Annotations of the South Texas College of Law (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 1, December, 1969 Page: 1 of 8
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ANNOTATIONS
of
The South Texas College of Law
1220 Polk, Houston, Texas • • • -77002
December, 1969
vol.1
FEDERAL
EMPLOYMEN
OPPORTUNI T
I ES
by C.l. WEIGEL
Some years ago, a retiring sea cap-
tain, who had had more than enough of
the charm and mystery of the sailor's
life, vowed that when he signed off
his vessel for the last time he was
going to put one of the ship's anchors
over his shoulder and start walking
inland. He planned to continue his
journey in this fashion until he met
someone who would ask what it was he
was carrying on his back. Then he
would put down the anchor and settle.
This attitude toward the law and its
practice is not unknown among graduat-
ing law students. Even tnough a young
lawyer may have such an antipathy to
ward practice, he should not, however,
preclude himself from the utilization
of his legal education and its result-
ant benefits. There are several other
areas besides the practice of private
law which offer the opportunity for
rewarding careers. Paramount among
these are public or government service
and association in the business world.
The first of these alternatives,
government service, can be considered
in the framework of the three major
governing entities offering the great-
est possibilities to someone with a
legal background. They are represent-
ed at the Federal, State and local le-
vels by a host of agencies and depart-
ments. Of the three, the U.S. Govern-
ment offers the widest range of choice
and perhaps the greatest chance for
individual advancement. There are, how
ever, some universal advantages and
disadvantages permeating all three le-
vels of service, and they are worth
considering at tne outset.
The principal advantages of affili-
ation with a public entity are the op-
portunity to obtain somewhat special-
ized training while being able to rea-
lize a fairly reasonable income almost
from the beginning. Enhancing this is
tne fact that the young government at-
torney enjoys a degree of security and
nas available to him many fringe bene-
WEIGEL cont.
fits such as generous accrued annual
leave, or vacation, sick leave and re-
tirement programs wnich are almost non-
existent in private practice. There
is also a chance, depending on the na-
ture of the work, for some degree of
contact with the professional and bus-
iness worlds which may lead to later
opportunities.
The negative aspect includes such
considerations as virtual entrapment
after a period of years, the relative-
ly low ultimate income available, and
the possibility of loss of initiative
inherent in some of the systems. Of-
ten an attorney who puts in several
years service will find that it is im-
possible to leave such service for an-
other way of life without sustaining a
substantial reduction in his living
standards. In most instances, too, an
attorney's marketability on the 'out-
side' decreases after the passages of
seven to ten years service. Quite of-
ten young lawyers become disenchanted
with the regimentation and administra-
tive detail that can be found in some
areas of government work, but by the
time this attitude is transmuted into
an effort to leave the service, he may
find it is too late. This situation
can only result in frustration and
mediocrity of performance. Some tran-
sfer can be anticipated, especially in
the Federal agencies and that can be a
factor meriting varying degrees of
consideration depending on tne temper-
ament and family situation of the at-
torney. An old-time Federal lawyer
once ouserved that a tour of duty in
Washington, D.C. , is almost mandatory
for career government attorneys, since
as ne phrasea it, "the piggies nearest
the trough feed the best." If life for
some period of time in the District of
Columoia is difficult to accept a per-
manent position mignt ue seriously en-
cumoered.
A prospective attorney for the Fed-
eral government would do well to exam-
ine the booklet "FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
JO¿ OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG ATTORNEYS"
whicn is published annually by tne Am-
erican i>ar Association Law School Div-
ision. Tnis work contains brief sket-
cnes setting forth the needs and re-
quirements of most of the departments
and agencies of the United States Gov-
ernment which utilize the services of
attorneys within tneir ranks. Includ-
ed in this information are starting
salaries, locations of field offices
outside the Washington area, if any,
cont. page 8
FROM THE DESK
OF DEAN WALKER
Registration has been over some six
weexs and while I have met most of the
students during this time, I have not
had the opportunity to chat and extend
a personal welcome to each.
I would like to take this opportun-
ity to welcome all of our students and
especially the 166 new students who
nave registered at South Texas College
of Law for the first time, by this
time, the new students nave become
tnoroughly confused, but the legal
terms should now begin to clear up
somewhat. I am at the office practic-
ally every day from 9:30 a.m. until
6.00 p.m., and welcome any student who
wishes to come in to talk about and
discuss problems involving his law
study.
I am sure most of the students have
noticed some of the changes that have
taken place in the last year. The li-
brary has been enlarged both by remov-
ing tne hallway and taking in what
formerly had been classrooms 101 and
103 as well as removing the carrels on
one side of the library and taking
that space into the library proper.
Classroom 103 has been reserved for
Moot Court and Law Journal students'
exclusive use. I tnink that this is an
excellent idea since these students
very often get involved in research
and must leave papers and books on the
desk to attend classes, and in some
instances for several days; conse-
quently, it is imperative that tnis
material oe left undisturbed so that
they might complete tnis very impor-
tant work. Our Law Journal nas been
greatly improved in the last two to
tnree years and is comparable to any
first-rate law journal in the country,
our Moot Court brief has won first
place botn in tne regional competition
and in the State competition during
tnis past year. We have enriched the
curriculum by adding several seminars;
namely, Criminal Justice, Juveniles
and tne uaw, i^aoor Law, and Urban Law
and Housing Renewal. Many of you have
already registered for these courses
either during the Summer or Fall Seme-
ster.
cont. page 8
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Lowe, David. Annotations of the South Texas College of Law (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 1, December, 1969, newspaper, December 1969; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth144323/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting South Texas College of Law.