By Hillary Mantis
Just when you thought the worst was over, there is more bad news for the legal profession. The Legal Sector lost 1,300 jobs last month, according to the September Bureau of Labor Statistics Report. Hiring was down for the second month in a row, the report indicated. The Legal Sector has shed 3,500 jobs overall in the past year, since September 2010.
By Hillary Mantis
The American Lawyer Summer Associates Survey, which polled more than 3,000 students for their top pick of the best firm for summer associates, is out. And the winner is…..Gibson Dunn (Los Angeles.)
Runners up for the second and third spots are Dickstein Shapiro (Washington, DC), and Bingham McCutchen (National.) Foley Hoag (Boston) came fourth, and Katten Muchin Rosenman (National) and Morgan Lewis (National) were tied for fifth place.
By Hillary Mantis
By Hillary Mantis
The more things change, the more they remain the same. In a time of mind boggling changes in the law firm world, the salaries have remained the same, according to a recent report issued by the National Association of Legal Professionals.
The median salary for first year associates working at private sector law firms is $115,000, the same as last year, the survey showed. For law firms of two-to-25 lawyers, the median was $73,000. For the largest law firms in the country, in excess of 700 lawyers, $160,000 remained the top salary.
By Hillary Mantis
The news is not surprising, but disappointing nonetheless. Law is the hardest to place industry, according to a survey released by SimplyHired.com, and reported by the Wall Street Journal.
There is less than one opening for every 100 working attorneys, according to the report. Job openings for the legal field dropped 1.9 percent in August, SimplyHired.com’s press release said.
by Spencer Aronfeld
Getting your resume into the right hands has never been more of a challenge than in today’s current job market. If you blindly mass send your resume to a number of law firms, you will be lucky to get your resume past whomever they entrust to sort junk mail from pleadings. Most law firms, like ours, receive several unsolicited resumes a week. Rarely, if ever, do they make it to my desk — and only when word has been spread that we are hiring.
Could things finally be looking up for the Class of 2013? Some economic indicators seem to be pointing towards good news for summer 2012 hiring. Results from The American Lawyer’s latest Summer Hiring Survey, found that the average 2011 summer class size increased 25 percent over 2010 at 100 leading law firms. Among the Am Law 50 firms, the class sizes were up 36 percent, to an average of 76.3 associates.
Law school on campus recruiting started early this year, with many firms visiting law school campuses across the country in early to mid August.
It’s August, and by now you know what law firms are going to be interviewing at your school this fall for summer and permanent positions. Given the shaky legal job market, you’re probably facing slim pickings.
I’ve noticed that beyond on campus interviews, many students overlook free and readily available resources at their law school. It always surprises me how sometimes students don’t take advantage of them.
For example, you could:
The number of recently graduated lawyers starting their own practices has gone up—way up. In fact, solo practitioners accounted for 5.7 percent off all private practice jobs for the Class of 2010, according to a recent report by the National Association of Law Placement. That’s the highest it’s been since 1997.
When you look at the country as a whole, the number gets even bigger. Almost 50 percent of the lawyers in the U.S. are solo practitioners, according to the American Bar Association.
Are you gearing up for On Campus Interviewing at your law school? Trying to go for a BIGLAW job? If so, you might want to check out Vault’s just released 2012 Regional Rankings.
Vault surveyed almost 16,000 law firm associates to compile the results. They asked associates to rank their peer firms in their own region of the country. “Vault’s regional rankings go beyond overall prestige and delve into which firms are on top in their respective regions,” according to Vault.