Good for you for starting your legal career — now let’s figure out how to end it. Hard as it may be to imagine as you wipe the law school dust off your shoes, one day you’ll want to retire. James Careless has some software tools that will set you on the right track.

Young lawyers today are part of one of the most plugged-in generations ever. No one has to tell you how to blog or to tweet or that Facebook is a great way to keep in touch. But there’s a difference between using social media for social purposes and using it for business purposes. Can you see the difference?

Community involvement is smart for many reasons – doing good works is chief among them of course. That said, there’s no reason you can’t have fun. The Lawyer Play which just had its 14th season in Ottawa has raised more than $900,000 for good causes. And many young lawyers who have taken part have leveraged the activity for networking and for making new friends in a new community.

Articling isn’t just about getting some hands-on legal experience, it’s also about writing memos and putting in long hours – and learning a number of other life lessons. Kayla DeMars-Krentz, who finished her articles in June and now is an associate at Hunter Peterson Deagle LLP in Regina, talks about the things you learn that don’t go on your CV.

By the time you finish a law degree, you’ve put in so much time and money that it can be painful to admit that maybe you made a mistake. It may be that you just need to reassess your environment and find your niche. But if you do that and still think you’re not cut out for the traditional practise of law, you may find that your degree has prepared you for any number of careers, in and out of the box.

Read on to gain perspectives on pro bono you might not have considered before.

Corporate counsel offer their external brethren some helpful food for thought.

Ils sont ambitieux. Frondeurs. Questionnent les décisions de leurs aînés. Prennent leur réussite pour un droit acquis. Comble d’audace, ils réclament plus de temps pour leur vie personnelle. La nouvelle génération confond-elle le beurre et l’argent du beurre, ou a-telle juste mieux compris ce qu’est un avocat heureux?

Welcome to the world of client collaboration, where buyers of legal services share information with each other and where lawyers are often not needed on the voyage.

For many lawyers it's a familiar scenario. You've done good work for a client for several years, but you sense you could offer more. Instead of simply reviewing agreements, you'd love to become a sounding board on tough issues and a valued partner in their long-term success.