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Re: A Law Career Outside of T14
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:29 am
by TLSanders
rad law wrote:Furthermore, the landscape is probably not gonna be drastically different in the 6ish months before biglaw recruiting happens for current 1Ls or the year and half before people applying applying today do it.
Curious as to why you think what happens to current 1Ls in six months matters in the least--lots and lots of grads over the past couple of years have been groomed and recruited and then had offers withdrawn, salaries cut or worked a brief time and then been laid off. Having been recruited in the fall of their 2L years by a law firm that decides it isn't hiring or is paying a fraction of what it did a few years ago by the time they graduate isn't going to be particularly helpful to anyone.
Re: A Law Career Outside of T14
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:33 am
by Grizz
TLSanders wrote:rad law wrote:Furthermore, the landscape is probably not gonna be drastically different in the 6ish months before biglaw recruiting happens for current 1Ls or the year and half before people applying applying today do it.
Curious as to why you think what happens to current 1Ls in six months matters in the least--lots and lots of grads over the past couple of years have been groomed and recruited and then had offers withdrawn, salaries cut or worked a brief time and then been laid off. Having been recruited in the fall of their 2L years by a law firm that decides it isn't hiring or is paying a fraction of what it did a few years ago by the time they graduate isn't going to be particularly helpful to anyone.
Very broadly:
1) Biglaw salaries, especially in NY, have been remarkably sticky at pre-recession $160k levels (or whatever market is locally)
2) Though classes are smaller, the scuttlebutt is that offer rates are generally up. No firm want to be the one that no-offers or conducts stealth layoffs.
Re: A Law Career Outside of T14
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:55 am
by rayiner
TLSanders wrote:rad law wrote:Have you been reading TLS lately? No one is arguing against this or overlooking this.
In this particular thread, it doesn't seem to be getting factored in. The truth is that there is a very good chance that in a few years when those applying to law school right now are looking for jobs or planning careers, the landscape will be very different even from the one we're looking at today. One significant challenge that many recent/upcoming grads are facing today (perhaps especially at top schools) is that their educations and the efforts of the career planning and placement offices are still heavily focused on jobs that are slowly changing and/or ceasing to exist. It may well be that those whose preparation is geared toward something more realistic will actually have the upper hand by the time current applicants are entering the workforce. I don't have a crystal ball, but the one thing that is clear is that banking on what's happened in the past is not the way to go where the legal profession is concerned.
Big law isn't going anywhere. There are a lot fewer jobs now that the real estate bubble is gone, but jobs are still there and attorney hiring is back up (though more selective then ever). A T14 degree is no guarantee of getting such a job, but things seem back to being in a situation where more T14 folks who want big law get it than those who do not.