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Is it worth joining the ABA as a student? It's only $20, but if it is a useless thing to have on a resume and doesn't provide any significant networking opportunities, I have no desire to throw away money...

Don't put it on your resume. However, you get both the ABA journal and the student journal in the mail and I've found both to be worth the $20.

You get some pretty good discounts (Hertz & Brooks Brothers Corporate memberships are the best IMO) on top of the magazines; if you use either discount once, the membership should pretty much pay for itself.

You are going to pay to join the organization that is screwing law students & recent grads across the board? I surely would not.

Anonymous User wrote:You are going to pay to join the organization that is screwing law students & recent grads across the board? I surely would not.

Explain please?

brooks brothers discount is pretty solid, I might join. I need some new stuff.

As others have said, it's worth the $20 for the Herz and Brooks Bros. memberships. Outside of that, you get spammy email and dull magazines.

You get a discount on your sprint phone bill.

It is an honor and a privilege to greet you on behalf of our entire executive team. As a member of the ABA Law Student Division, we trust that you will frequent this site. It is constantly updated for your benefit with information that is timely and critical. Additionally, this site serves a resource for you to learn and gain access to the many benefits provided by the American Bar Association and the Law Student Division.

SPAM

Can we get a sprint discount for existing accounts?

Biggest waste of $ ever. They send you some horribly shitty magazines that I never read.

There is a Hertz discount and an option for health insurance (cheap, but more expensive than my school), but I never used it.

If you can swallow the bile at the constant cheerleading for schools that should never have been opened, I've found it to be worthwhile, especially if you join a committee in your practice area. I met some contacts that I never would have otherwise.

It's worth it if you actually do something with it as opposed to merely writing "member" on your resume. The ABA helped me to get two internships and the job that I have now. I held a leadership position in one of the substantive sections through most of law school, working with attorneys across the country on several projects and meeting many more through national conferences that the ABA sent me to. Some friends/mentors that I've met through the ABA are nationally known in my legal specialty, including the heads of two federal agencies that I ended up working for. These are probably not contacts that I would have otherwise made as a student from a non-Tier 1 school outside of DC.

To make it worthwhile, you need to be strategic about how you get involved. Evaluate the different student opportunities offered-aim for ones where you might work closely with practitioners, fund you to attend meetings, and/or are in your intended specialty. When you go to meetings, you've got to really put yourself out there to network; most attorneys aren't going to approach you. It's like most voluntary organizations--you won't get anything out of it unless you actually put work into it.

Fyi, free membership for 2012 grads: http://apps.americanbar.org/members/graduate-form.html