MinnLawyer Blog

Here’s some potentially scary news for attorneys. Almost a third of U.S. lawyers expect their employers will implement layoffs in 2009, according to a survey conducted by the American Bar Association Journal last month.

More than 14,300 attorneys nationwide responded to the survey, which found that 31 percent of lawyers expect that by the end of next year, at least one person in their office will have lost their job due to the recession. Of the 31 percent, 19 percent expect they themselves will lose their job. 

Seventy-eight percent of respondents also believed that “everyone will be affected, at leasy a little.” Ten percent said “big firms will suffer, but most attorneys won’t.” Eleven percent said “we’ll all be hammered.”

Asked “when will the economy improve for the legal profession?,” respondents said:

• 2009: 9 percent
• 2010: 52 percent
• 2011: 22 percent
• 2012: 10 percent
• It’ll never be the same: 7 percent

The poll is part of a special January edition of the Journal devoted entirely to the recession. The whole issue is available online by clicking here.