"New Lawyer Jobs

90 percent of 2006 law school graduates found jobs by February, 2007. That’s the largest percentage since 2000 and way up from the 85% rate ten years ago. Of the 36,465 graduates who have jobs, 56% were in private practice and 10% were judicial clerks. Of the remainder, 14% went into a business position, 11% took a position in government, and the remaining 9% where in other positions including academic, public interest and the military. Of the 3721 graduates without jobs, 889 are in a full-time advance degree program, 868 are studying for the bar full-time and 860 are not seeking employment. This leaves only 1,104 out of more than 40,000 graduates who are in the job market. (Source: The National Association of Legal Career Professionals)."

PUNCHLINE:  The optimism of law firms continues…  even though the July 2007 issue of Inside Counsel includes survey results revealing clients are far less optimistic about the growth in the demand for legal services.  Add to the mix the de-equitization of partners in many major firms as they strive for higher stock value (might they be anticipating Clemente). (Source: CareerJournal.com: More Law Firms Thin Ranks of Partners to Boost Profits)  How long can this last?  When it ends, will firms that have not seen a major downturn in decades be able to weather the storm?  I think many will not.

Thank you to Bob Lang of Legal Resource Group (Quietly Searching The Nation’s Largest Law Firms) for the quote above from the latest LRG recruiting Trends newsletter July 9, 2007 edition.