Hiring of Law Grads Improves for Some Forum

[itachiuchiha]

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 41024.html

[CaveCanem]

Why is this post not getting more comments? I hope i don't offend any pessimists but seems to me like these WSJ numbers are pretty encouraging. Post Summer Associate offers go from 69% to 92% in 4 years. Applications down about 40% in two years. BigLaw significantly outperforming other sectors of our economy. Doesn't mean the profession is out of the woods yet, but definitely some good news in the midst of so much negativity surrounding LS.

[prezidentv8]

Why is this post not getting more comments?

The hitch, of course, is that summer class sizes remain smaller than they were back in the boom years, so the overall number of job offers hasn't returned to prerecession heights.

According to a separate NALP survey, only 64.4% of the 2012 law graduates for whom employment status is known got a job that required bar passage, the lowest percentage the group has ever measured.

Law firms remain generally cautious about bringing on new junior lawyers.

Adding to recent graduates' employment problems: In recent years a bumper crop of newly minted lawyers has flooded the market, forcing law students to be more entrepreneurial in their job hunts.

[CaveCanem]

Why is this post not getting more comments?

The hitch, of course, is that summer class sizes remain smaller than they were back in the boom years, so the overall number of job offers hasn't returned to prerecession heights.

According to a separate NALP survey, only 64.4% of the 2012 law graduates for whom employment status is known got a job that required bar passage, the lowest percentage the group has ever measured.

Law firms remain generally cautious about bringing on new junior lawyers.

At what point can we acknowledge that there is good news? It is common knowledge that the legal market of the 1990's and early 2000's is over, for good. I don't see the hiring levels reaching 2007 ever again. Law Schools will close, and others will continue laying off faculty and lowering tuition/ going bankrupt. With all the bleak statistics out there it's nice to recognize improvement, no matter how modest.

[prezidentv8]

At what point can we acknowledge that there is good news?

I mean, sure, acknowledge it, but big firm offer rate is a secondary issue to the quantity of lawyers employers are actually hiring.

[CaveCanem]

At what point can we acknowledge that there is good news?

I mean, sure, acknowledge it, but big firm offer rate is a secondary issue to the quantity of lawyers employers are actually hiring.

And with 1L matriculation rates down to 1977 levels, both these issues are secondary to the amount of lawyers who will be entering the workforce in 3 years.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/12/17/fir ... 77-levels/

[Tiago Splitter]

At what point can we acknowledge that there is good news?

I mean, sure, acknowledge it, but big firm offer rate is a secondary issue to the quantity of lawyers employers are actually hiring.

And with 1L matriculation rates down to 1977 levels, both these issues are secondary to the amount of lawyers who will be entering the workforce in 3 years.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/12/17/fir ... 77-levels/

That's good but its impact on biglaw is minimal. The big drops in attendance are occurring at schools that can't place anyone in a biglaw firm anyway. I'll grant that having 35,000 grads instead of 50,000 certainly helps the median guy at McGeorge find some mediocre legal job.

[prezidentv8]

At what point can we acknowledge that there is good news?

I mean, sure, acknowledge it, but big firm offer rate is a secondary issue to the quantity of lawyers employers are actually hiring.

And with 1L matriculation rates down to 1977 levels, both these issues are secondary to the amount of lawyers who will be entering the workforce in 3 years.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/12/17/fir ... 77-levels/

I'd imagine noob lawyer jobs vs. noob lawyers are two sides of the same coin. Caveat though: each class of noob lawyers is also competing against a portion of at least a few years of previous classes of noob lawyers for the same noob lawyer jobs.

I'm not going to try and dissuade you from whatever law school path you're planning on taking here, but aggregate summer offer rate just isn't the metric a prospective student should be looking at. Unless and until you're comparing two SA offers and looking at the offer rates at particular firms, offer rates just are not that big of a deal.

[CaveCanem]

At what point can we acknowledge that there is good news?

I mean, sure, acknowledge it, but big firm offer rate is a secondary issue to the quantity of lawyers employers are actually hiring.

And with 1L matriculation rates down to 1977 levels, both these issues are secondary to the amount of lawyers who will be entering the workforce in 3 years.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/12/17/fir ... 77-levels/

That's good but its impact on biglaw is minimal. The big drops in attendance are occurring at schools that can't place anyone in a biglaw firm anyway. I'll grant that having 35,000 grads instead of 50,000 certainly helps the median guy at McGeorge find some mediocre legal job.

Noted. It may not have a proportional effect on BigLaw but a good sign for the legal field as a whole nonetheless.