When is the job market for lawyers expected to improve? Forum

[Linksys]

Please discuss.

[Kohinoor]

The job market for lawyers is expected to improve?

[Always Credited]

The job market for lawyers is expected to improve?

[powerlawyer06]

Some say it already is improving. Some say it will never really come back. Some say it will be another couple years.

Others say the Cravath system is broken and Big Law will never be the same.

Take your pick. No one really knows. It is like predicting the weather, there are signs and you can make pretty accurate inferences but nothing is guaranteed.

[ku1185]

The job market for lawyers is expected to improve?

[hawkeye22]

The job market for lawyers is expected to improve?

[adonai]

The job market for lawyers is expected to improve?

[beachbum]

Improve to what? Anecdotal evidence suggests the hiring market is already improving from the lowpoint experienced during the classes of 2010 and 2011. But recovery has been slow, and we're not sure where the new line will be drawn. Pessimists suggest the Biglaw model has been fundamentally changed, and we're now at a "new normal" for legal hiring. Optimists suggest hiring will continue to improve for the next few years until we hit pre-boom hiring levels. Both sides are basing their predictions on speculation, anecdotal evidence, and gut feelings.

[Sandro]

It will improve naturally with the economy, but I think the fear among some is that the structure of legal hiring has changed in a way that will not lead to as robust hiring #s as seen before the bubble burst, and only the T13 people will get jobs. The rest of the schools will be producing either A. Document reviewers or B. Unemployed people.

[richis7]

I think things are looking up, but I don't think they will ever be the way they were before the economy tanked. In theory the new legal employment environment could actually be a good thing if it drove people to study the law because they cared about it as opposed to studying it to make "easy money". That said, it is foolish in my opinion, to go into a massive amount of debt for law school right now as there is no guarantee of a great job when you get out.

[FiveSermon]

When/if the economy improves.

[Wholigan]

December 22, 2012. Ironically for lawyers, the world will have ended one day earlier

[09042014]

Some say it already is improving. Some say it will never really come back. Some say it will be another couple years.

Others say the Cravath system is broken and Big Law will never be the same.

Take your pick. No one really knows. It is like predicting the weather, there are signs and you can make pretty accurate inferences but nothing is guaranteed.

The Cravath system held strong during the crash. It isn't going anywhere soon. Though it might take a couple years to get back to normal hiring sizes. It should be noted that 2005-2008 was just as irregular as 2008-201X is, just in the opposite direction. We are only 20% off of regular anyway.

[Mick Haller]

It will improve naturally with the economy, but I think the fear among some is that the structure of legal hiring has changed in a way that will not lead to as robust hiring #s as seen before the bubble burst, and only the T13 people will get jobs. The rest of the schools will be producing either A. Document reviewers or B. Unemployed people.

that's a bit much, don't you think? there are ~40,000 legal job openings per year and only ~5000 T13 graduates per year. I agree with you that the percentage of JD holders getting legal jobs will probably decrease, but to say that they will all be doc review or unemployed is a stretch.

[beachbum]

It will improve naturally with the economy, but I think the fear among some is that the structure of legal hiring has changed in a way that will not lead to as robust hiring #s as seen before the bubble burst, and only the T13 people will get jobs. The rest of the schools will be producing either A. Document reviewers or B. Unemployed people.

that's a bit much, don't you think? there are ~40,000 legal job openings per year and only ~5000 T13 graduates per year. I agree with you that the percentage of JD holders getting legal jobs will probably decrease, but to say that they will all be doc review or unemployed is a stretch.

I have it on good authority that 35,000 of those jobs are doc review and will soon be outsourced to Asians and robots.

[ahduth]

It will improve naturally with the economy, but I think the fear among some is that the structure of legal hiring has changed in a way that will not lead to as robust hiring #s as seen before the bubble burst, and only the T13 people will get jobs. The rest of the schools will be producing either A. Document reviewers or B. Unemployed people.

that's a bit much, don't you think? there are ~40,000 legal job openings per year and only ~5000 T13 graduates per year. I agree with you that the percentage of JD holders getting legal jobs will probably decrease, but to say that they will all be doc review or unemployed is a stretch.

I have it on good authority that 35,000 of those jobs are doc review and will soon be outsourced to Asians and robots.

Yes, I plan on actually making that a primary aspect of my legal career.

But as far as current events, 3Ls are getting offers now right?

[BlueDiamond]

The world is ending in 2012.. I thought we were all just going to law school so we didn't have to do real work for the last year of our lives?

[mrtoren]

Within a few years its going to look like this...India: Legal out-sourcing at its finest.

[Alex-Trof]

The job market for lawyers is expected to improve?

[Fred_McGriff]

any day now