TLDR version: Am I the AH for telling a cohort that they spend a LOT of time worrying about unimportant details and that I prefer not to reinvent the wheel?
Background: For my career, I decided to get yet another degree. I have an MD but did not keep my license because I work mainly in research. Now, I am getting a Master's in Nursing to get my RN and take DNP exams.
I have NEVER, nor do I ever plan to tell my cohorts I have an MD. I have also been a professor at MANY schools, including nursing schools and medical schools, but I don't tell this to my cohorts. A few of my professors so know; I have mentioned I have a PhD and that I studied "hippie medicine," but I never elaborate. I mean I am a medical director, so DUH, I HAVE to have an MD, but I never told them. It may come up at some point, but I really don't plan to tell them.
Ok, so I had to repeat some classes because they were done at medical school and were pass-fail, but this school needs a letter grade. Those classes were with undergrads, so I just ignored the absolute brain-numbing stupidity. But one example is a fellow student who used MY PRESENTATION as their own and did not even take my name off of it, and they still passed.
We are now in the graduate part of the program. All my cohorts must have at least a master's degree. We all have to have had a minimum GPA of a 3.5. We all cannot have failed a healthcare class, we all had to take an entrance exam and get at least 70% (I got 80% and had schools BEGGING me to apply and to give me scholarships).
We also have to get a minimum of 70% on any assignment and 80% or higher overall for every class. And we have periodic competency exams.
So this semester we have a CRAZY course load. 6 courses, all slamming us. The professors asked me to counsel students and do a peer support group thing, as credit for one of my courses, as I have been a professor previously.
So one woman is gung ho. Has no job, like online 24/7 constantly engaging in the group. NO biggie, let her. I interject and guide, but basically this is a group of adults, and I do not need to be seen as the leader.
the professors have basically daily, maybe more than once a day zoom calls. these are not mandatory; they give tips but are not mandatory. These people are FREAKING out when they miss one. I tell them that if they think it will help, watch, but really, there is no new info in them.
They all will pass info back and forth that they THINK they gleaned from the calls, but 90% of the time, they did not listen. They are FREAKING out about how we are graded, even though the score used is listed in the assignment. For example, one uses a DLC score and an SPI score. We get graded on the DCL. The SPI score will never be 100% because it is a competency score of graduates ready for boards, and we are not even close to that level yet.
I tell them, they tell me I must be wrong. I show them proof, and they argue, they email the professor, who asks, "Did you ask "Stange"?" they then tell me they don't think I am correct and ask other professors.
They complain that unit review questions are "wrong," which is not gonna lie. They often are. But 100% of every one they post, they are wrong. they get mad when I point out why they are incorrect.
They are all complaining about their grades on their papers this past week, but NOT A DAMN ONE used a reference. Of course, you will not get a good grade if you are not using references, citing them etc,
Then they were obsessed with Ref Works, which is quite useless. I suggested maybe using PERRLA, which is $75 a year, but it does the same thing and more. They tried to make me look crazy, as they claimed they had never needed anything like that. One said, " I have a PhD and NEVER had a problem with being told I plagiarized." and "What a waste of money"
This is hilarious for 2 reasons: APA formatting and archiving references are not ONLY about plagiarism, but they are all buying $200 note-taking templates and books we are not using for classes that are really expensive. But whatever, I have 100% in all the classes right now; they are all close to 80% and struggling.
THE NEXT DAY, the school started getting worried about this group and cheating because they were in the group that I was mentoring and gloating about cheating. The professor also told her she needed to use scholarly references, not random websites. And Ms. "I have a PhD," says she was dinged for a 99% plagiarism score. HOW? You claim you have a PhD but never learned how to find references.
So I taught them about the library, what to look for, how to cite, etc. They then asked what my score was; it was 1%, thank you very freakin much.
MEANWHILE, we have 6 courses, each one has close to 20 HOURS each of reading and work. They are so overfocused on unnecessary things. We are graded on the completion of certain tasks, NOT mastery. Stop making lists of assignments if you can't do them correctly. Stop telling me what you think I need to study. Obviously, you and I are on the same course. If you have not taken it before, and even if you have, you can't tell me what the test is about.
So in my cohort, I have the highest grade. Not that I am smarter, but more because I don't waste time doing what is not important, I follow directions, and I do master-level work, probably higher. A LOT of the next few weeks, the courses are designed to be next to impossible to complete if you don't follow steps, pay attention, and work smarter, not harder.
And really, when you use the TOOLS in our canvas and do things that they are told for you to complete and do them, then there really is not as much work as it seems.
I keep trying to point this out to my cohorts, they keep trying to reinvent the wheel and focusing on things that are not going to give them a return on their time worth the effort.
And back to the one lady without a job, barely passing the 70% requirement for assignments. She wants to lead, again I could care less. However, beware who you choose to follow peopel.
But now she is making a "weekly study guide" with her $200 good notes Skin. People are asking her what the extra assignments she is adding are and where she is getting dates and assignments from, and she's all over the place.
So I posted, "How about we all work smarter, not harder, and use the tools we already have?" and I posted a tutorial, AGAIN, on how to use the tools we have, how we are graded, where to find sources, again suggested PERRLA, etc.
She then started blasting me for not appriciateing her leading the group. and I said "Beware who you choose to follow".
AITAH? I mean, these people need help, and you are not a great student, nor are you good at your guides. Why reinvent the wheel when you can just get better grades if you follow the instructions already provided?

A refugee case with very interesting substantive facts but determined ultimately on deficits in Sandy’s mic skills. Reasons were inadequate to facilitate an appeal, and a costs certificate granted for the applicant’s costs on rehearing… 5 years later.

[19] An audio recording of the oral reasons was made, but that recording did not capture all that the primary judge said. In this regard, I was informed by senior counsel for the Minister that during the delivery of his reasons for judgment the primary judge was not sitting in his chair, and was pacing, standing and moving away from the microphone.
[20] A transcript of the recording was produced and placed onto a judgment template of the Circuit Court. That transcript has a series of ellipses which represent gaps where the words that were spoken were not transcribed. Consistent with order 4, the transcript (in the form of the incomplete judgment) was made available to the parties but was not settled by the primary judge.

During class activities, we had to complete worksheets, which posed several issues because my teammates did not listen in class. They often missed basic instructions on how to answer questions and submit assignments, communicated poorly during lessons, and handed in sloppy work. Despite this, they appointed me as the leader of a recent group project on mental health, even though I matriculated late.
The situation worsened when we had an assignment to interview someone for at least an hour on our chosen theme. I found a counselor from my school to interview, recommended by my teacher. My teacher said it was compulsory to include someone from my team in the interview, so I asked Guy A to join. Throughout the interview, I was surprised to see him being toxic and passive-aggressive in the group chat, especially considering he didn't seem to understand the assignments or know what to do.
During the interview, the counselor mentioned that I needed to email him officially first, but he would still answer some appropriate questions, and I would just have to email him for the approval after the interview. He did answer the interview questions provided by the teacher at the end.
While I was conducting the interview, Guy A was slandering me in the group chat and being passive-aggressive, which I wasn't aware of until I decided to check my telegram messages, instead of just talking in the call. I had to explain myself to the team while responding to the counselor. When I asked Guy A to ask questions, he sarcastically responded, "Oh, ask personal questions?" I was confused because I never asked personal questions; all my questions were related to the topic. The assignment required us to ask questions beyond those in the template, and I ensured all template questions were answered. Moreover, sometimes the counsellor would go a little off topic after a while and ask me about my other questions, which I guess Guy A couldn't understand or be patient enough for me to lead him back to the topic. By the way the interview was not more than an hour, which met the assignment requirements.
Guy A then claimed that the questions weren't related to the target audience or that it seemed like I was counseling the counselor, which was not true. It was frustrating because he didn't communicate his feelings during the call, and his passive-aggressive comments were childish. I noticed his messages 15 minutes into the interview, which was anxiety-inducing as I tried to manage the interview and address his comments simultaneously.
Additionally, another group member panicked, thinking she needed to join the interview, even though I had clarified that a minimum of two people was enough. I had to reassure her during the interview. When I asked Guy A if it was an appropriate time to end the interview, he responded with a meme, saying, "Nah, I'd win." I didn't understand what he meant, so I concluded the interview after covering most of the questions.
How am I supposed to communicate with teammates like this in the future? I don't understand what I did wrong. When Guy A was unsure about the assignment, despite the teacher explaining it multiple times, I explained the steps to him and shared screenshots of my conversation with the teacher.

Starting a new business involves important decisions that can significantly impact the future of your venture.
Setting up your LLC is one of these areas.
Failure to navigate this process effectively can result in costly setbacks, both in terms of time and finances.
Here are six crucial mistakes to avoid:

1. Choosing The Wrong Entity

Selecting the appropriate type of LLC lays the foundation for your business's financial and operational framework.
Single-member, multi-member, and S-Corp classifications offer distinct advantages and considerations.
A single-member LLC provides simplicity in paperwork while ensuring liability protection.
Conversely, opting for an S-Corp designation entails different tax obligations, potentially offering tax-saving opportunities for higher earners.
Understanding the nuances of each entity type is paramount.
Seeking guidance from seasoned professionals can illuminate the optimal choice tailored to your business needs and goals.
NOTE: The LLC service I recommended that gives the most hands on assistance with this is ZenBusiness, (affiliate link). The team there are great for giving advice on exactly how to navigate the various steps to forming your LLC, or S-Corp.

2. Incorporating in the Wrong State

Deciding where to incorporate your business involves weighing legal, financial, and administrative factors.
While certain states like Delaware and Wyoming offer enticing legal and tax incentives, they may not be conducive to the needs of smaller enterprises or solo entrepreneurs.
Incorporating out of state may lead to increased paperwork, fees, and regulatory complexities, offsetting potential benefits.
Prioritize practicality and compliance by assessing the requirements of your home state and consulting legal counsel to navigate any jurisdictional considerations effectively.

3. Forgetting to Keep Your LLC Compliant

Establishing an LLC marks the beginning rather than the culmination of your compliance obligations.
Maintaining regulatory adherence safeguards against risks such as piercing the corporate veil and personal liability exposure.
Vigilance in areas such as using the business name consistently, fulfilling annual reporting requirements, and segregating business finances from personal funds is imperative.
Engage with legal professionals or regulatory authorities to stay abreast of compliance obligations and fortify your business's legal standing.

4. Incorporating Without Required Licenses

Securing requisite licenses and permits is a prerequisite for conducting business lawfully in many industries and jurisdictions.
Failure to obtain mandated licenses can result in penalties and operational disruptions.
Whether at the local, state, or federal level, thorough due diligence is necessary to identify and fulfill licensing requirements pertinent to your business activities.
Prioritize regulatory compliance by proactively acquiring the necessary licenses and permits, thereby mitigating legal and financial risks.

5. Failing to Get the Right Kind of Legal Assistance

While self-filing an LLC may suffice for straightforward cases, complex scenarios demand expert legal guidance.
Collaborating with legal professionals ensures comprehensive understanding and adherence to legal obligations, particularly in multi-state operations or partnership arrangements.
The upfront investment in legal counsel can yield invaluable dividends by preempting potential disputes or regulatory oversights.
Explore avenues for legal assistance, such as specialized services or legal consultations, to safeguard your business's legal integrity and mitigate future liabilities.

6. Using Random Legal Documents Found Online

The proliferation of online resources offers convenience and accessibility in various facets of business management.
However, indiscriminate adoption of generic legal documents poses inherent risks.
Templates sourced from the internet may lack specificity or fail to address unique circumstances, potentially leading to contractual ambiguities or disputes.
Exercise prudence by scrutinizing online templates and supplementing them with professional legal review when necessary.
Customizing legal documents to align with your business's specific requirements enhances clarity and mitigates legal uncertainties.

G'd'even'n,
I am a senior in undergrad and will (pray) obtain my degree in December. I am a first-gen college student and have worked during most of my degree. I just, after these final grades were posted, got my GPA to 3.01 (I failed basically my entire sophomore year), will have less than a year of research experience, and the only other true extra-curricular I did in college is tutoring math & science which also started this past semester.
Despite these things, I'm still looking to apply to grad in the coming months. I was primarily interested in genetics (not genetic counseling), and started noticing most universities only offered PhDs. So I'm working on selecting programs and reviewing specific labs at those programs in order to craft applications. I am also studying for the GRE because, while most programs explicitly state they do not require those scores, they also still accept them as supplemental information that I think I probably really need.
One of my primary concerns: How do you hit faculty up? Everything says you should reach out before applying and even give little templates of what to say. I still feel like its mad weird to just email someone, and don't really know why. Is it not as weird as I think, and my discomfort a result of my lack of confidence given my background? Do I find a lab that really butters my biscuit and just email the director like "hey I think that last article you dropped is fire let me be one of the henchmen"?
I think I'm pretty chill with my advisor at school, should I go to his office one day this summer and be like "I'm interested in these programs at these schools" and just see what he says? I sorta know what to do because there's lots of online resources and I can read, but I'm unsure about actually putting things into action. And don't know how much of that is not having a well-informed direction versus lacking the confidence to fully approach the situation. So aside from tips about the whole "establish relationships with faculty", and advice is appreciated

Hello all =) I wrote a post about NUS Law a few years back. Thankfully I have graduated from uni since then and am now a 2PQE (i.e. 2 years since called to the bar + 6 months of trainee period) in a large sized firm doing corporate work.
Wanted to write this as a continuum to the previous sharing on law school since I moved on to different phases of life now. Also, I have seen several posts recently querying about law school and practice in general so I hope to add insights in writing and hope that it will be helpful to anyone.
The usual disclaimers apply, all opinions are strictly mine only and may not be representative of the experience of other lawyers/law students (i.e. YMMV).
(AMA) I will be happy to engage in discussions on this thread or via a pm and I will do my best to answer to your queries when I can. To my fellow lawyers or law students in this thread, I will be most grateful if you share your perspectives as well. Thank you in advance for chiming in. Some stuff I may not be familiar with (e.g. the new format of the Part B course) and since its past my time, I will defer to all those who have a better insight into this. Also if you ask me about stuff outside public knowledge like international student quotas/chances/grade requirements or transfer grade requirements or rate my chances of entering law school etc, sorry I can't answer as I don't have visibility on this - please ask the appropriate channels (i.e. admissions office).
1 Academics
Law School (NUS specifically)
Most of my sharing are already encapsulated in my previous post and/or my comments in the post. If you still want further insights, I think you can reference a video on law admissions by youtuber “Charlycatcatcat” which I found highly beneficial (please check out her other videos too, pretty good insight about day in the life of law student).
Mainly, I just wanted to address concerns about whether law school is tough and whether it is insufferable. The short answer is - (1) Yes it will be tough because you need to put in effort to understand the numerous law concepts and the bell curve is tougher due to the higher concentration of top-performing students (2) but it is not insufferable and extraordinarily difficult to the extent that you lose your bearings etc.
With regard to (1), there is a lot of complex law concepts to grasp, concepts are much tougher than JC. There are many grey areas and nuances in the law that is not easily picked up. But that is the beauty of studying law, to sieve out these nuances and to put things into your perspective. You might find that the position in law for most issues cannot be simplified into just a 1-2 liner, there is always a qualification/assumption which have not been addressed yet or a judgement sometimes give a contradictory statement which you will have to explain away. This is where you will put in your evaluation and state your stand. The reading list for classes is also very long (mostly unfinishable) and also there is always more to study and people might do practice papers like 5-10 years back. But end of the day, just go at your pace lol - (1) if you only read the required readings, it is required/optional readings for a reason. (2) if you start practice papers only 1-2 days before the exams and only do 2-3 practices, so be it lol.
In addition, the bell curve might be daunting to people but I also want to reassure that the average in law school is much wider than in other majors, to the extent that top 10% FCH, next 60-65% Second Upper, so it is much more manageable to be average in NUS Law (specifically) than maybe other majors or other schools lol. Also don't fret and try to desensitise yourself from comparison with the other students that are very outspoken during class. For NUS Law, the class participation usually takes a smaller percentage of the grades and project work is few. If you're an introvert and not as outspoken, this is actually quite perfect for you since exams is entirely on you. And the bulk of class discussion is usually about evaluation of the law and what people think the law is - if its me, I frankly can't be bothered to give an f about what the law should be. I just find the evaluation that makes the most sense to me with reference to seniors notes and go along with it. So just don't be bothered by the class discussion and especially if you think your classmates all know their shit. If you don't understand your classmates' viewpoint - just ignore it lol, it's more likely not going to make or break your exam performance.
Even if you don't do well in law school, don't sacrifice your mental health over it. Second lower still likely gets you a job as a lawyer if you put in the work and effort, practice is also a whole different ballgame altogether. Just take a look at lawyer's profiles on Linkedin and firm websites, do you see people putting FCH or second-upper (other than a select few which I don't really understand why)? So my point is - even if you don't do well, its not as career threatening as you think. Now if you compare that with other industries, I'd see some posts across main sg reddit, asksg and sgexams reddit that larger MNCs or government agencies don't look upon second lower and below favourably. Also, if you apply for a general role like marketing/ business development, you are competing with tons of other majors and their respective schools. Law definitely gets the upper hand here - so long as you're called to the bar you're good to practice, also the only real competition for lawyecounsel jobs are really just within the industry.
With regard to (2), I just wanted to add that local law schools have a wealth of senior notes/muggers that have been constantly updated year-on-year, such that you won't be left alone trying to bash through learning all the complex law concepts. The no-bs general "hack" is to find one set of notes that suits your understanding and that you feel is useful in making your own notes or prepared paragraphs for exams (mostly open book), change the sentence structure and paraphrase. Practice papers are also available and if you are lucky to find good seniors, there may even be prepared answers for you to consider. In a nutshell - while law concepts may be tough, there are tools you will find which will greatly reduce the learning curve. And since exams are mostly open book anyway, the key of your exam preparation is to know where to find the answer in your prepared notes from the mountains of paragraphs that you will be preparing.
You are not going to encounter a large majority of the stuff you studied in law school when you are in practice. Your end goal at the end of law school is (a) to know how and where to find information (eg. which agency), (b) how to read cases/regulations/statute, (c) identify legal issues from a problem put to you (d) how to draft/explain the law position in legal terms and for layperson, to apply the law. If you can conquer (a) - (d), I'd say your are pretty fine.
Part B Bar Course
Most of the stuff I'm going to say is outdated since I was on the old system of 8 exam subjects. The format and topics have since changed and the apparent woes with the new system are well documented. I won't profess to have knowledge/experience in the revamped Part B so I will defer to juniors who have been through the system. Kudos to them for being the first (few) batches to the new system and having to suffer all these bad experiences.
All I just wanted to say is - the pass rate for bar exams is v high (anecdotally 90% and above, check out the "Report of the committee of professional training of lawyers" published 2018). I have a much more manageable time studying for the previous version of Part B because (1) seniors muggers are available as usual (2) I have less evaluation of the law to study and more so the application of law. Most law students would agree with me that the evaluation is usually the harder one (3) exams are open book again lol, a little bit of control-f and knowing where to find info in your hardcopy notes can serve you well.
To give an indication, I studied maybe 50% of the time for Part B as I studied for law school. Some of my friends even travelled in the month right before Part B exams (cos the air lanes just opened up after COVID) so you get the idea lol. Personally, I had a whale of a time going for dance course, fitness/instrument classes.
2 Application tips (interview and cover letter)
Cover Letter and CV
During law admissions/internship applications/ TC applications/job applications, this is often a major component to (1) get you a door to the interview (2) used as a basis for queries during your interview.
(i) For cover letter, most people recommend 1 page limit. The general format goes:

1. 
   
2. /
   
3. /
   
4. 
   

Make sure all your paragraphs flow and the point is being put across most effectively. Please also don't spam or make generalised statements because HR can tell if it is a copy-paste job.
To give an example for (3) "Why choose the particular law firm" - "I look forward to a training contract with because I witnessed first-hand the nurturing and receptive work environment during my 3 week internship in May 2023. During my internship, my mentors were very patient in explaining each task assigned and the deliverables. (can describe the task abit here) They provided useful pointers and went through my completed draft in detail. The final product to client was also provided for my reference and this was greatly beneficial in my understanding of how the task assigned should be completed. Such practical knowledge would definitely aid in my practice development and I am enthusiastic at the opportunity to work in such a supportive environment in . I think the soft skills I picked up (during your self intro in para 1) will make me a good fit for the ".
(ii) For CV, list out your most favourable roles. Then, summarise (1) what skills you picked up (can be certs you picked up also) (2) what things you accomplished and make sure you use those positive action/pronoun words eg. "Successfully planned and executed a funfair event attended by 300 students with favourable reviews from participants, featured on school websites/news websites." or for law focused "Acted for a large multi-national company in a commercial dispute pertaining to the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and drafted witness statements for 2 factual witnesses and 1 expert witness for arbitral proceedings."
(iii) For both CV and cover letter - Get a nice format and look professional, just buy it off those template websites if required.
Interview
Think it's cliche but can't be emphasised enough - try to treat an interview as a conversation rather than a debate/scolding/grilling etc.
(1) Always state your points/response to the question/discussion then elaborate. Do some signposting along the way so that people can follow what you are talking about. Max have 2-3 points so people know you are judicious in answering and not rambling/spamming.
Example again - "I want to practice in the funds department because (1) the booming fund management industry in Singapore and (2) there is a good blend of transactional, regulatory and advisory work. For (1), I note that and also MAS have recently announcement a repeal of the registered fund management company regime to streamline the fund management licensing processes. This shows that the field is very prevalent and dynamic, which is something I will enjoy since I like to read the news and keep up with recent developments. For (2), I understand from seniors I talked to in this field that . Transactions = fund formation/fund structuring, regulatory = correspondence with regulatory authorities and to make sure all their concerns/policy intents are addressed. advisory = compliance with regulations or the different types of fund structures and any risks/blind spots to take note".
For litigation - please also refrain from putting a general description. If you like the dispute resolution strategy portion, bring up some examples like "During my internship, we poured through the evidence to uncover that there is a gap in which goes to proving our case that the contract have not been breached. Such evidence was essential because . Through this experience, I understand the importance of seeking the right evidence and proper studying of evidence/research of the law etc."
(2) When answering questions, answer the question and take a moment to think if you need to.
A simplistic example is "What did you do during the weekend?". The answer shouldn't be "The pasta at this cafe was so amazing and pet-friendly"... it should be a "I did X + X activity over the weekend at . The had a very good ambience and allowed pets etc etc...".
If you find it difficult, make a conscious effort to repeat/rephrase the question to the interviewer. "I understand your query pertains to whether therapeutic justice is the right direction for family justice in Singapore - my answer is yes as (1) it promotes co-parenting which is beneficial for a child's development and (2) it reduces the emphasis on divorce as split of marriage but rather as an assessment of how parties can make arrangements for essential segments of the marriage (eg. children, maintenance) after it has ended".
Last point is to make any assumptions/qualifications/clarifications if you require and especially for controversial questions, it shows that you are thinking and genuine in answering.
(3) Use some useful response formats when answering particular questions. Eg for situational questions - I highly recommend using this STAR response.
(4) Tone and words. This is underrated but very important and can go to show that you are respectful and willing to learn. Refrain from using "Logic will dictate that"/It is common sense that...", instead use "Thank you for sharing this alternative viewpoint, I understand where you're coming from in that . Respectfully, I am of opinion that this alternative viewpoint should be considered for the reasons below.". Or "As I mentioned previously" - there is no point saying this, just repeat your previous point again and make the necessary links to that topic you all are talking about, if you really want - just do some subtle mentioning like "If you may recall, we were talking about shortly before and I would just like to bring us back to ".
In summary, try to prepare for an interview by having a conversation with friends/having a career guidance/interview practice session with your school's career counsellor (NUS has it).
(5) Magic final question - "What questions do you have for me". Ah this is an age-old debate whether you should ask questions. Personally, I would want to and to make sure that the questions are smart. You don't even need to ask a deep question about the particular field and stuff. You can simply ask "How is the workflow/environment that I will be expecting in this team. I understand during my chats with my mentor during my internship that there will be a Associate/Senior Associate/Partner on every file". It shows that you are interested to work for a particular team. More often or not - interviewers are looking more at fit and willingness to learn rather than your knowledge etc.
(6) Weakness questions - the shining light in such questions is if you actually make a conscious effort to list steps about how you overcome this weakness. Eg. "I may not understand/follow a discussion very well during my as parties speak too fast and I have limited visibility of the matter at hand since I only joined for that one meeting. To overcome this, I try to take down as many key words as possible and then revisit them with my mentors after the meeting to make sure that all my gaps in understanding have been addressed." This shows a willingness to learn and improve and is definitely a big plus point.
3 Law Practice
1 year training contract
TC is transiting to 1 year (instead of the 6 months soon). While it may seem sucky - it is what it is and kudos to those that are going to undergo the 1 year TC.
Law practice
The realities of practice is well documented - high attrition rates , long hours, unreasonable clients/bosses, toxic environments just to name a few. To put simply, I don't think these concerns are specific to law and can extend to many other fields as well (audit, teaching, healthcare etc). I just want to put a silver lining to all these and how we can find reasonable mitigating measures to any bad experiences.
The silver linings are (credits to chichasanchen for some of this) as follows:
(1) Law school tuition fees are more affordable compared to med sch/dent sch (13k compared to 24k+)
(2) Above median pay for fresh grads (after the (now) 1 year TC) and a great year on year increase (1k usually) - the YOY increase is virtually assured in most law firms so long as you're not severely underperforming. The additional salary is very worth the cons of long hours etc - I would much rather have tons of work (common in many other industries) and also be paid for it. Our pay is also not results/sales based which requires you to really go out and put your neck out there. For junior associates, the pressure to get clients is not put onto you (but your partners in charge) and you can comfortably develop your practice skills (eg. Drafting/Advocacy/Negotiation).
(3) Job security - well I would say its pretty high in private practice because there are many jobs now and its a buyers market for job-seekers. Just don't be severely underperforming/bad attitude
(4) Job competition and versatility - For private practice/in-house roles roles, your competition is other lawyers in your industry which is restricted. Compare this to eg. marketing roles or business development, you are competing with various other majors!! Also, law degree is more transferable than those very niche/specific industries and I have had batchmates that even go to UX/UI designing or marketing roles that goes to show that it is not as restrictive as thought. Exit options for private practice lawyers are v good also as there are many in-house counsel roles to choose from and some may take your private practice pay to benchmark, since your salary above median already so you won't starve.
(5) Work environment - this is very much dependent on your team and what your skillsets/preference are. YMMV and the toxic work environments/unreasonable client expectations are true to an extent. But then again - you're in control of your work environment since you can choose the team you work for. Further to my point at (3) above that there are several legal associate roles - you are in control of your work environment to a large extent.
I wanted to highlight that law practice is very much defined by individual circumstances so I don't think there is a blanket response. I will just state my personal experience as I have been in the same firm that I started my TC with and I found a (hopefully) sustainable environment for now. My bosses are great so far and not afraid to push back on client’s tough deadlines. If I’m busy on a weekend and there’s an urgent deadline, they are fine with a reasonable timeline (eg. Monday morning) so I can plan my weekend out to do my essentials and also set my own time to finish those urgent things. In my department - the default for work that comes in is that it’s not urgent (I.e can wait 1-2 working days) unless my bosses say so (compared to some other firms where responding fast is king). My bosses regularly front meetings and don't leave me fending for myself only. By fronting the meetings, I have a super safe space to learn from bosses with tons of experience and pick up things better rather than in pressure cooker environment where I have to face the wrath of unreasonable clients. My bosses are also invested in my development and allow me to take on the less heavy tasks like form filling with client/explaining the law/early oral advocacy when client allows/front less-experience intensive meetings or calls.
One essential aspect of my team that I always value is also - my bosses are great guidances and taskmasters. They actually sit me down and brief me on the task first and/or discuss a task after it is done, to the extent where I can just man-mode (kinda) and just be diligent in taking instructions and executing the task. For example when I was still in liti, my boss (who was very experienced in the field) told me which cases exactly to refer to for the principles and how to explain our position. This is very beneficial for me as contrast to a superficial “Pls fix” or “redo” email peppered with some paggro slurs! I’d take my bosses any day. Also coming from past experience (cough NS) where I had to actively deal with shit from upstairs and downstairs, being allowed to man-mode and being just the executor is just such a breath of fresh air.
My seniors (and other department colleagues) are also tremendously supportive and I can always easily bounce ideas off them. Even when I get precedents from them, they also give notes on how to adapt certain clauses and what essential matters to look out for. This is so useful cos you won’t be going in blind with just the precedent to figure out it out yourself.
Of course, I do also (1) play my part by delivering work on time and if I cannot - to state so, (2) have a positive learning attitude and deferential when required - I conscientiously take notes and try to improve my work product as much as possible, and not argue against my bosses lol (3) try my best to catch as many points as required in the work, (4) will endeavour to pay it forward to my juniors as I slowly rise up the ranks - to be good guidances to them.
My final point is that finding a good sustainable working environment can make practice more manageable.
I also wanted to mention finding a practice area that you see yourself doing for a long time is very important. I have had personal experience and also had countless batchmates that switched practice groups (eg. litigation to corporate and vice versa) during TC and during practice - it is not impossible to do so but just don't do it too late into your practice because your salary keeps increasing and it is hard to justify paying you the same salary if you are transiting to a new field with 0 experience and on a higher pay. Just always make sure you have a positive learning attitude to pick up things and to manage the learning curve.
Some might ask - why not move to international firm etc and have higher pay? But having worked with international firms and seeing how fast they (need to) react to client's requests etc and by my hesitance of leaving a good work environment, there isn't really a push factor for me as of now. That is as far as my concern goes for now.
For an interactive insight into a day in a life as a lawyer, I highly recommend checking out youtube account "Em and Lloyd" - while it is based in Hong Kong, it is highly applicable in Singapore as well.
Fresh trainees/associates - additional practice tips?
I recommend searching "Jason Feng" on linkedin for tons of good advice/tips he has for junior lawyers. Those guides are very relevant and useful.
To summarise - associates are there to facilitate the work and do first cuts. It may be menial jobs like proof-reading and formatting or to tougher jobs like remembering events/details on the file. But most importantly, you should focus on settling these tasks well before you move on to the more complex ones.
Formatting/proofreading is one of the easier things to nail down and something partners (usually) appreciate a lot. I highly recommend reading these 2 well-written guides for tips: Guide 1 and Guide 2.
Networking and Job opportunities
Law is quite a niche industry and there can be good network opportunities that one should tap on because you never know when you'd need a referral for new roles/clients for example. Don't be afraid to reach out to people on Linkedin for the teams/roles that you are interested in as well - it shows you actually bothered to do your research to see if you are a fit on the team. Same goes for international firm roles - if you really want to ask for a first hand account of a team, what better way to find on Linkedin.
I also won't profess to know much about in-house counsel roles since I haven't explored these yet. But I also understand from those in-house counsels (credits to chichasanchen as well) that their interview process is also more law focused (which is good and something in your domain) with fewer rounds of interviews than their counterparts in other departments since that is a legal-focused role afterall. So that's a plus point =)
Pro bono work
Basically entails free legal advice or representation. I have done numerous legal clinics and several CLAS/LAB cases both as a student and as a lawyer. It is really great to be able to use your professional skills and capacity to help the needy in society, very few professions/industries can say that~. There are many opportunities you can assist like making deputyship applications for those who lack mental capacity, representing those charged in criminal court but yet cannot afford legal representation or giving free legal advice.
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That's all I have to share. Hope y'all found this useful~! Thank you all for reading this far and will be happy to answer any further queries
All the best especially to those entering law school/entering practice especially, I wish you much success in your endeavours. =)

So it might be time to spruce up my CV and start job-huntimg again, but I haven't had to do that since late 2019. I'm looking at the current layout and formatting etc and it seems boring and tired... Though, I'm a lawyer and maybe that's what law firms still want?
How common is it these days to produce a nicer, more modern CV for law firms using something like Canva? The target is top-tier law firms and in-house counsel roles, though I'm thinking accountants and consultants will have similar views.
EDIT: Thanks, AusCorp Brains Trust! I guess "boring and tired" and "classic" are arguably two sides of the same coin. I had a look on Canva anyway, and a lot of their templates pretty much mirror what I already have. And I'd forgotten that CVs are taken as a sample of an applicant's drafting business document.
Wish me luck.

This is for those in the US who want to understand more, how long it has been going on, why students should not be dismissed as "uninformed", date/time contexts, availability of data, legislation, investigations and some good citations sources that are legally recognized as legitimate in both Congress and the courts including the Supreme Court. Good for parents/family/friends, students/graduates, and general tax payers.
"Did some research crowd before you _______"
Well lets hop in on the fallacy; its really pointless. I might as well carry a gallon of water in a desert with colander at best a strainer is not a bad way of looking at it. Without contexts below taken into account you wouldn't bother making it if your not just trolling or apathetic to it; fair points that is why this post is not for you. For those in the older crowd this is why you should be even more cautious making this fallacy to people like myself outside of merely stating your opinion. The problem is we are now at a point to where it is going to affect you on a common factor such as taxes (state and federal), fiscal budgets of states and federal, as well as new regulations.
Why this post: I am documenting this as part of my journey to all of you outlining on how I arrived to getting my BDoR approved, and my loans discharged as well as what is not told going through the process much less before it and about it. Not so y'all can argue with yourselves, although your free to do so, is the intent. This is for explaining to those that "don't have skin in the game" as they actually do, serving as a really formed rebuttal against news media's clear motive on emotional engagements over pragmatic information.
I am a person foremost a Dad and a professional in the economy. It has and still is painful in various ways. My perspective is that I gained far more in personal finance understanding, debt and its implications, and the struggle of getting out of it made me hungrier to succeed as well as modeling to my daughter those principals.
Time Range - When something occurs especially in law time and dates really matter. Many attorneys informed me of this not only in my child custody case, my initial attempts in bankruptcy for adversarial proceedings, your tax filings, and of course the programs forgiving loan debts. Through this process I was given advice by legal counsel so I must certainly say this is for people and in no way shape or form constitutes legal advice in your own situation nor would I irresponsibly claim otherwise.
This is short circuit number one and to prevent the same wet blanket statement as a rebuttal I am going to set a timeframe that is applicable to myself. I am mostly looking at those that graduated high school from 2000 to 2004 as well as College grads in for-profit schools prior to 2009. That does not mean others cannot benefit from it outside this time range. If you were in the earlier 2000 - 2010 surge in technology you'd also know that <15% of Americans had access to the internet during this timeframe. The internet now is not what it was back then and must be recognized as such. You'll understand why as we go through this post, specifically in the next context.
Locality (Geolocality) - Laws when passed or litigated in court against persons or entities this is important. when rulings are made, being appealed, and when they are applicable. Luckily I was raised by my mom to keep good records in her short time working as a paralegal before she opened her day care that she ran for 15+ years.
One such example is if I looked up legal documents in California yet the lawsuit is filed in Denver they will not show in CA gov databases was very common back then. Private brokers of cross-walks did exist as I later found out often behind paywalls that at the time could very well be prohibitive especially in my journey. Prohibitive in what matter you may ask? I entered the local southern California economy as a graduate in May of 2008. According to Wikipedia: In the United States, the Great Recession was a severe financial crisis combined with a deep recession. While the recession officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, it took many years for the economy to recover.
Now that I mentioned Wikipedia let also establish another good factor to the "Did you research" statement: Wikipedia, a free-content online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers known as Wikipedians, began with its first edit on 15 January 2001. Looking at the timeframe I listed earlier that'd make me a Sophmore in High School. Depending on your school's location and budget would play a role in the: Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-99 (ed.gov) which challenged schools to have internet access by 2000 putting myself as an early adopter as the library had no more than 10 computers available for student use often with time limits per student.
Ok let's take a look at this in context assuming I would "Just Google'd the college". I went to Westwood college. According to Google Trends queries to the actual college entity vs the owning company alongside state localities to understand For-Profit colleges: For-profit colleges in the United States, Alta
Such a simplified query can encompass both good or bad results for students/parents/etc as determined by Google's search algorithm implementation they had in production at that time.
I can easily say we all enjoy the Wikipedia and Google search abilities, except those that were around BEFORE IT.
Alta College became an entry in October of 2009 according to Wikipedia's version history, I attended from 2005 to 2008. Yes, you may say this is anecdotal and situational. To that however I would state in regards to the information I've listed above in terms of accessibility of information including my lack of knowledge in LLC formation therein already is grounds to the why the statement of "If you did your research" come up short. Additionally the college I attended had its first wikipedia page published in July 2006 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Westwood_College&oldid=65337438 now as I stated earlier I entered in August 2005. A good source of objective information on both companies DID NOT EXIST.
Another implicit assumption on each student would be the understanding behind incorporation, the legal benefits to do so and the implications of not doing so. Earlier I mentioned my mom owning her own business as a LLC. Oddly it never occurred to ask why'd you would have chained LLCs until I took my economics course in late 2008; I also can assert she wouldn't have been able to tell me either as she passed away in early 2008. I can firmly state it was not covered in my High School. Taking location in mind along with the time frame the Google Trend would make sense to me without this knowledge as a precaution when making my choice. If we improved American history classes to teach more about actual universities in High School as well as the business concepts of Inc, LLC, Liabilities ect we'd be more aware going forward. I cannot change the past, just learn from it. That is a point I think most can agree on. I only know this now in hindsight.
This now raises another misconception I encountered; that this is a "recent problem". No. It is not. When I researched how to approach my mounting student loan debt making $30K annually in California where my job was as a junior developer bankruptcy looked like a viable option. After speaking with several law offices I found out that was not an option. One case in particular was cited to me: United Student Aid Funds Inc. v. Espinosa (No. 08-1134). Toby J. Heytens, an assistant to the U.S. solicitor general, told the justices that “there is an important public interest at stake here, which is that the Department of Education is reinsuring all of these loans.”. Um I wasn't alive in 1980 much less in school. I can clearly affirm, even under perjury, that court case was never covered in any formal school setting. I will not assume for others.
This seemed odd to me as the IRS has insolvency guidelines which must be read, signed under perjury, if you're attempting to go through bankruptcy. According to the law office I was working with this is standard procedure. During that time I did more digging and found: Getting By: Economic Rights and Legal Protections for People with Low Income - Helen Hershkoff, Stephen Loffredo - Google Books that prior to 1976 student loans were dischargeable in bankruptcy like other unsecured loans. An undue hardship test was introduced for federally insured loans under five years. Higher Education Act of 1965 was a result of January 1965, President Lyndon Johnson told Congress that higher education was "no longer a luxury but a necessity" and urged Congress to enact legislation to expand access to college.^\3]) Representative Edith Green of Oregon introduced H. R. 3220 this would be amended a lot through the following decades.
To me this was a pivot point in 2009 when my daughter would be born. This new sense of urgency to continue my career growth grew exponentially to say the least. I would later find out that as I did what I thought was the right thing in making more money I would eventually come into a catch-22 where I no longer could be insolvent due to income growth over my last 5 years yet not making enough to cover a realistic cost of living / quality of life. I like to call this the "green gap" where you make too much but not enough when taking the time and place of the person in question into account.
That last part is important in another way. On April 20, 2009, the United announced that Alta Colleges had agreed to pay the U.S. government $7 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that Alta's Texas schools submitted false claims for federal student aid funds. The college admitted no wrongdoing and was not required to change any of its practices. 1863 was when it got passed. The laws are on the books, in Texas... GEOLOCATION matters here! Denver and California are not in Texas, nor does Alta College accept students. I realized later I was structing my searches in the context of California not Texas thus missing what could have served as a red flag and impeding troubles.
Did you also get that odd tidbit there? I went to Westwood College, owned by Alta College. Westwood College at one time had 17 campuses across California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and Virginia, as well as an online campus. Westwood College offered 27 degree programs, including in business, design, technology, industrial services, justice and health care. I didn't find that correlation until after I graduated while pulling fiscal records for approaching bankruptcy for the second time which again proved fruitless for the new reason. I made too much, according to the insolvency guidelines.
Talk about looking for the wrong thing in the wrong place. Veterans with GI PAY ATTENTION HERE. These documents I found on a google query back on May 2018 listed as plain pdf files in an IIS server that didn't have directory exploration OFF so it was indexed by Google. This led me to fine the following:
United States Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS COMMITTEE Tom Harkin, Chairman Benefitting Whom? For-Profit Education Companies and the Growth of Military Educational Benefits.
Entered December 8th, 2010.
Lets get one thing straight when reviewing Congressional Investigations: Perjury is liable on both Congressional party as well as those called into testify them as well as the documents of record. Citing these documents is the same as litigating in court which carries far more weight than any news headline on repeated blast. Lets check which side of congress this falls on: U.S. Senate: About : The Supreme Court in landmark cases has broadly upheld congressional powers to conduct investigations, as long as inquiries are related to subjects on which Congress can validly legislate. During the Senate investigation of the Teapot Dome scandal in the 1920s, the Supreme Court held in McGrain v. Daugherty (1927) that congressional committees can issue subpoenas, compel witnesses to testify, and hold them in contempt if they failed to comply. In another decision, Sinclair v. United States (1929), the Court ruled that a witness who lies before a congressional committee can be convicted of perjury.
Now that we have a good citation source, unlike most news reporting, take a look at Page 3 of the report above: As a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, combined with the growing economic need for postsecondary education, over the past few years Congress has fundamentally re-examined its commitment to providing educational benefits to a new generation of veterans. With the passage of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (Post-9/11 GI Bill) on June 30, 2008, almost all servicemembers, including reserve troops who serve a minimum of 90 days active duty after September 10, 2001, became eligible for educational benefits up to 36 months at an average of $458 per credit hour
This is the beginning of how this snowball started especially for me. For-Profits took advantage of Veteran GI benefits with them having to show for it as the report further explains. Additionally, this is now a PRIME target for money.
Between 2006 and 2010, combined VA and DoD education benefits received by 20 for-profit education companies increased from $66.6 million in 2006 to a projected $521.2 million in 2010, an increase of 683 percent: o Between 2009 and 2010 alone, revenue from military educational benefits at 20 for-profit education companies increased 211 percent. o In the first year of Post-9/11 GI Bill implementation, the VA spent comparable amounts ($697 million and $640 million respectively) on tuition for students attending public schools and students attending for-profit schools, but the VA funded 203,790 students at public schools compared to 76,746 at for-profits. o Revenue from DoD educational programs at 18 for-profit education companies increased from $40 million in 2006 to an expected $175.1 million in 2010, a 337 percent increase. o Revenue from VA educational programs for the same 18 for-profit education companies increased from $26.3 million in 2006 to an expected $285.8 million for 2010, including a five[1]fold increase between 2009 and 2010. o Revenues from military education benefits at 20 for-profit education companies increased more rapidly than overall revenues for every year between 2006 and 2010.
Well, what about non-veterans? Now that these companies earned the ire of Congress because the GI money for education was not being used wisely a wide range of investigations opened up starting mostly from what I found in 2009; in simpler terms after I went through the program. Another report on September 30th 2010: 9 U.S. Senate Comm. on Health, Educ., Labor & Pensions, “The Return on the Federal Investment in For-Profit Education: Debt Without a Diploma” is an excellent accompaniment.
Now lets talk sales. The how/why of students, parents and guarantors agreeing to this madness. Well if you've learned ANYTHING from the prior sections with timeframe, locality, accessible information and how to apply all of it correctly we run into a sales person's dream buffet. We can see in HELP-ALTA-000271 that distrubition of reports clearly targeted veterans which correlates the findings in the Senate's investigation.
Often what is not discussed in detail is what is covered in document HELP-ALTA-000123 Key Responsibility #2 Lead Development. An internal training shared with counselors assisting in student sign up. Cross reference this with internal document HELP-Alta-000262 (Document 10 Page 2) that outlines new hire standards to meet a volume standard of 70% to 80%. Disclosure of these internal non-public, therefore NON-RESEARCHABLE documents was done via subpoena. Begs the question: How can a student research something they don't know about. Outside of the attorneys I have met in life this is well over the head of a lot of people I have had direct interactions with however I will NOT extrapolate over the US as a whole. Use the information in context with your experience.
Next lets look at what was the motivation to "sell" the student for the signup. IN HELP-ALTA-000002 page 2 we find the following: During the first 90 days, all Admissions Representatives will receive an evaluation every 30 days using the 30-60-90 review template which will provide critical feedback on performance each 30-day period. During the initial 90 day period, the Director of Admissions will closely monitor the performance of each Representative to ensure sufficient progress is being made. Insufficient progress of the Representative can result in termination of employment.
When cross referenced with HELP-ALTA-000042 this is no longer just retention of the position at stake. We find incentives at the director level through the exec level: Motivating your Admissions Team is of critical importance to the Director of Admissions. To assist a Director to effectively recognize his/her team, Admissions has established a national recognition and awards program. For all national recognition programs, refer to the current year Recognition and Awards Guide [HELP-ALTA-000243]
HELP-ALTA-000026 lists a section for Admission Representatives to take as part of their training on Page 8: Process for Handling Objections 1) Challenge all smokescreens: Listen 2) Verify 3) Isolate 4) Resolve 5) Gain Agreement 6) Re-Close
Here we are seeing a pattern of what, myself and others MEAN by predatory. In HELP-ALTA-000265 Page 5
Standards of Performance The matrix below outlines Standards of Performance that Admissions Representatives must strive to achieve in order to contribute to the overall success of the organization. Each Standard should be used as a guideline when assigning individual goals to achieve personal success. In addition, Representatives will have standards of monthly volume and start standards for each class which are outlined on subsequent pages.
In the next section they define: Minimum Performance Guidelines The focus of all Admissions team members is on achieving the goals agreed upon with their supervisor according to the Standards of Performance. While the requirements of each office or team may vary by region and Division, the following matrix highlights the absolute minimum requirement of an Admissions Representative.
Reaching the established minimum requirements is not acceptable as standard performance; Representatives who are not progressing appropriately or fail to achieve minimum requirements are subject to corrective action up to and including termination. Guidance and feedback will be provided through One on One’s, Observations, 30-60-90 Reviews, Term Reviews, Action Plan Guides, coaching and other periodic reviews.
Yes, they were paid in accordance to how many students the admitted and compensated / terminated for it. When it became clear to the executives about retention rates they implemented a restructure to how long the programs would take in a strategy document HELP-ALTA-000067 (this is its own post in its own right).
You may be wondering, where was this taking place, this is where Step 3) Isolate takes place. I have established that locality is important. Sales taught me that is also good leverage too. First is Online which is covered in 000067. During June 2005 to October 2005 with ~20% Tv Ads, 35% Search Engine Ads, 35% in Internet Ads, Friend/Family at < 10%, Student AdvisoTeacher <5%, 0% from Employer.
This is where I made, in my life the worst mistake I have made in 18+ years. I saw the Ads on TV first during late-time hours in the Summer of 2005. I had graduated High School in 2004, now 18, working full time as data entry clerk, renting the floor from a family member (not a room, you read it right).
I watched as opiate addiction was ruining my mothers health, entering her in rehabs still holding my job down taking the bus. December 2004 I got my first ever bonus. In January I used it to get my first car as my mom urged me to get a degree. She had watched as I flipped burgers in 2003 for McDonalds to this data entry job knowing full well what CoL was in our area. Being tech savy as I built my own PCs for others, though never my own, when I was only 14 I turned to the internet to fact check these tv ads. NEVER believe what ya see on TV as the mantra. I found lots of materials of praise yet hardly anything at all in the reverse. Man if I only knew SEO tactics now as a Senior Full-Stack Engineer in this industry! Doesn't do any good to think about that now though, lets go back to 19 year old me. I made an appointment, toured the campus with my mom and here is how they got me. I could earn a Bachelors in 36 months in programming.
She knew full well I had technology in my DNA feeling assured I would excel in such a field. What went through my mind wasn't salary, it was my mother's health. The admissions rep stated I required a cosigner. My mom said she'd cover it so her last child can get a good job in a now fast growing industry. We talked it over deciding to visit a local JC. Their we found that I would not be able to attend for nearly 9 months out. Seeing the price differences I said maybe that was smarter. To my surprise my mom objected with getting me degree as fast as possible was a better idea. I didn't know why she said that till much later. "You just need the degree son, sometimes employers are even ok with it not being in the same industry as what ya get it in.". I signed the dotted line...
She died in March 2008, never seeing me graduate in May 2008; I completed the degree in 2.75 years in which I overtook, getting a Bachelors, over my sister's AA which she started 5 years ahead of me. To her grave she thought through and through everything was going to turn out well for me especially given my chosen field. In that regard she was not wrong because I MADE it that way. I still to this day have never let that degree define my credentials, nor would I let it stop me from providing for my daughter.
The last point in my long post here is the statement above make one other misconception. It assumes that you have a support network. I didn't. Dad left when I was 2 and never bothered with our family or siblings. Mom passed away. Lost the grandparents to Cancer when I was 9. With my nearest family member 1900 miles away from me I instilled a do or die attitude. My wife passed in 2021 from a hit and run so it is just me raising our daughter. 4 years to go until she is 18... Want to guess what I have told her about student loans, debt and credit cards? Spoiler: NO.
When my BDoR was approved it was not to "fix" my mistake. It was a breach of contract when the school lost accreditation and no longer deemed to meet the government standard for receiving loans for education. These loans are now a ledger correction in the eyes of the government, which if you've understood my points about timeframes was setup long before I was born. Any tabs on what transpired through various lawsuits from Sallie Mae -> Navient -> now MOHELA shows poor book keeping. I will simply echo "Too big to fail". This is where older folks best be wary... You setup the systems in place, voted or didn't vote is not relevant, at best you knew and at worse you didn't pay attention when it was under your nose. The reverse is also true though. My degree is not valid either according to the government. I didn't get one for nothing or no accountability.
I often do wonder what my mom would feel like if she had seen what happened, though I am glad she didn't have to see how the good intentions paved a hellish road.
I am 1 of 43 million borrowers. If y'all interested I can do a follow up post on where the training materials were used to artificially inflate student placements in jobs or other topics. Let me know.

So I (22F) am currently on a break from my boyfriend (22M). We’re both university students studying the same course, I love my studies and my future career is my life. My work is my life because I want one thing and it’s to help people. I want to help people who can’t help themselves and just bring people peace in awful situations.
I have a very strong sense of justice and I feel honesty and openness is an absolute necessity in everything in life. I also just want to help.
So my boyfriend and I got together in the middle of our 1st year of uni. We were good friends just before that and it just progressed from there. I’m supposed to be graduating soon. I’ve worked hard and my grades have been overall decent, I was on a steady track for a 1st. Last year I had a placement year where I was working while my bf was doing what was meant to be his final year. He ended up struggling, falling behind and took a year out to recover his mental health. I was okay with this because I understand mental health is serious and you need to be proud of the work you produce. I have also lost someone due to not spotting an in hindsight clear cry for help which I didn’t help with. So if someone is struggling I want to help even more.
So we ended up in our 3rd year together. He had massive problems with the university registry after his year out though and ended up getting enrolled extremely late. He was given deferrals for all assessments from 1st term so he had literally everything due at the same time. It’s stressful but the uni work isn’t too difficult as long as you study just a bit. He however was seriously struggling. He would ask me for help so I would point him to useful links or professor info that helped me out massively. Sometimes he’d ask for help or an explanation on abstract concepts which I’d try to put in layman’s terms to explain.
However he wasn’t keeping up very well. He was procrastinating while I worked (I procrastinate too but to a lesser degree) and ended up struggling to finish them. He was falling behind even more and it’s delayed his graduation.
Our final 3 assessments got put out, which were due literal next days after each other. The final one being an insanely stressful oral exam that most of the class was panicking about. I managed my work despite all my own extenuating circumstances and managed to get everything in though it was actually difficult. My bf wasn’t having as good a fortune though and kept asking for more and more help. I gave him a ton of great papers for one piece but the final assessment after the oral really got to him. He looked like he was about to have a panic attack and like he was about to throw up. He asked about my technical section and I gave him the links and he was panicking so bad. He wasn’t understanding it.
So I did something stupid. I said, “look, it’s okay! You’ve got this, you just need to talk about this sorta thing, for example I used:” and I read my section of work because it was in my layman’s terms. I was panicking and it was so stupid which I know now. He was writing while I spoke which I assumed were notes on key points to include.
Well he submitted it and told me his similarities were high but I told him the document itself was a template and we were asked to copy sections from university provided documents so average similarities were around 50% because of this. We relaxed because the work was done.
Well that was a few weeks ago and we got a message saying our results have been released. Except mine weren’t. I immediately got confused and checked the academic record for it to find a message saying it’d been submitted for analysis of potential academic misconduct. I immediately panicked because I didn’t know how that’d happened.
Another important thing was that my bf had gone home for his birthday. I’m working so I couldn’t go which we had a bit of a fight about but it was just a normal small couple fight. After I didn’t get results I messaged him, confused. He said it was likely due to the fact that he’d written EXACTLY WHAT ID SAID!
I immediately went completely numb. Then he started telling me about how he’d been mentally struggling and how he’d been hiding it from me and he was sorry.
I told him I couldn’t process the situation currently and told him I want to go back to just being friends right now because I don’t know if I can move past this. My other work has also been pulled for examination. I’ve been sorting this mess out with meetings with professors and counselling from the extreme anxiety I’m feeling. My roommate has been extremely supportive to and I appreciate him to no end. I’ve been completely honest and admitted to reading the section of work. I haven’t heard the outcome or had the official meeting yet but I’ve been told I’m not getting expelled and am now well briefed on the situation. I know what’s coming and I’m just going to do what I normally do and say what happened. I accept that I’m to blame too. However there is a high likelihood my graduation will be delayed and if it’s the worst verdict I might have a minorly harder time getting into my desired field
Because of the admin, I haven’t had time to process anything. I’m so so angry and feel used and disgusting but then I get anxious and panic about my future which is more important and need to think logically to fix this mess. I haven’t had the chance to be upset about the break because I have bloody emails to write. I honestly would’ve rather he cheated on me, at least then I wouldn’t have paperwork to do!
He keeps texting me which I don’t mind. We’re back to friends and I’m comfortable with that. I’ve decided I can definitely forgive him enough for that. He’s checking in on me and I ask on updates on his mental health because I couldn’t stomach losing someone else like that. He’s been put on medication and is apologising so much. I’m trying to forgive the situation. I don’t like being angry and very rarely get angry but I am right now. He’s coming down next week and we’re going to talk. He wants to fix this. He says he respects my decision and will give me all the space I need. It’s so hard because I know it wasn’t malicious and I hate myself for not being a good enough person to forgive him.
So I am asking strangers, how can I fix this? How can I forgive something that’s hurt me so badly? Relationships are work and I know that but Is there any advice on how I can fix this entire mess? What can we talk about next week to try and resolve this?
Thanks in advance Edited to take out some identifying details

I promised an update after putting the EVIQO charger into service last month. But before I do that I want to again make clear that I have no affiliation with EVIQO and have received no compensation or benefit. I am just a consumer who decided to buy one based on my own research.
I feel it necessary to provide this unusual disclaimer inasmuch as one of the moderators of this sub publicly accused me of shilling for EVIQO because I was enthusiastic about it and answered some questions from other OPs. I found that inappropriate and frankly over the line hence the preface to this update. The moderators and contributors to this sub are, IMO, universally helpful and from what I've observed try to give good counsel--but they are also people with their own views --and occasionally as was the case in this instance one of them chose to use a public forum and not a DM to express a prejudicial and highly personal opinion violating their own standards and the subs rules.
I will add, that I was surprised by what appears to be a bias against new entrants to the market. Some of that is based on "it's new and untried" which I agree is a reasonable caution--but some of it appears to be motivated by other considerations--such as where a unit is manufactured, where a company is based, how their reviews appear on Amazon, or which YT reviewer reviewed the device. None of that matters or should have any bearing on an objective analysis and it is unpersuasive. I did my own homework and so far I am pleased with the results. Reach your own conclusions.
I have used the EVIQO at least twice a week over the last month to top up my Q5e PHEV. Soon, I will add a '24 BMW i5 EV. Installation, thanks to the included templates, instructions and a longer than usual input cable was easy and relatively quick; less than an hour. EVIQO includes very nice mounting hardware but it is designed for use in concrete or cement block construction, not typical wood stud and drywall. Given the dimensions and placement of the attachment points on the steel mounting plate for the charger itself I could only mount one side to a stud and used some robust drywall anchors and pan head screws to secure the other. The separate holster for the 25 foot charging cable can be mounted to a single stud. And that extra length over my EVSE cable means I can reach the charging ports on both vehicles in my 2 car garage.
I opted to plug in my unit which I had previously provisioned for use with the Audi EVSE it replaced. The extra long input cable which is much thicker in dimension than most of the chargers I've seen is relatively flexible but I found, given the layout in my garage I really had only one good and safe option. EVIQ does provide guidance on where to mount the unit relative to the 14/50 receptacle but of course every situation will differ so do review their installation guide. My constraints were self imposed due to layout and where I opted to place the receptacle for use with the Audi EVSE, it should not be a problem for others.
Since putting the unit into service it has worked flawlessly. I had no difficulty with the bluetooth or wifi setup--but I have a MyQ so I knew wifi in the garage would be fine. In fact setup worked exactly as the printed guide and video show. The included app offers most of the features of other units including the ability to support multiple users, manage charging schedules based on utility costs by day part, display usage details and graphs, multiple charging schedules, etc.
So, what, if any, are the downsides. The unit is optimized for a plug in installation. It supports hardwire and even has a simple internal mechanism for altering the amperage from the preset 40a but the support for hardwire is not well documented. Access to the unit is via the same port as the preinstalled input cable rather than a rear facing port, and no additional accessory is provided should one opt to hardwire. EVIQO offers a concierge service to connect you with an electrician to install your unit for hardwire and maybe they have access to a replacement whip or some alternate approach, it is a question I did not explore as I was already pre-configured for a plug in.
I did have one glitch shortly after I put the unit in service, although it isn't clear whether the issue was with the EVIQO or my wifi. One morning the unit was flashing a fault indicating that there was no internet connection. But I was connected and my phone and computers were working just fine. I cycled the breaker and after waiting a minute turned the unit back on--it went into its connection mode and within a minute or so was back up. Since then it has not recurred so I am unsure whether the issue was the EVIQO or an intermittent router signal.
Finally, since installing the unit my ancient Liftmaster garage door opener has become a bit sensitive. It works but the vehicle remotes on both our cars have to be closer to the garage than previously was the case for them to work properly. While I cannot say definitively that the EVIQO unit is causing it, the issue arose shortly after putting the unit into service and RF interference is a possibility. I do not know if this is an issue with newer Liftmasters/Chamberlainj's which use an entirely different frequency than the older models.
In summary, based on my experience so far I am pleased with the unit--it is very well built inside and out--and at $379 direct ($399 on Amazon) does what a lot of more costly units do and some things better. Others have reviewed the unit's engineering and had complimentary things to say but I am not qualified to offer opinions on the subject beyond an end user experience. The unit runs cool, is very sturdily built and it seems obvious a lot of thought went into the design. I have also found the company to be very responsive--questions get answered almost immediately and often by the CEO who is an engineer himself. I believe they are worthy of consideration alongside other comparable units if they match up with your needs. But again, I urge folks to do their own homework--this is not an endorsement, just a report.
I will do a 6 month update using the EVIQO with both vehicles and as above report my experience as objectively as possible.

I am NOT OOP, OOP is u/Guilty-Pollution-742
Originally posted to TrueOffMyChest
Previous BoRU
[New Update]: My gf came out as a lesbian before our marriage and no one gives a fuck about me. You know what? Fuck you all
Trigger Warnings: death of loved ones, car accident, suicide ideation, accusations of physical abuse, mentions of threats, infidelity
RECAP
Original Post: March 13, 2024
Me and my ex (Dana) have been together for 7 years and i knew that she was bisexual by the beginning and she openly told me about her past relationships with girls but i never cared because to it wasn't a problem at all. We never had any big fight or arguments but just small things and we always sorted out everything. So after 7 years of relationship i decided that it was the right moment to make the big question because we were deeply in love, financially stable and already living together so for me it was the right time. I prepared everything to make it more romantic and unique as i could and when i made her the final question she hesitated but then said yes.
There the problem started cause i didn't understood why that hesitation and i asked her but she only replaid "i was nervous" so i gave up. We told this to her parents (mine died when i was 20 and my little sister when she was 17 in a car accident) and our friends but even here some things were off because her parents were faking to be happy and i didn't understood why while our friends were super happy and were already telling us ideas for our wedding.
4 months passed by and we were planning our wedding when "the day" came up. I came back home from work and she waiting for me with her bags ready and i asked her what was going on. She told me "listen i know that this is gonna be hard for you but i'm not bi i'm lesbian. My parents knew this since 2 years and this is why they weren't happy and were faking it. Please i beg you to not make it difficult and just let me leave, don't cry, don't beg me and don't scream let's just things go like adults" and then she drove away. I was standing there on my feet for like 1 hour in shock cause i couldn't believe it. We passed by getting married to Dana coming out like a heartless and cold girl that i couldn't recognize.
The worst thing comes now cause 3 months passed by that day (i cancelled the wedding) and literally no one ever texted me or called me asking me how i was, if i was fine, if i nedeed something just nothing. Not her parents, not her (she blocked me that day) and not even our firends. No one gives a fuck about me at all. In this 3 months i was hospitalized 3 times cause i lost weight (15 kg) and have insomnia. I just work and come home, nothing else. While everyone is praising her for her coming out, how good is she to finally realize she was lesbian and her courage to be herself after years of fighting to find her true identity.
Right now i'm not even capable of being mad i'm just in desbelief for what happened, how fast it all happened and that no one gives a fuck about me because her coming out is more important than her ex.
You know what? Fuck them all, they showed me their true color and fuck my ex.
Edit: wtf?! I just turned off my phone for 2 hours and went for a walk around my city. Honestly i wasn't expecting all this support because i couldn't even imagine someone actually reading this. Believe me i want to trust you and believe that all this kind comments are true but right now i can't. I just saw everyone that supposed to love me and care about me ignoring me and ghosting me so i lost hope in people and expecially for strangers on the internet. I hope to come here again in a few months and read this all again and believe you but now i can't. You all seem good people and sincere but believe me for how much i want to trust you i simply can't right now but i want to thank you all anyway. I'm not ok and the 3 times i was hospitalized i tried to kill myself but i'm not good even in doing that. For 3 months i thought again and again and again if i was the problem, what i could do better? What i did wrong? But nothing changes. So here i'm in the midlle of fucking nowhere seated on a sidewalk like a homeless reading strangers comments on a post that i don't even know why i posted. Again thank you all.
Edit 2: i have an update but due to "Trueoffmychest" rules i can only update after 3 days so i will do it after that time and if something of new would happen i will write it in the update. So just have patience cause a lot is happening and i still have to figure out a lot of things and how to act.
Top Comments
LoudManagement6634:

She did not solve her problem like an adult. She avoided it and then ran away like a little kid. Deplorable.

beholdmytoast:

You did nothing wrong and that was incredibly selfish, cruel, and awful of her. As soon as she realized she was a lesbian she should have broken it off. She wasted minimum of 2 years of your life that she knew for sure she was a lesbian and she strung you along. Nothing makes that okay to do.
It will get better. Give yourself the time you need to grieve and heal. Be kind to yourself. Treat yourself. Don’t rush the healing. You’ll be ok.

Agile-Wait-7571:

I’m so sorry how you were deceived and how no one gave you any sympathy.
For your own mental health, you need to put all of these people behind you. They are not going to give you want you need. It will be hard but you need to start rebuilding a new life for yourself.
You can do it!

 
Update #1: March 15, 2024
Update My gf came out as a lesbian before our marriage and no one gives a fuck about me. You know what? Fuck you all
So here we go again like in "GTA San Andreas" but this time is more painful and shocking at the same time cause today and yesterday night a lot happened. Like someone of you folks said somehow one of my ex friends saw my post on TikTok and the absolut mess started and is still going on right now.
This ex friend (i will call him Paul) reached out to me and basically told me that he saw the post and knew that it was me cause i used my ex real name (Dana) and was shocked to know what really happened cause apparently Dana told my ex friends that she came out to me as a lasbian and i tried to lay hands on her and threated her (???) and she told them to not contact me again. They all believed her but then when they all saw my post they started pressuring her if my post was saying the truth or not and she admitted the lie.
Since Paul's text i recieved a ton of texts and calls from everyone asking me how i'm, if i'm fine, they are sorry for believing Dana and not texting me first and "apologies". But then there is the real issue: Dana.
She texted me asking to "forgive" her, that she was "sorry" for how bad she treated me and admitting that she invented all cause she was afraid to lose friends. And unfortunetly it's not all cause i got a text from her girlfriend (Mary) and basically she told me that she is sorry for Dana's behavior and for what she did and, here comes the issue, that she knew Dana since a year and she never told her about me but always talked to her about me like a "rommate" so she was thinking to leave Dana.
Now comes my part cause i made a new group including them all (even Dana and Mary) and told them that i'm not changing my mind about forgiving them, i was thinking to sue Dana (partially true cause i'm not sure if doing it or not) and if they (my ex friends) were decent humans they would have texted me asking me if i was out of my mind to lay hands on Dana or just insulting me via texts if they really cared about me. Then i added some personal things about Dana and blocked them all.
My blocking method isn't working cause they are continuing to herass me with texts and calls from other numbers and even making other people calling me and texting me. Crazy shit is happening and i really still can't believe at all this mess cause i'm thinking that it's all a nightmare and i need to wake up but unfortunetly it's all fucking true.
Then the other thing is that finally i saw a therapist today (a few hours ago) and i don't like to admit it but i cried a lot cause for her (the therapist) i never worked on my parents and my sister's death and then this thing with my ex added making me explode so it's gonna be a very long journey and i hope to reach a point. I already had the number of the therapist there on my table in the kitchen but never called but this time i did and hopefully it will help.
So this is all and i hope to udpate you not so quickly like now but when i will feel better.
So again thank you all and hopefully i will update you in better times.
P.S. to all the people that are following me i want to say thank you but my life is pretty boring and i don't think to post something else so you're not obligated to follow me. Then to the people that wrote me privately: thank you all and be sure that i read all your messages and i appreciate it so thank you too.
ADDITIONAL INFO
Boomboxmaster

Normal people: break up with their partner and tell everyone about it and why then move on
Dana: ghosts her BF and lies just because she was scared
Honestly I would definitely sue for defamation man. You have the evidence and I don’t think it could go wrong. What do her parents think?

OOP

I forgot to write this little part but the quick resume is that i never had a good relathionship with them so we never went a long well cause they always said that i wasn't the right guy for their daughter so i never cared about them but this time they asked me to think wisely and to not sue Dana cause she was "afraid" and they even justified her actions. That's all and in fact i wasn't surprised about their reaction to the news of marrying her.

Top Comments
mak_zaddy:

Damn. You were absolutely correct calling the ex friends out because ya any good friend would have called you out on problematic behavior or at least been like “dude. What were you thinking?”
Also there is not shame in crying! Good luck on your healing journey and those folks can kick rocks.
ETA: I would create a templates response for when folks message you and just copy/paste it. But it’s funny how they had no problem ghosting you but now can’t accept you telling them to F off.

Beginning_Fix_5609:

Op just change your phone number so your ex and toxic friends won’t call you again. Focus on your healing and I pray you find the happiness and love you deserve.

 

----NEW UPDATE----

Final Update: April 15, 2024
A month passed by my first post and here i'm again. I know that i promised to be here again when things would be better and i hoped for that very much but unfortunetly my life isn't better at all and things are going always worst than i expected. I'm gonna talk like i talk with my therapist cause a little bit you all are like my therapist hahahah.
You know i'm not an expert of therapy and this things and i hoped that in a short time things would change and would make me feel better but it's more difficult and longer than i expected and imaginated. I'm crying everyday about all that happened to me, about my parents and my little sister premature death, what happened with Dana and how my friends betrayed me so easily like i was just a random guy. The worst thing is about Dana. After my parents death i put all my attention and importance on her, she was like my promise to have a new family and start a new life together and be again a family. In all this years i tried my best to make her feel loved, happy and cared. What maybe don't transpires from my old posts is how much i loved her and how much i cared about her cause Dana was the only person in this world that knew me 100% and she was for real my "soft spot". After my retirment from the army she was the one that saw the real me after those years risking my life (i still have some traumas but i'm working even on that) and then i knew Dana and it was love at the first sight.
So yes call me naive, that i still believe in the fairy tales but i really thought that she was "the one" for me and that could finally give me my "dream" of having a family that i lost. The worst and most difficult thing in this month was to finally change my number and start again. I mean i thought many times to call her, text her and even see her again cause despise all this mess i still, somehow, care and love her but than i think again at how poorly and badly she treated me and i change my mind but her presence is still very present there in my mind. I still miss those little things that we were doing together, i miss Dana being messy and a little goofy around me and my house, i miss her touch, coming back from work and just seeing her was like all my stress and bad emotions were gone in a second.
But a a part this a few good things happened in this month cause i got the promotion that i really craved for, even if i got it in the worst moment of my life, and my boss gave me 3 weeks of "forced vacations" cause he is worried about my mental health and how i work day and night without doing anything else. (My therapist told me too to take a few weeks of vacations to "clarify my thoughts") And that i'm watching for another house near my work cause my actual house isn't a "positive environment" (my therapist's words) and because i need a drastic change.
So things are this and unfortunetly i still have those suicidal thoughts but i'm working on it even if again it will take time.
So this everything and i don't think to post anything else from now on cause i don't have anything else to say (fortunetly) about my situation if not thank you all for your support and private texts.
So: people thank you all and hopefully even this period of my life will pass without creating too much damage.
P.S. my ex-friends never contacted me again and Dana too so i don't know anything about what is going on between them and sincerly i don't care. (Maybe...)
Top Comments
ugly_warlord: Hey bud, I wish you well. I can only sympathize with your situation. However, from what I've seen on Reddit and the updates people give out, we see that people do find their happiness someday.
Being low is something every person has to feel, and I guess it is a way to learn (count it as a failure if you will), but then maybe as a person looking from an outside perspective, all I can see is new opportunities. If I were in your position, I would be hurt as much as you, but t what I learned from my experience in failures over the time of my existence, is that you may look back and think "What a fuss I made of my life over THIS!"
Hang in there and good luck.
cottoncandyoverlord: I'm sorry this happened to you. I actually had something similar myself. I unfortunately walked in on my ex-husband going at it on my best guy friend. I was crushed. I thought I would die. It took about a year to work past it for me. I did a lot of self work. I went to school, got a degree, dated several people, and eventually found my current husband. We have been married for 12 years and have 3 kids now.
I, too, lost nearly all of my friends. It was challenging being alone, but I made it. Both of my parents have been gone for many years so I did go it alone. I took counseling and just kept looking forward to the day I felt better. I know this hurts. I know you miss her, but it WILL get better with time. Keep working on yourself. Find new hobbies and work on personal improvements. Throw out anything that was her's. She is essentially dead to you until you are healthy enough to confront her.
You can msg me if you need to vent. You got this.
 

DO NOT COMMENT IN LINKED POSTS OR MESSAGE OOPs – BoRU Rule #7

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT OOP

I have worked in law firms for many years and then later learned to code and now work in the legal tech industry. I have helped develop document automation software for large companies, such as WealthCounsel. If you aren't familiar with WealthCounsel, they are the U.S.A.'s largest provider of estate planning, business law, and elder law software. (This isn't an ad for them hahaha. I don't work there anymore.)
Many document automation solutions, such as those offered by Clio are very basic. The solution offered by Clio is basically just a glorified mail merge. There is no ability to insert logic around variables, which makes the depth of automation very surface level. On the other hand, software, such as HotDocs, is great and can offer extraordinarily deep levels of automation, but HotDocs is not exactly the most user friendly software when it comes to template creation. HotDocs essentially requires you to learn their somewhat complicated syntax, and is even best paired with other development through their API, so that data can travel across multiple software systems that the law office uses.
Anyways, I have a few questions regarding which direction your firm leans, and why? Does your firm have a more simple document automation solution, such as that offered by Clio? Does your law firm make very deep document automation solutions in-house? Do you use a pre-made document automation software, such as WealthCounsel for estate planning? Would development of in depth document automation software be a financial constraint on your firm? (need to hire developers, organize the development, disperse info, etc.) Do you wish that your industry had an in-depth solution, similar to that offered by WealthCounsel?

I have worked in law firms for many years and then later learned to code and now work in the legal tech industry. I have helped develop document automation software for large companies, such as WealthCounsel. If you aren't familiar with WealthCounsel, they are the U.S.A.'s largest provider of estate planning, business law, and elder law software. (This isn't an ad for them hahaha. I don't work there anymore.)
Many document automation solutions, such as those offered by Clio are very basic. The solution offered by Clio is basically just a glorified mail merge. There is no ability to insert logic around variables, which makes the depth of automation very surface level. On the other hand, software, such as HotDocs, is great and can offer extraordinarily deep levels of automation, but HotDocs is not exactly the most user friendly software when it comes to template creation. HotDocs essentially requires you to learn their somewhat complicated syntax, and is even best paired with other development through their API, so that data can travel across multiple software systems that the law office uses.
Anyways, I have a few questions regarding which direction your firm leans, and why? Does your firm have a more simple document automation solution, such as that offered by Clio? Does your law firm make very deep document automation solutions in-house? Do you use a pre-made document automation software, such as WealthCounsel for estate planning? Would development of in depth document automation software be a financial constraint on your firm? (need to hire developers, organize the development, disperse info, etc.) Do you wish that your industry had an in-depth solution, similar to that offered by WealthCounsel?

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Financial

• Short-term assistance
  • Help with Bills is a website that provides information about government programs that help with bill payment and temporary assistance.
  • Modest Needs Foundation provides short-term financial assistance to those in crisis who are ineligible for conventional financial assistance
  • GoFundMe.com - Fundraising website
• Financial planning/management
  • My Money Tools offers different information and templates to help with financial literacy, financial planning, and debt management.
  • National Endowment for Financial Literacy is a website that provides info and help with financial planning and management.
  • Savvy Ladies is a nonprofit focused on empowering women by teaching them about financial planning & money management through free resources.
  • The FDIC Money Smart program supports people in learning more financial skills and creating positive banking relationships. Includes information to support parents/caregivers of children of all ages as well.
• Debt support
  • This page talks about job loss and unemployment stress, as well as tips for how to cope and make a plan to move forward.
  • Coping with Debt is a PDF that provides information on how to manage debt, bankruptcy, and debt consolidation.
  • A 12-step recovery program for people who want to stop incurring unsecured debt.
  • Upsolve is an app that helps you get screened and file for bankruptcy. You can also consult with a lawyer for free.
• Taxes
  • Get your refund is a service that provides free tax filing assistance to families earning less than $66,000 a year.
• Unemployment/In-between jobs
  • This page talks about job loss and unemployment stress, as well as tips for how to cope and make a plan to move forward.

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Veterans / Military

• https://iava.org/ Support for Veterans
• Wounded Warrior Project provides support and various programs for post-9/11 veterans, including mental and physical health, VA benefits, and personal independence.
• Give an Hour Connects military members and their families with resources including free mental health services donated by private practitioners.
• Military OneSource
• For current military or up to one year post-separation/retirement
• Offers community resources via the website and hotline that serves all Department of Defense, Active Duty Military, National Guard, and Reserve personnel and their direct family members.

I started own law firm and solo practice nearly a year ago. I’m based in New York and mainly do transactional work and occasionally appear in court (traffic tickets, contract breach, eviction matters, etc).
I am currently looking to expand my practice. I’ve heard of Westlaw, Lexis, Lawyaw, Casetext, Smokeball, Clio, CoCounsel, etc. but haven’t used any of them.
Are there any reliable legal AI/software out there (ie does not spit out nonsense) and offers all (or most) of the following features -

• legal form builder or legal templates (I have used rocketlawyer.com and legaltemplates.net in the past but am wondering if there’s something that’s better out there)
  
• Drafting tools (to help with drafting complaints, appellate briefs, motions etc)
  
• Practical guides re federal and NY law and federal and NY practice
  
• Case search based on legal topic/doctrine and case summaries
  
• Court e-filing assistance
  

I’m willing to set aside a monthly budget of $1,000 for the AI/software.
TIA!

I started own law firm and solo practice nearly a year ago. I’m based in New York and mainly do transactional work and occasionally appear in court (traffic tickets, contract breach, eviction matters, etc).
I am currently looking to expand my practice. I’ve heard of Westlaw, Lexis, Lawyaw, Casetext, Smokeball, Clio, CoCounsel, chatGPT 4, Spellbook etc. but haven’t used any of them.
Are there any reliable legal AI/software(s) out there (ie does not spit out nonsense) and offers all (or most) of the following features -

• legal form builder or legal templates (I have used rocketlawyer.com and legaltemplates.net in the past but am wondering if there’s something that’s better out there)
  
• Drafting tools (to help with drafting complaints, appellate briefs, motions etc)
  
• Practical guides re federal and NY law and federal and NY practice
  
• Case search based on legal topic/doctrine and case summaries
  
• Court e-filing assistance
  

I’m willing to set aside around $1,000 monthly for the AI/software subscription.
TIA!

Updated Report as of 04/15/24:
Introduction:
This updated report aims to provide fresh insights into the processing timelines of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) claims by analyzing the latest data gathered from Reddit's VeteransBenefits subreddit. The goal is to offer an up-to-date perspective on average processing times and trends for MST claims.

• Unofficial MST timeline calculations <------ This link will have the most up-to-date numbers thanks to everyone who entered their timelines.
  
• Please consider adding your timeline to our unofficial MST timeline calculations by completing this short form.
  

Summary of Findings (04/15/24):

• Overall Average days for Total Redditor MST Claims: 291
• Overall Average for Redditor New MST Claims: 289
• Number of MST claims in our sample: 120

Claims Completed	2024	2023	2022	2021
Total Redditor MST Claims	11	47	58	3
Redditor New MST Claims	7	33	43	3
Average days for all Claims	248	332	256	453
Average days for New Claims	279	298	269	453
Fewest days to complete claim	23	37	24	161
Most days to complete claim	905	3469	594	640
Most claims were filed in year	2024	2023	2022	2021

(Total/all means the sum of Initial (New), increase, supplemental, BDD, appeals, hardships, etc)
Notable Observations (04/15/24):

• The overall average processing time for reported Redditor MST claims is 291 days, with 289 days for Initial (New) claims.
  
• The sample size has increased to 120 claims, providing a more comprehensive dataset for analysis.
  

Data Collection Method:
The data was collected through extensive searches on the VeteransBenefits subreddit, focusing on posts related to MST claims, claim closures, and user interactions. Information gathered included usernames, claim types, filing dates, and decision dates. We now have a very short form to complete that will automatically calculate the timeline.
Limitations:
It's important to note that this analysis is based solely on data from Reddit posts, which may not capture the full spectrum of MST claim experiences. Variability in individual outcomes should be expected.
Conclusion (04/15/24):
This updated report offers a current view of MST claims processing timelines and identifies ongoing trends within the data. The findings provide valuable insights for those awaiting MST claim decisions and underscore the significance of patience and awareness during the process.
TLDR (04/15/24):
This report provides an updated analysis of MST claims processing using data from Reddit. It includes the latest average processing times, trends for different years, and notable observations. This information is intended to assist individuals waiting for MST claim decisions.
Sources (04/15/24):
The analysis draws from data sourced from the VeteransBenefits subreddit, focusing on posts related to MST claims and user interactions. User privacy and anonymity were respected during data collection.
Longer processing times for MST claims (04/15/24):
The longer processing times for MST claims can be attributed to a few key factors.

• One major reason is the need to request investigative reports from different agencies like NCIS, CID, and local police. These reports can come from various places, like DC/Quantico or local jurisdictions, and VBA has to wait for them to provide these critical documents.
  
• When reports are filed with SHARP/SARC, the VBA has to request them individually from the specific station where the incident was reported. The challenge is that sometimes the people who handled these reports are no longer around, which adds to the delays.
  
• In the coming months, the VBA expects to have direct access to the database where SHARP/SARC keeps restricted and unrestricted reports.
  

This should speed things up in two important ways:

• the VBA won't need to bother the veteran for a release to get these forms, cutting down on paperwork.
  
• even if these reports don't have all the nitty-gritty details, they still help by establishing when and where an incident occurred. This can be a big help to veterans, especially when they might not provide all the details on VA Form 0781 for various reasons.
  

Note: These challenges in getting investigative reports and SHARP/SARC records can make MST claim processing take longer than usual.
Veteran Resources (04/15/24):

1. If you find the numbers in this report daunting and you want assistance with processing how you feel, Vet Center counselors operate like private counselors and are free. Check out the Vet Center near you. If you are lacking treatment records for MST, you may want to consider counseling at the Vet Center.
   
2. If you need assistance with your MST claim and/or would like an update on your MST claim, you may want to reach out to an MST Coordinator. Many MST coordinators have access to VBMS and can look up the status of your claim and/or let you know if the VA needs anything from you.
   
3. NVLSP's Guide to Developing a MST Claim (A pdf will download when you click this link). It will provide helpful information about developing your MST claim.
   
4. MST Fact Sheet (A pdf will download when you click this link)
   
5. Not MST Specific: VERA can also check the status of your claim. This link will help you schedule a VERA appointment.
   
6. M21 Chapter on MST claims describes how MST claims are processed.
   
7. VA Claim Tracker Google Chrome extension: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/onbanekcefgnibhlaiimeadkbdahjpoo