You may or may not agree with the above. Regardless, having swum in other industries, my question is why you believe people working in law firms are or should be immune from headcount reductions in times of economic contraction? Why would the legal profession enjoy such a privileged position as to be the sole sector of the economy where there are no layoffs?

IP Law – IP law works in a world where there’s excess capital to, you know, make music and trademarks and there’s value in protecting them. That’s NOT this world. Patent law is somewhat more safe because of the inherent value of the underlying product.

Family Law – Historically, divorces and separations fall in weaker economies as families burdened by mortgages or the expense of separation learn to deal with one another. This area is dead.

Business Torts – Less business, fewer torts, although this may be a wash as it

Anything with the word “International” – DONE. OVER. KAPUT.

General Business Finance & Transactions – Yah. Maybe you can get some of that STIMULUS or TARP money. Hehe.

Lobbying – WAY UP. But this requires that you 1) have some juice and 2) aren’t an idiot law student who didn’t do anything else in his or her life.

Government Work – Everyone who doesn’t have a job as of this spring is going to be clamoring to work at the Bureau of Such and Such or the Department for the Preservation of This Or That. Competition will be fierce for this jobs that, compared to the big law firm jobs of yesteryear, pay nothing. But hey, at least you can make some progress on your student loans… hopefully.

What’s going to be a decent – i.e., paying – area of law:

Bankruptcy – Duh.

Trusts & Estates – People always die, and those who do will leave behind people clamoring for money in these hard economic times. People always plan for death. People always need to estate plan. BUY GOLD!

Personal Injury – AWESOME! Sue the other mo-fo for some money. It’s kind of like welfare, but if you’re lucky, you get to have a little trial in court before you get your payoff.

Criminal Law – Yeah, no one, as usual, will be able to pay for this kind of law. BUT, there will be MORE of it. And this is one area where, in spite of hell or high water, the government will feel compelled to keep staffing levels the same, or increase them, especially because, my friends, crime will be going up. Oh yeah, I guess you can become a prosecutor if you want.