Law Grads Entering a Tough Market

10-22-08

According to the US Department of Labor, September saw more losses in the legal sector, making it the fifth straight month of losses for the profession. The hardest hit legal practice areas include finance, real estate, and corporate mergers and acquisitions. This leaves graduates and students rethinking the areas they want to enter. Predictions are that less traditional areas are likely to see an influx of applicants with a JD degree. According to The Recorder, industries such as real estate, business, politics, and financial planning should benefit with high quality, well educated candidates.


Some students, too, may consider additional education as an option to avoid entering a frightening market. Oft considered is the LL.M degree, but Carole Montgomery, director of career development at George Washington University Law School in Washington, as quoted in The National Law Journal, "advises against it." Her advice to inquiring students is, "'make a good-faith effort to get yourself a job.' They've got to have a backup plan, and a backup, backup plan."

While the average law school student is expected to graduate with approximately 73,000 dollars in debt, according to The National Law Journal, potential job opportunities are both unsound and unsubstantial: "[M]ost would-be lawyers already have accepted that only a small fraction will start their careers with a big-firm salary of $160,000, the past few weeks of economic chaos have caused many to wonder if any kind of attorney work is in their near future." Budding legal professionals around the country are examining their choice of profession and doubting whether their enormous debt will payoff after all.

A big challenge for students, and for school professionals trying to remedy the worrisome atmosphere around the country's campuses, is overcoming rumors and speculation. To deal with the outrageously high influx of stressed-to-the-max students, college campuses around the country have resolved to heavily encourage students with various workshops, seminars, and speaking engagements—all geared specifically toward the legal job search in rough and tumble economic times, such as now. The National Law Journal names the University of Iowa as one of those campuses with workshops like, "'The Job Search in Tough Times' and 'Attributes of Successful Candidates: What You Need to Know in Tough Markets.'"

"The current employment troubles for law graduates is [sic] a sharp contrast to the job market that classes even just a year or two ahead of them enjoyed. In July, NALP reported that the job market for law graduates was at its highest level in 20 years," reports The National Law Journal.

Law school grads and current students should try and keep a positive outlook. Just remember the oft-repeated Friedrich Nietzsche quote: "What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger."