Is 'Snobbery' Causing A Talent Shortage In Biglaw?
Elitism could be causing a very expensive problem for Biglaw firms.
This is just my opinion, but the legal industry’s own snobbery comes back to bite it in the butt.
If you think that a person who didn’t go to a top 20 law school can’t do quality legal work and you refuse to hire a person or work with a person like that, or you refuse to pay them a rate that they’re willing to work for, then you’re creating artificial scarcity.
— Nathan Cemenska, the director of legal operations and industry insights at Wolters Kluwer’s ELM Solutions, commenting on one of the reasons why there aren’t enough Biglaw associates to perform all of the legal work that prestigious clients like big banks have to offer — work that could perhaps be handled by a smaller firm at a much lower price.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.
