An Overview of the Legal Job Market
Opportunities and Choices
How YOU Need to Take Charge Of Your Job Search
• You are responsible for obtaining a job on your graduation, not the law school. • Career Services can assist you with information, strategies, and guidance; • Other workshops today and later in the semester will help you learn about resumes, interviews, and professional etiquette; • BUT: • YOU are the person who best knows your needs, preferences, desires, and goals.
My Goal Today
Help you understand what types of employers are interested in hiring law school graduates.
Getting Started
• Before deciding what kind of job you want, you need to make some important lifestyle decisions. • Where do you want to live?
– You are NOT restricted to Southern Illinois. – You are NOT restricted to Illinois. – If you do not want to live in or near a metropolitan area, you are limiting your potential range of jobs.
Getting Started
• What kind of lifestyle do you want?
– Is it important that you have a lot of time to spend with your spouse and children? – Is it important that you be viewed as a leader in your community? – Is it important that you make a lot of money?
Basic Employment Options
• 1. Private Practice of Law
– Large Firms (100+ lawyers) – Small Firms (<10 lawyers) – ―Solo‖ Practice (1 lawyer--you)
• 2. Government Practice • 3. Public Interest Law Practice • 4. Judicial Clerkship
1. Private Practice: Large Firms
• Advantages:
– Interesting legal work – Good training--always experienced people to help. – Excellent logistical support (library, computers, etc.) – Salary ($120,000+ for first-year associates) (six or seven figures for partners). – Prestige
• Disadvantages:
– Only for top 10% and Law Journal is a must – Slow to give responsibility, especially litigation – ―Small cog in big wheel‖ – Long ―partnership track‖—9-10 years – Traditional – Long hours--‖billable hours‖ – Susceptible to economic downturns
Large Firms: Hiring Cycle
• Summer clerkships
– Interview in fall of second year. – If hired for a summer clerkship, you work at law firm in the summer after your second year of law school. – If all works out, you get an offer of permanent employment at end of summer, to begin after graduation and passing the bar examination.
• Hiring non-clerks
– Very limited.
Large Firms: Hiring Cycle
• Because the interview is in student’s third semester, the only grades available are first-year grades. • Therefore, what is the most important thing you can do now to improve your chances of getting a job at a large firm?
STUDY HARD
GET GOOD GRADES
• Advantages:
1. Private Practice: Small Firms
• Disadvantages:
– Less training and guidance – Lack of resources (library, computers, etc.) – Tendency to break up and re-form – Personality conflict with a partner – Lower initial salary (@$35,000)
– More collegial – More responsibility sooner – Opportunity for client contact & development – Shorter ―partnership track‖ – Fewer partners to ―split the pie‖ – Less hectic lifestyle (sometimes!)
Small Firms: Hiring Cycle
• 1. Not as predictable as large firms. • 2. Little advance planning involved. • 3. The great majority of our students who enter private practice join small firms. • 4. Local firms occasionally hire students who have been law clerks for permanent jobs, BUT
– many would rather hire law students to work as law clerks (at @$10-12 an hour) rather than hire associates for $35,000 a year.
1. Private Practice: Solo Practice
• Advantages:
– Can come in late and leave early
• Disadvantages:
– No client base – No funds (SBA loans, credit cards) – No guidance – No experience – No training – No logistical support – No one to blame when you fail
2. Government Practice
• Advantages:
– More structured work days; less overtime expected – Rapid advancement due to high turnover – Terrific litigation experience (State’s Attorney, Public Defender) – Job Satisfaction
• Disadvantages:
– Lower salaries than private practice – High turnover means less training – Lack of logistical support – ―Dead End‖
Government Practice: Hiring Cycle
• Varies widely – U. S. Attorney’s Office--only experienced lawyers or judicial clerks – State’s Attorney and Public Defender--hire right out of law school; frequently at last minute (remember the ―high turnover‖) – Generally, tend to hire on an ―as needed‖ basis • Law School ―Externships‖--Good Opportunity • For more information, see the ―Government Employment‖ slideshow on the Career Services web site.
3. Public Interest Legal Work
• Advantages:
– Satisfying professional work. – Make an important contribution to society, by protecting those who are most vulnerable.
• Disadvantages:
– Can lead to a lot of professional frustration. – Salaries are low, hours are long, many clients often frustrating, funding is often uncertain.
Public Interest: Hiring Cycle
• Generally, tend to hire on an ―as needed‖ basis • Law School ―Externships‖--Good Opportunity • For more information, see the ―Government Employment‖ slideshow on the Career Services web site.
4. Judicial Clerkships
• Advantages:
– Wonderful transition from law school to ―real world‖ – See how a judge really thinks – ―Network‖ of clerks and ―court family‖
• Disadvantages:
– Only one- or two-year position – Solitary (especially appellate clerkships) – Writing and research only
Judicial Clerkships: Hiring Cycle
• Federal Courts:
– Jobs generally begin in fall, after bar exam – Will hire during early fall of third year, so applications can be submitted in fall of third year, BUT – Not all judges honor this policy--check with the Career Services Staff
• State Courts:
– More varied. Less structured. – Jobs generally begin in fall, after bar examination – Many will hire during student’s third year for job beginning following fall.
What To Do If You’re Not Sure
• Attend the rest of the Workshops about resumes, interviewing, etc. to begin to develop your job-seeking skills. • Attend our Law Career Day on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 10:00 a.m. to meet prospective employers. • Talk to third-year students who have worked at different types of firms. • Talk to faculty members about their experiences. • Interview with as many firms, government agencies, etc., as you can during your second year.
What To Do If You Don’t Get Your ―Dream Job‖ At First
• Cheer Up!
– 70% of all lawyers change jobs within three years after graduation – On average, a lawyer has six different lawrelated jobs during her professional career
Don’t
• Take the first job that you are offered, unless you think it is a job you want • Get lured into a first job just because it pays the highest salary
– Ten years after graduation, you will all be making a very comfortable living
―Lawyer Burnout‖
• Every year, as many lawyers leave the profession as there are new lawyers entering the profession. • One of the primary reasons is lack of fulfillment. • Find a job that you feel good about, and everything else will fall into place.
What To Do Right Now
• Study Hard. Get Good Grades. • Attend Workshops on Job-Seeking Skills. • Attend our Law Career Day on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 10:00 a.m. to meet prospective employers. • Be conscious of your behavior around the Law School. The impression you make now affects your ability to get a job. • During this semester and over the summer, think about your basic lifestyle decisions. • Start researching locations, practice areas, specific firms. • This summer, work for a firm, or volunteer at a governmental or public interest entity—employers like to see prior legal experience, whether paid or not.