Tag Archives: law schools

Monday Clicks: Legal Employment Trends

Posted on April 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

The job market for recent grads appears stagnant, which might explain why half of prelaw students don’t plan on seeking legal jobs once they graduate. But if you do want a law job, it matters where you go to school.

  • The employment rate of recent grads might be disappointing, but at least it’s consistent. Data from the American Bar Association shows that for 2012, 82 percent of graduates were employed nine months after graduation—the same percentage as in 2011. And 56 percent of the 2012 grads got a job that required bar passage, which was only 1 percent higher than last year.
  • Greedy Associates think Washington, D.C., is a great place to find a legal job—even though one in 12 residents are lawyers (versus 1:260 nationwide). Among the five reasons D.C. is tops are that it’s “Hollywood for ugly people” and thanks to all the free food at the seemingly endless receptions, you may never have to buy groceries again.
  • Given the stark reality of the legal job market, it’s not much of a surprise that only half of surveyed prelaw students plan to use their law degrees in the legal profession. That’s according to a recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep. Of the 200 prelaw students surveyed, 43 percent plan to use their law degrees in the business world.

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Monday Clicks: Law School Rankings, Reaction

Posted on March 18, 2013 by | 1 Comment

The U.S. News law school rankings released last week definitely caused a ruckus, but they aren’t the only rankings out there. The National Law Journal ranked the schools most likely to place students in BigLaw, and this year’s Forbes list focused on which school’s graduates earn the most.

  • Per tradition, Above the Law posted a series of open threads that allow readers the “chance to compare and contrast different schools, praise (or condemn) your alma mater, and talk trash about rival law schools.” Read the open threads by rank: 1-14, 15-31, 33-48 and 53-68.
  • If you’re really just looking for the schools that offer the best chance at a BigLaw career, check out the annual National Law Journal rankings. The NLJ list focuses on “what, for many law students, is the bottom line: whether they stand any chance in hell of landing a coveted associateship at a major law firm.” The rankings include the top 50 go-to schools, law school tuition and firm favorites.
  • If you’re all about the money, Forbes’ annual list of schools whose graduates earn the most. Using data from Payscale, Forbes found that Columbia Law School’s graduates topped the list with a median starting salary of $165,000 a year.

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Monday Clicks: The Ups and Downs of Legal Education

Posted on February 4, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Layoffs may be coming to law schools as the number of applicants drop, yet new law schools open. Is law school “dead” or reinventing itself? Whatever is going on, it’s certainly an interesting time for legal education.

  • With the “startling” drop in law school applications, “law school administrations into soul-searching debate about the future of legal education and the profession over all,” according to the New York Times article “Law Schools’ Applications Fall as Costs Rise and Jobs Are Cut.”
  • ABA Journal coverage on the story states that “experts attribute the drop in interest to higher tuition costs and a decline in high-paying law firm jobs” and predict “massive layoffs” in law schools
  • Yet not all schools have a dearth of applicants. Thanks to its emphasis on 3L practical skills, “Washington & Lee University’s law school had so many students accepting enrollment offers last year that it had to offer financial incentives to defer some of them until 2013.”
  • Did that 3L practical skills track actually benefit new lawyers? As a graduate of Washington & Lee, Greedy Associates blogger William Peacock Esq. says it did. “Two years after graduating,” he writes. “I can honestly say that much of what we did during that third year actually helps in the real world.”
  • Despite the drop in overall applicants, new law schools are opening in Indiana, Texas, Florida and California. Some are in underserved regions or meant to round out professional school offerings, but “many of them are likely to find themselves competing for a shrinking pool of would-be lawyers and sending hopeful graduates into one of the toughest markets in years for law jobs.”
  • Further addressing the possible consequences of new law school openings, the Wall Street Journal (sub. required) asks “If You Build It, Will They Come?” The story explores the question: “Given market conditions, are these new schools just adding to the glut of graduates competing for the dwindling number of legal jobs?”
  • “Enough doom and gloom. What are law schools planning to do about it?” says Above The Law’s Staci Zaretsky. Her post, “Quote of the Day: The Law School Dream Is Dead,” covers the recent discussion of the issue in mainstream media.

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Monday Clicks: Challenges, Learn New Skills and a Coloring Book

Posted on January 28, 2013 by | Leave a comment

From low law school applications, layoffs and few firms paying attention to their capital structures, the business of law continues to be a challenge. But there are things you can do. Learn to argue, give feedback and write better. Also: a free, downloadable coloring book for kids illustrates what lawyers do (in case you didn’t already know).

  • The number of law school applications is down by 20 percent since last year, with only 27,891 people applying so far. If the trend continues, that number could drop below 60,000 applicants for the first time in 30 years.
  • Fewer applicants isn’t a bad thing, according to Above the Law’s Elie Mystal, who writes that the drops in the numbers “show that prospective students are becoming educated about the realities of the legal job market … [and] the market is reacting properly.”
  • Layoffs in the U.K. have U.S. firms asking if they’ll be next, according to AmLaw Daily (sub. required). They report that Allen & Overy, DLA Piper and Eversheds confirmed that they are “shedding dozens of jobs through office closures and other structural overhauls.”
  • “Law firms seldom pay much attention to their capital structures,” says Legal Leaders Blog’s Sean Larkan. But, he believes, it’s a risky option. “It doesn’t matter whether your firm is big or small, your capital structure matters.” He asked law firm management consultant Cameron Taylor what law firms should do.
  • Need help winning legal arguments?  David L. Smith over at Associate’s Mind is here to help. In the first of a series of posts using classic military battle strategy to build your debate techniques, he illustrates how to use misdirection to win.
  • Once you’ve learned how to argue, it’s time to learn the importance of giving negative feedback. In “Sometimes Negative Feedback is Best,” Heidi Grant Halvorson reports on new research that “sheds light on the seemingly paradoxical nature of feedback, by making it clear why, when, and for whom negative feedback is appropriate.”
  • Is bad writing getting you down … or causing your readers to snooze? Whether it be in email, a report or a presentation, HBR Blog Network’s Bryan A. Garner offers several tips on “how to keep your readers alert and responsive.”
  • And last, but not least, the North Carolina Bar Association offers a free, downloadable “A Day With a Lawyer” coloring book for kids (or kids at heart) that “tells a story about a day with a lawyer from a child’s perspective.”

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Monday Clicks: 2 Years, Technology and Time to Leave

Posted on January 21, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Some things (like Mondays) never get easier. From the continuing debate about law school to the use of technology and how to reduce stress, sometimes all you really need is to leave the office.

  • The debate about moving to two-year law schools in New York continues. A judge found it “intriguing,” others think it’ll in “add to the lawyer glut,” and a commentary says law schools should earn that third year.
  • On the other hand, there seems to be demand for an even higher-level degree in law. Yale Law School announced a first-ever Ph.D. in Law in July that’ll prepare lawyers for careers as legal scholars and teachers. The result? There were 82 applications for the five openings.
  • It turns out one computer can do the work of many lawyers—and save a load of dough—in the document discovery process. A Virginia company used predictive coding to sift through about 2 million documents in seven months at a cost of $200,000; a process that could have cost well over $1 million in the conventional way. About 80 percent of the documents found by the program were deemed to indeed be relevant.
  • Technology is a beautiful thing…when it works. An article on Law Technology News (sub. required) details how due to the lack of cross-device syncing of timekeeping software, lawyers aren’t recording all of their billable hours. But that lost time can be found.
  • If technology (or document discovery) gives you a headache, you may want to check out these seven stress-reducing exercise trends. From pole dancing to Zumba, FindLaw’s Greedy Associate offer group exercise ideas to help lawyers stave off that next migraine.
  • But if all you really need is to get out of the office, this flowchart from Rob Pollak helps answer the eternal question: “Can I go home now?”

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Monday Clicks: Education

Posted on January 14, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Times are a-changing—and nowhere near so much as in legal education. The high cost of education plus low employment opportunities and a slow-growing market has led to a lot of talk about what’s “wrong” with law schools, but not a whole lot of reform. Yet.

  • According to U.S. News’ Law Admissions Lowdown, there are three major trends to look out for in 2013. These include a smaller pool of applicants, an increase in hiring at big law firms and an increased emphasis on international law.
  • Law schools have been very good at teaching specialization, say the ABA Journal’s Legal Rebels, but not so good at teaching the commoditization and marketing students need to be successful in a highly competitive, performance-based market economy The article “Reshaping Legal Education to Match the New Normal” states that while both big and small law firms have changed, transforming themselves in the face of market demands, law schools haven’t changed to meet the new market.
  • The founders of Law School Transparency recently released “The Crisis in Legal Education: Dabbling in Disaster Planning,” which says that America’s legal education requires structural changes. They offer several alternatives, including a six-year accelerated program and a modular law school structure, to foster “new and better ideas about legal education.”
  • Prestige isn’t everything when it comes to choosing a law school. Above the Law’s Insider Survey found that while the most prestigious firms and schools were rated highly, several overlooked firms and schools also came in near the top when rated by their lawyers on compensation, morale, training and culture, and by students and alumni rate on academics, social life, clinical training, career services, and financial aid advising.
  • That third year of law school might be on its way out, at least in New York Thanks to New York University School of Law professor Samuel Estreicher, “who believes skyrocketing law school tuition and diminishing job prospects for new lawyers have created a climate favorable to reform,” New York state court officials will meet Jan. 18 to discuss the issue of letting students take the bar exam after two years of law school.

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Mandated Pro Bono Service for Law Students Takes Effect

Posted on September 25, 2012 by | Leave a comment

A few months ago we did a round-up of news about pro bono initiatives and one of the stories that we covered was about a new rule that was proposed in May that would make New York the first state in the country to mandate pro bono work for law students. A story published last week by Thomson Reuters News & Insight (TRNI) offers more details on the new program.

As previously mentioned, the new rule requires aspiring lawyers to perform free legal work in order to be admitted to the bar in New York State.  The regulation requires law students to perform at least 50 hours of pro bono work between their first year of law school and the time they apply for a license.

TNRI reports that pro bono service is defined as providing “law-related” services to low-income people, nonprofits, civil rights groups, or government entities.  It also allows existing programs at law schools such as clinics and internships to qualify, an issue that had concerned school officials over the summer.  If their existing programs did not qualify, they would have been forced to quickly implement new ones.

The new rule will apply to applicants admitted to the New York State bar on or after January 1, 2015.  Other stipulations include:

  • The pro bono service can be completed in any state or territory of the US, the District of Columbia, or any foreign country.
  • Bar applicants must file affidavits for each position used to satisfy the 50-hour requirement with the Appellate Division, describing the dates and nature of the work and the number of hours completed.
  • The affidavits must be certified by the supervising attorney or judge.
  • Participation in partisan political activities do not count towards the 50-hour requirement.

First proposed by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman in May, the regulation is being supported by legal service providers as well as law schools.  Steven Banks of the Legal Aid Society of New York says that his agency turns away eight out of every nine people seeking representation in civil matters because of a lack of resources.  Esther Lardent, executive director of the Pro Bono Institute, after reviewing the final rule was pleased by how quickly a workable rule was put together.  She said:

“I think that is a reflection of the sense of urgency that Judge Lippman and his committee have about this crisis in access to legal services, which is really negatively impacting the justice system and public faith in the system.”

Posted by Marianne Purzycki

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More New JDs Hired by Small Firms, Not BigLaw

Posted on May 10, 2012 by | 2 Comments

A new FindLaw analysis of the ABA’s recently released law school placement survey data reveals that most new law school graduates who go into private law firms are being hired by small firms rather than BigLaw.  The same survey data has also been featured in the recent debate over schools hiring their own graduates.

Forty-two percent of the 43,706 new lawyers in the Class of 2010 were employed by private law firms according to the survey data.  Of those who were hired by private law firms, 62.6% were hired at firms with 50 or fewer attorneys.  This is compared to 21.2% who were hired by firms with more than 500 attorneys and 16.2% who landed jobs at firms with 51 to 500 attorneys.

A more in-depth analysis of the data by FindLaw reveals:

  • 6.5% of new graduates who went into the private sector were employed by solo firms,
  • 41.0% were employed at firms of two to 10 attorneys,
  • 9.5% worked at firms of 11 to 25 attorneys,
  • 5.6% worked at firms of 26 to 50 attorneys,
  • 4.5% worked at firms of 51 to 100 attorneys,
  • 5.7% worked at firms of 101 to 250 attorneys,
  • 6.0% worked at firms of 250 to 500 attorneys, and
  • 21.2% worked at firms of more than 500 attorneys.

The school-reported survey data is not without its critics.  While it shows that nearly 85% of the 2010 graduates were employed, 4.8% of those “employed” new graduates were actually in jobs funded by their law schools.

In fact, a related FindLaw analysis of the data “shows about three-fourths of ABA-accredited law schools hired their own grads, or funded their first jobs after commencement.”  Twenty-four law schools provided jobs “for at least 10% of their graduating class in 2010.” 

While the survey data for the Class of 2011 is not out yet, the ABA has pledged to release their placement data in a more timely fashion (another criticism).  The ABA hopes to get the new data out this month or in early June, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal Law Blog.

Posted by Marianne Purzycki

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Think a Top Law School is the Ticket to BigLaw Partnership? Think Again.

Posted on March 15, 2012 by | 2 Comments

According to a provocative article by Vivia Chen at The Careerist, graduates of certain local and regional law schools stand a better chance at making partner at NLJ 250 firms than do alums from the nation’s most elite law programs:

[Professor William] Henderson finds that the ratio of first-year hires to new partners was 0.85 for Loyola (it had 11 first-year associates and 13 new partners in the NLJ 250 firms this year), and 5.12 for Chicago (87 first-year associates and 17 new partners). According to this calculation, every Loyola grad hired by Big Law will make partner, while only one out of five University of Chicago grad will reach that pinnacle.

And Loyola and Chicago are not anomalies.  Henderson (of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law) found that regional schools like the University of Houston and University of Minnesota also have significantly more favorable ratios of hires to partners then do Harvard, Yale or Stanford.

Over on the Legal Whiteboard blog, Professor Henderson offers several theories for these somewhat unexpected results.  He highlights the selection effects that may be at play – because he limited his research to the NLJ 250, he may have been comparing the top graduates from more regional schools against a broader range of graduates from more elite institutions.  Graduates of top law schools are also more likely to wind up at the most prestigious (and competitive) law firms, where the path to partnership may be more challenging.  And he notes that graduates of higher ranked schools may have more options outside of BigLaw, leading them to drop out of large firms more frequently.

Geography may play a role as well.  Graduates of top schools are more likely to go to law firms in particularly demanding markets like New York and San Francisco, where long hours and heavy competition may drive up the rate of attrition.  It is notable that the regional schools highlighted in Chen’s article are located not in major coastal cities, but in the Midwest and Texas.  I would be curious to see where a school like Fordham, which is more regional than Columbia or NYU yet sends a significant percentage of its graduates into the New York market, fits into the landscape.

Still, the numbers raise some interesting questions for law firms as they recruit the next generation of partners.

Posted by Emily Fisher

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Are Law Schools “Allergic to the Practical”?

Posted on November 23, 2011 by | 2 Comments

We’ve written before about legal education reform as well as the “first-year dilemma,” the thorny issue of how to train new associates to become good lawyers while clients are objecting to those same associates staffing their matters for as much as $300 an hour.  All of which is really asking, “Why don’t they teach this stuff in law schools?”

A front-page article in this week’s Sunday New York Times has raised the question again, but shines some light on a couple of additional points.  The author, David Segal, writes that “Law schools have long emphasized the theoretical over the useful” and that “[p]rofessors are rewarded for chin-stroking scholarship.”  While many schools have used legal clinics as a way to provide practical training, the nuts-and-bolts practice of law is something that many law school professors know little about. 

“The fundamental issue is that law schools are producing people who are not capable of being counselors,” says Jeffrey W. Carr, the general counsel of FMC Technologies, a Houston company that makes oil drilling equipment. “They are lawyers in the sense that they have law degrees, but they aren’t ready to be a provider of services.”

Segal argues that the upper echelon of the legal academy is valued more for its volume of law review articles than real world experience.  There are more than 600 law reviews in the U.S., a number that has doubled since 1985, and they publish about 10,000 articles per year, few of which are considered noteworthy and citable.

Law school hiring also plays an important role, with schools chasing “superstars” that are often former Supreme Court clerks or candidates with both a J.D. and a Ph.D. in another discipline, such as economics.  And having no experience actually practicing law is perceived as an attractive quality.  Segal writes:

This might seem a paradox — experienced people need not apply — but the academy views seasoned pros with a certain suspicion. In fact, a number of veterans of legal practice who failed to land tenure-track jobs say that experience was a stigma they could not beat.

So what does this mean for recent graduates, many of whom have spent up to $150,000 to get their degree?  The legal landscape has changed in the last few years and there is not going to be a return to business as usual.  It’s a buyer’s market and the market is awash in JDs.  Big Law associate positions are fewer than they were a few years ago, while there appears to be increased demand for contract and staff attorneys.  To be successful, according to Segal, law school graduates will need “entrepreneurial skills, management ability and some expertise in landing clients. They will need to know less about Contracts and more about contracts.”

Posted by Marianne Purzycki

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