In-House Counsel, Job Searches, Law Schools

Crushing A Law Student's Dreams of Employment

Experienced attorneys have a duty to make the cold reality of post-law school employment a little less scary if we can.

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sad-upset-young-lawyer-summer-associate-law-student-stress-needs-helpI have told my employees there would be no bonuses or raises in a given year.

I have had to discipline some of my favorite team members, people I would even call friends, for dumb moments when their mouths moved faster than their brains.

I have even had to fire team members for gross misconduct in the workplace.

And while all of these managerial moments are difficult, one of the hardest tasks I have had to do is tell law students, who have either worked or clerked for us in the past, that there would be no prospect of employment for them with us after they graduate.

Each semester we are fortunate to be supported by law students who join us for class credit and, hopefully, some hands-on legal experience. Since we are a rather lean in-house operation, our students regularly interact with my colleagues and me and are often entrusted with significant and meaningful work. During this time, it is easy to tell who has a knack for the area of law we work in, and often it is those same students who want to pursue an in-house career with us after they graduate. We have even had some proverbial superstars who have stayed with us beyond their minimum hours requirement to continue to gain experience.

So far, so good, right? We get assistance with our work, and they get firsthand experience as a practicing attorney.

But inevitably their pesky graduation dates start to approach and their job searches kick into overtime. And while many of my former students have gone on to other in-house or Biglaw jobs, a few of the less fortunate will, like clockwork, start to email or request lunch dates with the goal of inquiring about the prospect of long-term employment. Sadly, I often have to toe the company line and let them know that while we currently do not have any openings, I will keep them in mind for any future positions.

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Lest you think I am cold-hearted and indifferent to their job plight, I would genuinely hire the vast majority of the students who have worked for us in the past if it were up to me (save, of course, for the one who wore shorts on their first day, but that is another post for another time). I also attempt to make it abundantly clear at the outset of any law student’s time with us that the likelihood of future employment with us is very slim.

In the in-house world, we genuinely are constrained by our corporate budget. And unsurprisingly in a health-care organization, any extra budget often goes to hiring more doctors and nurses before attorneys. But this business reality does little to help calm the nerves of anxious law students fearing the onset of crippling student loan debt.

Which often leaves me feeling a bit helpless. How can I reward, or at least assist, those students who have worked with us in the past when I know I cannot give them jobs? Students from whom I have likely gained more from their work product than they did in experience?

I honestly have yet to come up with a perfect solution. They will of course be first in line for any position we have available, and I will always take the time to give them a good reference, but beyond that, I genuinely have little to offer.

So if any readers are looking to hire an aspiring health-law attorney, feel free to reach out, but in the interim, all of us in the profession, regardless of specialty, can at least make time for a lunch or for a reference for any of our past law student interns.

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Yes, employment statistics have yet to still recover to pre-2011 numbers and perhaps never will, but I believe we have a duty to make the cold reality of post-law school employment a little less scary if we can, even if we are not in a position to hire.

Stephen R. Williams is in-house counsel with a multi-facility hospital network in the Midwest. His column focuses on a little talked about area of the in-house life, management. You can reach Stephen at stephenwilliamsjd@gmail.com.

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