a random company through linkedin.  That, and cold calling.

But there's also part of this article that makes me WAG MY BIG FINGER:

An MBA prepares students for leadership and entrepreneurial roles, which could be a better fit for your goals.

What the shit, Shawn?  You and I both know that the JD is a valued credential among all sorts of sorts.  Just look at the course offerings Santa Clara has to offer.  Do you think someone who studies Leadership for Lawyers and Corporate Social Responsibility isn't well-trained for such roles?  Get real.

[1] All reproduction is assisted reproduction.  Unless you're one of those animals.

Also, I offer this service in an alleyway for $25.  I call it a start-up and go by the street name J.D. Advantage.  Scam on.