<p>I am not aware of any areas in which jobs are growing. Traditionally, practices track society’s needs. When the economy is very bad, bankruptcy lawyers do better. In the days when Silicone Valley was King, IP and licensing lawyers were busy. When the economy was great, mergers & acquisitions lawyers had work. At times, oil & gas lawyers have been busy. At other times, they have been nearly unemployable (I remember the crash…). Right now I believe that energy lawyers are doing ok. Patent and tax lawyers generally are stable throughout. Health care law was viewed as being hot a few years ago as a result of health care reform, but I don’t think that the expected jobs ever materialized. The same bump in interest in education law occurred when there was educational reform a few years ago. Real estate lawyers may be coming out of a slump. There was a boost to employment lawyers when ADA and FMLA were implemented.</p>
<p>I think it’s interesting when law schools jump on trends to offer “certificates” in a field. In my view, it can be dangerous to identify yourself as wanting to specialize by earning a certificate in such a poor job market. It could limit opportunities that might be available to get interviews for positions for other types of legal work.</p>
<p>From my perspective, all of this means that existing lawyers are positioned well to keep working - even in my industry (which is warming up right now), the market is still saturated and the companies still have hiring freezes.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity - does anyone actually find my posts useful? My last kid is now in college and my oldest kid is well-along in law school. I’m thinking about moving on from CC.</p>