"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.


According to London firms dominate global legal market (TimesOnLine):

"City law firms are reaping record profits that confirm London’s dominance of the global legal market, according to research published today."

HOWEVER, the article goes on to say:

"But it is not all doom and gloom on Wall Street. The revenue per lawyer (RPL) figures of US law firms far outstrip those of UK firms."

"The 15 firms that perform best in the Legal Business research all have RPL figures that top the $850,000 mark. Slaughter and May is the only UK firm that makes the cut, with revenue per lawyer topping $939,000. New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell leads the field with each of its lawyers billing $1.45 million each year."

*If the article is correct, what conclusions do you draw from the fact that UK firms are more profitable but revenues per lawyer are higher in the USA?  It might, in part, be costs but more likely "how money is distributed generally to the lawyers in the firm".  INTERESTING!!

(*See article for details of nature of firms compared)

What happens when a JD and a Psychiatrist join forces to explore the connection between neuroscience and conflict resolution?

You get Brains on Purpose which according to Stephanie West Allen, will look at how the field of neuroscience can inform the practice of conflict resolution.

You may already be familiar with Stephanie West Allen from her blog: Idealawg.

For more information about the collaborators for Brains on Purpose, click on their pictures.

Also, check out their schedule of events to see when they may be in your neck of the woods.

 
Stephanie West Allen

 
Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz


                 Ed Poll

Have a look at Building customer relationships is the key to success Posted by Ed Poll on July 1 in his LawBiz Blog, where he cites three service examples from Dan Coughlin’s Business Acceleration Newsletter: Nordstrom, US Postal Service and Toyota.

Punchline: I strongly recommend that law firm leaders look outside the legal profession for illustrations of good and bad service in order to stimulate thought about what legendary service might look like in their own firm.


            Dan Coughlin

For those interested in my 2001 article Legendary Service for your Clients, (which appeared in the National Magazine, published by the Canadian Bar Association), feel free to download it by clicking on the title.

*According to the largest-ever research program in the UK legal profession, it appears that as the Beatles sang “money can’t buy you love”

I am not certain that the numbers would be different elsewhere in the world but at least are informed by recent and credible statistics.

The Lawyer.com article: Twenty four per cent of lawyers want to quit said in part:

 "Although the City [London] has seen a series of hefty salary rises and increases in partner profits, the rise in earnings has not contributed to overall happiness."

I speculate that there are three reasons for the responses of the Managing Partners (whom I believe have one of the toughest jobs on the planet):

1)  they are frequently under-trained and undereducated in management;

2)  they lead people who too often have little desire to follow

3) they have tasted a life that is a departure from the grind of finding work, recording hours and billing clients and they seek an environment that will value their learned managerial and leadership skills. 

Your thoughts?

Check out the full article

Peter Darling’s accomplishments entitle him to be heard and considered – whether he is disagreeing or not.  In his June 20 post: Everyone Else Loves This Ad. Why Don’t I? Peter logically walks us through his analysis of the Luce Forward ad (below) that I praised in my post: Contemplating advertising? You had better "Nail It"

The one word opinion in my post was “refreshing”.   But I learned a lot from following Peter’s critique of the ad and I think you will too.   I do stand by my one word opinion and my overall high regard for Greenfield/Belser.  Having said that, I think Peter’s insights help all who care about law firm advertising to have a better idea how to test ideas against the principles involved.    Check out Peter’s commentary.