Legal Commentary

The legal market has been on a rampage for several years now. Students, even ones without the shiniest of credentials, have had considerable success in landing good jobs right out of law school. After a shaky period precipitated by the Dot.Com boom-gone-bust early in the decade, firms started hiring again, volumes of legal work increased, and, recently, salaries even began to spike upwards again. However, with the credit crisis, the real estate bust, deceleration in M & A activity, deflation of stock prices, slowdowns among hedge funds private equity groups, and venture capitalists, and increases in the prices of energy, food, and imports, even the legal market is bound to slow.

Whether or not there are already fewer jobs for graduating law students is difficult to gauge yet with much numerical precision. However, the buzz among students at my law school is not promising. Based on the small sample size to which I have easiest access, law firms are beginning to raise their hiring drawbridges; higher grades, law review membership, and technical degrees appear to have become more important in landing a job right out of law school. Though panic has by no means set in yet, I do sense growing apprehension among students who, a mere year ago, seemed quite optimistic about securing satisfactory employment.

It's not clear to me what law professors can do to help. I do find myself answering more questions from law firms about prospective hires who've listed me as a reference, and I have sent more e-mails and made more telephone calls this year on behalf of students seeking their first legal jobs. So far the market I know best - intellectual property firms - seems to be holding up well relative to other legal specialties. However, I wonder if I should be advising my students to add bankruptcy law to their course selections.