It's no surprise to anyone that the current job market for lawyers is bad. But the problem is there is a great many law students who went into their education thinking that, if they worked hard, they would stand a good chance of a high-paying job once they graduated. So they burnt the candle at both ends, saddled themselves with massive amounts of student loans, and set out to get a law degree.
Only to find that the market is saturated with experienced lawyers who were let go from their positions and that no one is hiring.
What is a law school graduate supposed to do?
Perhaps what is needed is not more jobs, but a reworking of the current system. Perhaps law students shouldn't expect to work for a law firm where they'll be billed out at $250 an hour but should instead set out to work for themselves and serve a middle class which desperately needs legal advice but can't afford the rates of the big firms.
"Ironically, while thousands of new law graduates fret about the chronic joblessness that awaits them, tens of millions of Americans need attorneys but cannot afford them. And much of the unmet need rests in America's middle class, which is neither rich enough to pay $250 an hour for lawyers nor poor enough to qualify for legal aid organizations."
Those are the words of Kendall Coffey, a Miami lawyer, legal analyst, and author of Spinning the Law. Kendall suggests that legal students and law schools should reexamine the way they see the legal field and should change to fit the current environment and the rampant unemployment that awaits law school graduates.
In his piece at Law.com, Kendall writes that, with prudent office economics, there's no reason why recent law graduates can't launch successful practices. The problem is that their current education neither gives them any background in how to do this nor even prepares them for the idea. Instead law schools still teach to a model which is quickly becoming obsolete.
He suggests turning to current lawyers in order to mentor these new fledglings, "leaders of the bar are well positioned to emphasize that placing many graduates in successful careers is more important than placing a few in traditional law firms. While prestige is nice, it does not pay monthly mortgages, much less student loans."
Indeed. And the quicker schools can get this idea through their heads, the better.
Only to find that the market is saturated with experienced lawyers who were let go from their positions and that no one is hiring.
What is a law school graduate supposed to do?
Perhaps what is needed is not more jobs, but a reworking of the current system. Perhaps law students shouldn't expect to work for a law firm where they'll be billed out at $250 an hour but should instead set out to work for themselves and serve a middle class which desperately needs legal advice but can't afford the rates of the big firms.
"Ironically, while thousands of new law graduates fret about the chronic joblessness that awaits them, tens of millions of Americans need attorneys but cannot afford them. And much of the unmet need rests in America's middle class, which is neither rich enough to pay $250 an hour for lawyers nor poor enough to qualify for legal aid organizations."
Those are the words of Kendall Coffey, a Miami lawyer, legal analyst, and author of Spinning the Law. Kendall suggests that legal students and law schools should reexamine the way they see the legal field and should change to fit the current environment and the rampant unemployment that awaits law school graduates.
In his piece at Law.com, Kendall writes that, with prudent office economics, there's no reason why recent law graduates can't launch successful practices. The problem is that their current education neither gives them any background in how to do this nor even prepares them for the idea. Instead law schools still teach to a model which is quickly becoming obsolete.
He suggests turning to current lawyers in order to mentor these new fledglings, "leaders of the bar are well positioned to emphasize that placing many graduates in successful careers is more important than placing a few in traditional law firms. While prestige is nice, it does not pay monthly mortgages, much less student loans."
Indeed. And the quicker schools can get this idea through their heads, the better.
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