Staying Competitive During an Economic Downturn
Last night we tuned into a very interesting (albeit somewhat depressing) conference call, Staying Competitive During an Economic Downturn, sponsored by the National LGBT Bar Association. Three experts provided their thoughts on the current legal job market and advice for navigating it:
Robert Depew. A Managing Director in Major, Lindsey & Africa’s San Francisco office, Depew helps lawyers evaluate career alternatives and places attorneys at top tier law firms and select in-house positions in the Bay Area.Christopher LaFon. As director of recruiting at Kelly Law Registry, one of the nation’s largest job placement firms, LaFon builds careers and aids in career transitions for attorneys, paralegals and other legal professionals.
James Leipold. The Executive Director of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), Leipold helms the legal profession’s leading association dedicated to research, education and career development.
When will the legal economy return to normal? What can laid-off lawyers do while they wait for recovery? Is there any hope, for any of us?
Find out the views of the experts, after the jump.
Here’s a rough write-up of the discussion. Please consider these remarks to be paraphrased (unless otherwise indicated, with quotation marks).
The call began with James Leipold of NALP offering an overview of the legal market (which should be familiar to regular readers of ATL; but Leipold’s summary was especially clear and concise). He was followed by Robert Depew and Christopher LaFon, who offered advice for dealing with the grim realities. The call concluded with a question-and-answer session.
JIM LEIPOLD: Unfortunately it’s my job to start this phone call delivering the bad news. Everyone knows the legal economy is very difficult right now. Unemployment recently reached a 25-year high, 9.4%, and the legal sector has seen proportionate job losses.
The slowdown has hit the largest law firms in the largest markets hardest. Some smaller firms in smaller markets are thriving.
How long will this state of affairs last? “Financial institutions advising law firms are predicting a difficult economy through calendar year 2009, and perhaps longer than that.”
Things were already tough late in 2008. By the end of calendar year 2008, law firms were having a hard time with collections, and corporate work was drying up. At the start of 2009, it was very difficult for law firms to obtain the credit they need for their operations.
Law firms are under tremendous pressure to bring down their expenses, largely through reducing headcount. But they’re also taking other measures, from cutting discretionary travel to trimming bonuses. In 2009, some firms announced salary freezes and salary cuts.
The biggest impact is being felt by recent graduates. Students just finishing law school face a particularly difficult legal job market. Class of 2009 graduates are seeing start dates deferred for as long as a year. There’s a collision in the marketplace between graduates from 2006-2008, who are competing with jobs for the class of 2009, and soon the classes of 2010 and 2011.
The recent changes should be viewed in context. We’ve been part of an industry that has had a remarkably robust 7 to 10 year run. The class of 2007 had a 92 percent employment rate after graduation, an all-time historical high. Starting salaries also reached a new high.
At NALP, we expect the employment rate for the next several classes to fall into the mid 80-range. But it shouldn’t go as low as it did for the class of 1993 (83.4%).
The news isn’t all bad. Small and midsize firms that have lower price points are doing quite well in some markets, from Detroit to St. Louis. These firms are actually growing in some cases, because they’re seeing credentials from laterals and new associates they didn’t see in the past. There is tremendous pressure in corporate America to reduce total legal spend, so work is flowing down to smaller firms and smaller markets.
The legal hiring market in the public interest arena is very difficult. Many public interest groups are funded through IOLTA funds — escrow funds held for clients that generate interest, with the interest being used to fund civil legal services. Because interest rates have fallen to near zero, the IOLTA funding mechanism has collapsed.
Many public interest groups have had layoffs, furloughs, and pay freezes. Into this mix you add deferred associates, bearing stipends from their firms. Although it’s commendable of firms to support public interest, deferred associates are displacing lawyers who trained for three or so years in preparation for a move to public interest. So there has been a fair amount of disruption to the public interest legal market as well.
Is this just a temporary blip? Probably not: “The large law firm model is undergoing a period of structural change as a result of this economy, in a way that suggests that things will not return to normal after this is over.” For example, we probably won’t see a resumption of the practice of large law firms hiring large classes of summer associates two years out.
One benefit is that you’re seeing experimentation in terms of new models. For example, one firm in Philadelphia has announced that it will take new lawyers on a for a six-month mini-apprenticeship of sorts: the lawyers will be paid less than market for the first six months, during which they will focus on training and learning, and their salaries will be escalated over time.
When will things get back to normal? NALP doesn’t expect a return to a normalized legal market until probably 2012 — and it’s uncertain what “normal” will look like then.
ROBERT DEPEW: My goal is to pass along advice to people who have survived layoffs or are worried about layoffs.
A mentor of mine told me in law school: As an attorney, you have a brand. You are your own brand. You build, market, and protect your own brand. You’re looking out for the profit of it and the reputation of it. It travels with you throughout every interaction and case that you work on. Think about your career development as something you need to be strategic about. You need to have goals and think about where you want to be.
My first word of advice is to be professional in everything you do. Any written work that you do should be client-ready when you turn it over for review. The first people to be let go are people who have submitted questionable work product or work that was less than their best.
Second, be productive. Law firms value billable hours. It’s the structure firms are based on. There’s no escaping this. Firms reducing headcount will focus on who is least productive.
This is easier said than done when work is hard to come by. Be proactive. Make sure colleagues know you have time available. Ask them for advice on how to use your time productively.
Take on meaningful pro bono work. But be conscious of the fact that it isn’t generating revenue for the firm. Even firms that treat pro bono work as “billable” don’t give it the same weight as work that generates money for the firm.
Be flexible about the kind of attorney you want to be. “Hold your dream loosely.” Let’s say you want to be a transactional attorney. Unfortunately, there are very few opportunities to do corporate work right now. Maybe you’ll have to do restructuring or bankruptcy work that might help you transition back to corporate work later.
Don’t be shy about selling yourself. The emphasis on salesmanship in the legal profession often disproportionately affects minority and female and LGBT lawyers. Don’t brag, but do take the opportunity to share your sense of pride and accomplishment with senior colleagues.
Develop and maintain mentor relationships — with attorneys you work with, or attorneys you know in other contexts, like bar associations. Try to find mentors who are five to 20 years ahead of you in their career path. These are relationships that will follow you throughout your career.
Networking is key to career advancement. Explore your local bar associations, state bar associations, affinity bar associations, and national and local LGBT bar associations. Pick one organization and volunteer or try to find a leadership position.
Finally, remember to be nice. Be likable. Treat everyone you work with with respect.
CHRISTOPHER LAFON: Approach the job search process with a sense of how you’re marketing yourself. If you’re trying to transition into a new field, tweak your resume to emphasize experience relevant to that field.
To the extent that you can get yourself into a mental state where you can buy into what you’re doing, you’ll be able to sell yourself more effectively. You have to believe it in order to sell it.
Go to in-person events. Be positive. Realize that what you might have to do right now to get by — say, contract work — is temporary. This too shall pass.
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
Is this downturn affecting minorities / women / LGBT individuals more than the rest of the profession?
LEIPOLD: It’s a question that’s on everyone’s mind. NALP held its annual diversity summit last week, and participants expressed a perception that layoffs have disproportionately affected women and minorities. It is too soon to know in a quantitative way is true. But the fact that there is this perception is important in and of itself. Minority communities are feeling beleaguered or disproportionately affected.
Are minority lawyers affected disproportionately because they are younger or more junior?
LEIPOLD: It’s not clear that young lawyers are being hardest hit by layoffs. Some firms have been making deep cuts to the ranks of fairly senior lawyers, including non-equity partners.
Members of the LGBT community are not the most vulnerable because we can “pass.” Women of color are probably the most vulnerable — and have been for some time.
Given the economy, do firms still value diversity?
LEIPOLD: This is a real litmus test for whether diversity is a core value. Law firms absolutely have to cut their expenses across the board. We’ve seen a disproportionate number of diversity directors losing their jobs as compared to recruiting directors losing their jobs.
Anything that’s discretionary is being scrutinized carefully. And some law firms see diversity as discretionary.
How can I highlight my diversity on my resume?
DEPEW: Be a member of an affinity bar association, like an LGBT bar.
LEIPOLD: Highlight pro bono activities related to a minority community. Also, business development is key. Your membership in your community can create opportunities.
LAFON: Another benefit of volunteer work: you won’t have as big an experience block on your resume.
LEIPOLD: Well, one of the benefits of this downturn is that gaps in your resume are more understandable. There’s no shame in taking a job that lets you pay the bills, while you also do volunteer work.
What practices are recession proof?
LEIPOLD: The only true one is bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is booming. The other historically countercyclical practice, litigation, has proved to be less resilient. This is partly because litigation was changing even before the recession in terms of its profitability, due to developments like alternate dispute resolution. Regulatory litigation has picked up; securities litigation has picked up, a little less.
The federal government has been hiring — not necessarily entry-level lawyers, but some lawyers who have been displaced.
DEPEW: Labor and employment has been busy. It has been picking up.
What other parts of the country are seeing better employment rates?
LEIPOLD: New York and San Francisco have been hard hit. So has Chicago, belatedly. Some cities, like Minneapolis and Dallas, have done better. In general, the smaller the market, the better the market.
The same goes for firms. The Am Law 200 have proved to be more resilient than the Am Law 100.
Often members of our community [the LGBT community] want to head to bigger cities — they’re safe, they have larger LGBT communities. But I’d urge you to think about whether that can be deferred and whether you can ride this out in a smaller market where there are jobs.
DEPEW: You’re better off in markets that don’t depend on financial services. Charlotte is a small market, but it has been decimated.
When will this end?
LEIPOLD: The legal sector is often a leading economic indicator. Law firms are one of the first sectors to see increased activity when economy turns around. It’s hard to start a company or do an IPO without hiring lawyers.
In the large law firm world, people are talking about a return to something like normal in 2012. A caveat: the “normal” will be different from what we left behind. In the financial press, the predictions for the general economy is that recovery is not likely to be sudden and dramatic, but gradual over a period of years. The problem is that global economy has been weakened in so many different areas.
DEPEW: The layoffs have been fueled in part by the virtual lack of attrition. Folks who might have otherwise moved to a secondary market or left the practice of law, people in years 3-8 of practice, did not. In an act of self-preservation and fear, they decided to stay where they are. But firms expected and planned for high attrition, which didn’t happen. Hence layoffs.
**********************
In closing, Jim Leipold directed everyone’s attention this free webinar, Managing a Legal Career Transition in Tough Times, put out by NALP and ALI-ABA. You can check it out here.
Job Prospects for Attorneys in a Difficult Economy [National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Bar Association]
Managing a Legal Career Transition in Tough Times [NALP]
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Comments
first to say kash is beautiful
Isn't all this lay-off talk mostly just rumor? I doubt there are really thousands of well-educated, former big law associates sitting around out there.
DePew, LaFon and Leipold?
Whatever happened to good old WASPy names?
Like Hugh Verrier, Dave Gordon, Bob Link, and so forth?
first to say that 2 is a moron. The f*cking plane has crashed into the f*cking ocean.
Did you guys see Phil Spector's new mug shot? It's pretty creepy.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/10/california.spector.mug.shot/index.html
Chastity Bono seeks to change gender from female to male.
Thought she was male in the first place. Oh well.
Is Lat now getting his skills from Mystal? "Law firms valuable billable hours"
I hear the Dharma Institute is hiring although there's a long-ass underwater commute to work.
Rumor is that you have to wear jumpsuits.
"laid"..."rough"...."alternative".....you're so obvious Lat, can't believe the Sotomayor ad guy got in trouble...
No, 4, I don't see the layoff issue as a problem of quite the magnitude that so many commentators think it is. There have been, what, a handfull of layoffs at a handfull of firms? It just doesn't seem like such a big deal.
Comment removed by moderator.
"laid"..."rough"...."alternative".....you're so obvious Lat, can't believe the Sotomayor ad guy got in trouble...
I found this to be a very valuable read. Thanks ATL.
Serious question: Does anyone think that Lat is so obvious that it's hard to believe the Sotomayor ad guy got in trouble?
I don't have to worry about employment in an economic downturn. I have a special practice; I handle one client.
1=racist.
The one advice I would have for law students would be to go to the mattresses. It's tough out there. Never know if you'll get garroted by friends of yours.
~Luca Brasi
Something about this post is really queer.
13, valuable in what way? Was it enlightening to learn that the more and better work you do the less likely it is you'll be laid off? Or to see Depew misue the word "decimated"?
19
Was it the flag that tipped you off?
You know which firm does not value diversity? K&L Gates. Especially in this economy.
A lot of associates are sleeping with the fishes because they mistakenly relied on firms that would treat them with generosity and respect.
Lawyers are nothing but thieves with briefcases. Is it any wonder they have no honor among themselves?
~Luca Brasi
You know which firm does not value diversity? K&L Gates. Especially in this economy.
I'd be interested in knowing what the American Bar Association thinks about the National LGBT Bar Association logo stating that it is "An Affiliate of the American Bar Association." Organizations that qualify for affiliation with the ABA are not allowed to use the name or identifying marks of the ABA in their logo.
You know which firm does not value diversity? K&L Gates. Especially in this economy.
14 - I believe that was this thing called "sarcasm". Yes, Lat was definitely not trying to offend anyone. It is a play on how many read too deeply into things and are looking for hate when there is none because of the sensitive nature of the minority class involved. Thanks for taking all the funny out of it.
"It is difficult for a white male to say 'Latina lesbian' five times fast."
-- SotomayOR!
The advice is always the same for law students attempting to get a job: "Talk to alumni, go to events your local bar association is hosting, network, etc."
No one tells you what to do when those traditional methods of obtaining employment don't work. Is it then time to try an alternative career field?
I'm sick and tired of reading about diversity this and diversity that, and gay this and gay that. Too damn bad if diversity takes it in the shorts. I'm ready for a new world, where diversity means it's time for white males to thrive.
29, that will only happen when all white males stop voting democrat. To vote for that anti-white male party is suicidal. Once we all make the switch, the dem party is finished.
I heard from a long term supervising attorney - task force leader in USAO that entry level AUSA positons at 80k are attracting 400 plus resumes from high end 200K plus folks. Reminds of the post the other day noting that a U of Miami teaching position attracted 800 resumes!!
But truly, several of the statements by the "panel"
were beyond idiotic.
More talk about how this economy is hurting Orcs.
Zug Zug.
Democrates = reverse racism
- Reformed liberal
Democrats = reverse racism
- Reformed Liberal
"The death penalty is racist."
-- SotomayOR!
"Sotomayor Failed to Disclose to Senate Memo in Which She Argued Death Penalty Is 'Racist'"
http://cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=49218
These three are the top bottom feeders in this profession. They add nothing to the field, profit off the miseries of others, and LeFon's claim that they exist to help lawyers n their career paths is just a bold face lie. Why does no one bother to call them out on it? They exist to service big firms, plain and simple. I wonder what Leopold has to say to the fact that many legal recruiting firms do the discrimination for their clients, the law firm.
30 - that's not going to happen so long as white males are still intelligent, compassionate human beings (which most are).
30 - that's not going to happen so long as white males are still intelligent, compassionate human beings (which most are).
Good point 28.
What an ignorant thing to say that most law firm gays "pass." First of all, plenty of gay associates are openly out. Even if you are not openly out, it's not like you are really fooling anyone when you are 33 and single. And never talking about going on dates.
It's hard for me to gauge whether my firm is engaging in anti-gay discrimination because the number of gay lawyers is small. Based on the rumor mill at my DC law firm, about 50% of the gay partners and associates are being laid off. That's almost surely higher than straight associates. But it's not like there was a huge number of gay lawyers at the firm to begin with so it does not take that many layoffs to equal 50%.
Perhaps this panel of experts hadn't heard, but the recession is disproportionately hitting men. Even the MSM will tell you that.
Perhaps this panel of experts hadn't heard, but the recession is disproportionately hitting men. Even the MSM will tell you that.
I agree completely 40. Absolutely ignorant comment. Meanwhile, I keep getting reviews that I'm not "self-confident" enough. Who is self-confident? The straight white males -- they exude that old boys network confidence that only a straight white male can exude.
-- Lawyer Gay, looking up at the Pink Ceiling
Judge Sonia Sotomayor once described herself as "a product of affirmative action" who was admitted to two Ivy League schools despite scoring lower on standardized tests than many classmates, which she attributed to "cultural biases" that are "built into testing."
Why is that controversial, or even noteworthy, 44? It's widely accepted in the education, psychology and legal community that standardized tests are culturally biased.
We deferred incoming associates are FUCKED beyond all belief. Should I just kill myself? Honestly....
Has any law class ever had to enter such a pathetic job market as the law class of 2009? I submit not.
47 - nope, which is why we really are fucked for life. we will never have decent jobs, never be able to afford families, etc...
tell me why i shouldn't off myself?
We don't worry too much about competition in my office, since we don't have any. But the economy is hitting us really hard. We have less SLIP interns this year than we did last year, and it's putting a lot of pressure on us when it comes to reviving old research briefs and drafting indictments for grand jury days. With only two interns in my unit this, I have to do a lot of this work myself. Sometimes cases don't get to a grand jury two years after their investigations ended. That's a long time, considering our goal is to process them in at least a year and a half. I miss leaving work at 3:30 in the afternoon to go home and play chess or read books about the Civil War. Now I don't get out of the office until 4:00. Crazy days, this time of ours.
We should kill ourselves ... you are right 48 ... I love hearing that the recession is hitting minorities harder. If it wasn't for affirmative action (discrimination) I almost certainly have a job.
If you are a white male you have no chance to become a supreme court justice under obama. And the retort from those saying that this open discrimination is right are the one's that have for so long complained about being discriminated against.
Did anyone else here read about the black woman suing a law firm because she got laid off IN CHARLOTTE FING REAL ESTATE LAW -- this is the point we have come to in liberal facism. She is basically suing and the complaint states that she was hired because she was black.
I wish I could even be hired. I have outperfomed this woman my whole life -- she gets a great job not because of the content of her character but because the color of her skin (MLK is rolling in his grave) and actually sues for being laid off along with everyone else in the worst real estate market in modern times.
WOW - LIBERALS ARE OPENLY RACIST AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT
Hey 45, just because you say it doesn't make it true. Only fringe left wing academics subscibe to the theories you refer to
SO, Ms. SotomayOR, can a white male sue when he gets laid off?
No. He needs to work hard and hope for the best. However, because generations ago, minorities were discriminated against, they can sue and pressure firms in to giving settlements to them. And when the next round of layoffs come, these firms will be afraid of laying off these minorities (who statistically where almost certainly the least qualified members of their associate class to begin with).
Affirmative Action from craddle to grave!!!
- Liberal justice
Phrase: "How can I highlight my diversity on my resume?"
Translation: How can a show potential firms I'm a minority on my resume, despite an ordinary sounding name, get preferential treatment in everything, and sue if I get laid off?
"Are the layoffs hitting minorities harder" .... "How can I highlight my diversity on my resume?"
How much longer are we supposed to swallow this bs? Really? They b*tch, saying that they are being discriminated against and then they say that they want to highlight their diversity on thier resume?
Why would you want to highlight something the evil white males would discriminate against you for?
Oh yeah - thats right: you are all full of sh*t. You don't have to deal with the truth b/c you have affirmative action on your side.
How disgusting is affirmative action. Really - is anyone else find the above conferance call disgusting?
I feel fortunate to have been able to practice biglaw during the glorious decade that was the 1980's. The law firms were still elite, and once you were in, you were virtually set for life. As a young associate, I had constant access to gorgeous women and cocaine.
And don't get me started on the summer programs during my day. For those 2009 graduates who want to feel really crappy about how bad their timing is, read this: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/14/nyregion/but-no-80-s-excess-at-law-students-summer-programs.html?scp=17&sq=milbank,%20tweed&st=cse
I'm going to make this simple for the racists in this thread.
Blacks are intellectually equal. If you don't think this, you are racist, period. All differences in society are due only to racism, either direct or indirect.
Blacks are athletically superior. If you don't think this, you're just not paying attention. Try turning on ESPN once in a while.
See simple: intellectually equal, athletically superior. Oh, wait a second...
"All differences in society are due only to racism."
-- Liberal facist
The lower paid traditionally female careers such as nursing are less hard hit by the recession. That is no reason for white male lawyers to cry discrimination.
Straight white men who complain about racist/sexual orientation reverse discrimination are so entertaining. They don't want to believe that they are so incompetent as to be fired for the sake of affirmative action.
You don't realize that the straight white male partners are looking for any opportunity to connect with you. Granted, you have to play sports and be athletic and be a man's man. And if you fall through that hole, you're screwed. Welcome to my world.
--- Lawyer Gay
53/54--right on. Once the liberal elite baby boomers and their white guilt (not to mention good timing to establish themselves in their careers before having to compete with affirmative action) start dying off in larger numbers, society will look back on this time of continued hegemony of affirmative action--still going strong with a black president in office no less--and wonder what the hell we were thinking.
Black people are generally not that smart. Just take the train from Brooklyn to Manhattan some time.
Re: the "pass" comment:
The Onion once ran the headline "Area Man Thinks He's Still in the Closet."
45, if the tests are so culturally biased, how come immigrants from places like Vietnam or rural China score so well on the SATs, despite minimal exposure to American culture, while blacks and Hispanics who have lived in the US all their life fail so miserably on standardized tests? What cultural biases are we talking about here?
Or do you mean that the tests penalize cultures that don't value education? I think that's kinda the point.
44,
I went to school with Judge sotamayor, and she was basically the smartest kid in our class, if not the school. (We had some pretty smart folks running around -- too) l -- i understand she was equally impressive at Yale Law. Given where she came from, her accomplishments are unbelievable. So get over it.
Likewise 63, I took those exact same tests in 1972 -- and the cultural bias was evident in the referents at the time. The tests penalized socio economic classes who didnt have the referents.
Nursing isn't being hurt in this recession because there are a limited number of nursing school slots.
Major. Lindsey and Africa is a joke of a headhunter. They only want to place you if you are Harvard undergrad, Yale Law, and you are looking to lateral away from Wachtell. Fuck them.
Some black people are really smart. A lot are not, so we:
Just ignore their sat scores, grades during college, lsat scores, grades in law school, etc.
I will agree that they are "better athletes."
But I guess when you start with the premise that "All differences in society are due only to racism" I do not have to really say anything else to prove the ills of affirmative action.
This article was a complete waste of time, and the thread was even more so. I agree that the question, 'how can i highlight my diversity on my resume' was horseshit. Are you really that shameless about getting a job because of your status as a minority?
Beyond that, I am amazed what i find on anonymous blogs such as this
I am pretty sure that 56 is tongue in cheek. It is pointing out that the premise of affirmative action looks really shaky when examined through sports.
(Most) affirmative action proponents: Differences in society are man made.
But you look at sports, and you notice that even without any active discrimination against whites, races perform quite differently. It's a blatantly untenable position.
Obviously the NBA, like the LSAT, is culturally biased. Anything is culturally biased if the races do not perform exactly proportional to their makeup in the general population.
As a Jewish-American, I expect affirmative action from the world of professional basketball, since I am just as equally qualified as the African-American players if you ignore the culturally biased standards and tests that the NBA uses. Any day now.