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Hey guys,

Not sure if this is the right section of this forum, but check out this link on Tom the Temp's site. Apparently the market has gotten so bad that firms are paying $10 an hour for doc review, which is less than you could make working at a grocery store after a year.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogI ... 2420&pli=1

RESEARCH ATTORNEY (4105 W. 26th St.) Date: 2010-03-08, 9:11AM job-ff5pp-1633948536@craigslist.org

Illinois licensed attorney with exceptional research and legal drafting skills needed to support attorney work in several areas of law, including immigration, bankruptcy, mortgage foreclosure and loan modification, family, criminal, among others. The position is full time -- 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday, and requires a natural talent for writing and research, an ability to produce exceptional work within a short amount of time, as numerous assignments will always be in the queue. This is a great intro position for someone who has this talent but minimal experience, and wants to learn a great deal quickly in many areas of law. The pay is non-negotiable $10/hour with a review in six months' time. Full benefits are provided after three month probation term is passed. This is the legal equivalent of the medical school graduate's residency experience.

• Location: 4105 W. 26th St.
• Compensation: $10/hour
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

posted by helpme123 at 10:51 PM on Mar 10, 2010

...

And this is supposed to be news? This has been going on for about 18 months now.

But...but...a law degree opens...doors......

GeePee wrote:And this is supposed to be news? This has been going on for about 18 months now.

I wasn't aware wages had gotten this low. Now that I am looking at doc review or low level insurance defense or immigration as a very real possibility, it hits a little closer to home.

I'm not even sure this is really that bad a sign. Sure the economy triggered a lot of this stuff. But paying associates $160k to do doc review is ridiculous. Firms have been outsourcing to India for a couple years. They pay something like $20/hr.

i like the line about how this is like a residency in medicine....is that supposed to make unemployed JDs feel better about the position?

rando wrote:I'm not even sure this is really that bad a sign. Sure the economy triggered a lot of this stuff. But paying associates $160k to do doc review is ridiculous. Firms have been outsourcing to India for a couple years. They pay something like $20/hr.

I'm not criticizing the free market for appropriately valuing things. Obviously first years have no skills.

However, running up 100k+ plus debt doesn't make sense when you can just go apply at Walmart and make the same wage.

jobless2Lguy wrote:

rando wrote:I'm not even sure this is really that bad a sign. Sure the economy triggered a lot of this stuff. But paying associates $160k to do doc review is ridiculous. Firms have been outsourcing to India for a couple years. They pay something like $20/hr.

I'm not criticizing the free market for appropriately valuing things. Obviously first years have no skills.

However, running up 100k+ plus debt doesn't make sense when you can just go apply at Walmart and make the same wage.

100% agreed. The law school/hiring model is messed up.

You get what you pay for. If the firm wants to hire someone who will jump ship at the earliest opportunity, then $10 is fine. But I think any firm with business smarts would pay a decent wage if the firm actually wanted to cultivate a productive employee. (I don't claim to have business smarts, but I've heard some small firm managers discuss this issue; i.e., how much you should pay a new attorney. Low-paid attorneys jump ship, which ultimately costs the firm more money than paying a good wage.)

ggocat wrote:You get what you pay for. If the firm wants to hire someone who will jump ship at the earliest opportunity, then $10 is fine. But I think any firm with business smarts would pay a decent wage if the firm actually wanted to cultivate a productive employee. (I don't claim to have business smarts, but I've heard some small firm managers discuss this issue; i.e., how much you should pay a new attorney. Low-paid attorneys jump ship, which ultimately costs the firm more money than paying a good wage.)

I think it depends on what you're looking for. If it is just a doc review laborer. I doubt it costs them more to just get another one down the ranks.

I get paid $12/hr working at my UG on campus.

If it is that bad maybe you would have a better time finding a suitable job with your BA. So maybe it is better afterall to get a practical UG degree? .

I'm really getting tired of people highlighting these job postings. You can ask for anything you want, but that doesn't mean you'll land an employee. A similar posting was featured on ATL offering $12/hour and shortly thereafter the post was changed to ask respondents to "discuss their salary expectations", which would have been unnecessary if ppl really were leaping at the chance.

EDIT: this is in the wrong forum and it should really be in the bad economy sticky.

soullesswonder wrote:I'm really getting tired of people highlighting these job postings. You can ask for anything you want, but that doesn't mean you'll land an employee. A similar posting was featured on ATL offering $12/hour and shortly thereafter the post was changed to ask respondents to "discuss their salary expectations", which would have been unnecessary if ppl really were leaping at the chance.

EDIT: this is in the wrong forum and it should really be in the bad economy sticky.

or maybe they were leaping too much at that chance