Tough Times for Law Students to Find Jobs

[sallyawp]

<p>As some of you may have heard and/or been reading, it is a very tough year for law students who are looking for BIGLAW jobs. On campus interviewing for 2Ls (interviewing for summer associate positions for summer 2009) is over and callback interviews are in progress. Many BIGLAW law firms cancelled or limited their 3L on campus interviews this year. The word that I’m hearing again and again from multiple sources is that students at T14 law schools don’t have as many callbacks as they would have had in past years, and many callback interviews are not leading to job offers. Yes, this is true even at Harvard, Columbia and other top law schools. That’s not to say that entire classes at T14 law schools will be without jobs, but they may be without the jobs that they most wanted. There are still students at these top law schools without jobs and without pending callback interviews, and the career offices at these law schools are scrambling to find out-of-the-box ways to get the resumes of these students out there for consideration. Times are even tougher at law schools outside of the T14, particularly for those students who are not on law review and/or are not at the very top of their classes. </p>

<p>I’ve attached some exerpts from an article in today’s Wall Street Journal. It really deals with the hiring of experienced lawyers, but I thought you might find it interesting.</p>

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The economic downturn has forced many law firms to downsize and cut spending. But a smaller group is on the prowl, looking to expand even as their earnings are falling.</p>

<p>Firms with relatively strong balance sheets are hiring lawyers from competitors that are hurting from the dropoff in mergers, debt offerings and other staples of the legal business. Leaders of these firms figure that being bigger and more geographically diverse will help them weather downturns in particular market sectors and capitalize on complex business opportunities that require a variety of specialties. In most cases, they’re even giving the new hires raises.

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K&L Gates LLP has acquired medium-size firms in Texas and North Carolina this year and hired 45 partners from other firms. “We have no debt – no long-term debt, no short-term debt – and therefore have a balance sheet that allows us to grow aggressively into a downturn,” says Peter Kalis, chairman of the 1,700-lawyer firm.</p>

<p>Other firms are shelving growth plans until the economy rebounds. Law-firm mergers in the first three quarters of 2008 totaled 58, up from 44 a year earlier. But mergers slowed in the third quarter, according to data released this week by the legal consulting firm Altman Weil Inc. In some cases, “decision makers are holding back for the time being,” says William Brennan, a principal at the firm.</p>

<p>But many law firms believe that they have no choice but to expand specialties, such as restructuring, intellectual property, securities litigation and antitrust, that are generally believed to remain steady – or even pick up – during down cycles. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York laid off 131 lawyers – nearly 20% of its staff – earlier this year because of the implosion in the mortgage-backed securities market, a key practice area for the firm. But it has hired lawyers in other practice areas, including financial restructuring. “We have diversified in the past year, and we are continuing that process,” says Gregory Markel, head of litigation.

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Still, growth is a risky strategy when demand is down in many practice areas. As business has contracted, firms must cut expenses where possible, says Francis Burch Jr., joint chief executive of DLA Piper, which has hired 96 partners this year, including a group of real-estate attorneys from Thelen. “But you don’t stop investing in the future,” he says. “In a market like this with volatility, you see opportunities you don’t see in a more stable environment.”

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