Time to rethink the legal profession?

Apr 2nd, 2009 by admin

Posted in Uncategorized

4 Responses to “Time to rethink the legal profession?”

leoramaccabee says:

April 2, 2009 at 8:05 pm

The best way to understand the impact of the economic crisis on the legal profession is to talk to my colleagues in law schools who are hearing about delayed start dates and lost clerkships and summer associate offers. The students who thought they had a safe government job in Texas and now are moving there anyway, job or no job, because that’s where they want to be; hoping that it won’t be long before a new opportunity will come their way.

Yes, these students are scared. But they are willing to work. My colleagues leaving law school are dying to work for the same law firms that promised them $150,000 or $120,000; and now they are willing to take $100,000 or $75,000 or $60,000. Hell, if we didn’t have student debt, I know a dozen students who would work for the government or for public interest causes that they care about for free, or for just enough to pay their rent.

Let’s hope that this crisis changes the legal system as we know it, as Adam Cohen suggests in the NYT editorial. Law students should move towards legal jobs because they are intellectually and emotionally thrilled to do the work, and not because they fear they won’t make rent unless they take the job. It’s definitely time to rethink the legal profession. The question is who holds the cards to make the bold moves? And are they willing to take the risks?

Leora Maccabee
Leoramaccabee@gmail.com
http://maccabeemusings.wordpress.com/
Tom says:

April 6, 2009 at 7:39 am

I too have heard law students say they would work in public service if not for their school debt, which debt “forces” them to take the highest-paying private sector job available. Then it’ll be their car debt, then their house, then their kids’ college funds, and so on — thus the self-described idealists discover just how much their ideals are worth.

First-year associates at firms are overpaid, no doubt about it. But lawyers as a whole are still underpaid compared with perceptions. Only a tiny fraction will get those $120k+ jobs right out of law school. And, in Minnesota anyway, even partners at top firms only make around $500k — drastically less than top earners in business, entertainment, or even medicine. Yet most of the public, and a huge portion of law students, cling to the stereotype of the rich lawyer.

The practice of law is mere skilled labor and should be approached as such, with appropriate humility. Law school is what it is because it rejects this idea and treats attorneys-to-be like Revolutionary-era aristocrats who are attending college merely to “culture” or “broaden” themselves. It is not serious professional schooling in which you learn how to do a job.

If second and third years tend to be “aimless,” it’s because the first year is enough to learn all you get from law school — skimming an appellate opinion for the one or two sentences of consequence. Repeating this exercise a thousand times does not prepare one for the practice of law.

The best way to cut costs of law school (and of legal representation) would be to drastically cut the time. A year of academic training, a year of apprenticeship, and you’re ready to go. Personally I learned almost nothing useful from regular courses in school, and everything from internships and clinics.

Sooner or later, too, firms will realize that the skills required to build good credentials on paper during law school are largely distinct from those required to be a good attorney. Being able to work with others, being respectful, being earnest and hard-working, having discretion and good judgment, and having respect for all others involved in the process regardless of their role, these are the important qualities.
How about a law school that competes on price? « MinnLawyer blog says:

April 6, 2009 at 10:16 am

[...] for years at jobs they might not want to do in order to pay for their pricey legal educations. As we blogged earlier, the untenable situation has some calling for a long overdue re-examination of how the legal [...]
martha albertson says:

April 6, 2009 at 12:04 pm

THE PUBLIC SECTOR IS LAYING LAWYERS OFF

I work as an attorney in the public sector. I do not see a lack of interest among law school graduates in public sector work. In fact, there are probably hundreds of applications for every job openong.

The State of Minnesota, however, laid off attorneys last fiscal year. The State will likely lay off even more attorneys this fiscal year.

Making law school less expensive will help debt-ridden law school graduates, but I don’t see it increasing the job options for graduates. I have learned, from several graduates the last few years, that most students would be willing to do any legal work they could find.