Should I Go To Law School? Job Prospects Improve in 2010

Law school is great, but most law students look forward to the time when they can actually earn money as attorneys rather than just paying money in tuition. I previously wrote about the improved job prospects for law students, at least as far as starting salaries go. Recently, more promising news has been released that paints an even brighter picture for the aspiring law student.

The Business Times reports that legal hiring looks brighter in the second quarter of 2010. According to a recent survey by Robert Half, 25% of lawyers interviewed said they plan to increase staff levels in the second quarter of 2010. None of the attorneys interviewed anticipated declines in staffing. I’m not a statistician, but the sample size and quality for the survey looks pretty credible:

The survey was conducted by an independent research firm and based on telephone interviews with 100 lawyers at law firms with 20 or more employees, and 100 corporate lawyers at companies with 1,000 or more employees. All of the respondents have hiring authority within their organizations.

So, both large and small firms seem to be experiencing the same trend. While this can’t be characterized as a boom in the legal market – 67% of respondents expected no change in staffing levels – it’s compelling that layoffs at law firms may have come to an end for now. The sun appears to be rising again on the economy and law students can breathe a sigh of relief.

Part of the growth in the legal business involves cleaning up some of the mess from the recession:

“Economic conditions continue to fuel demand for specialists in bankruptcy and litigation," said Charles Volkert, executive director of Robert Half Legal. "These specialties are broad in scope, since they are not restricted to specific industries or client types. Their wide reach, combined with the complex financial issues that individuals and businesses face, may result in ongoing demand in this area.

Robert Half reports that “one in three lawyers see bankruptcy/foreclosure as the area that will experience the most growth in the next three months.”

There is one subtlety to the survey that may surprise you:

Forty-one percent of respondents said that it is challenging to find skilled legal professionals in the United States, despite high unemployment rates.

How does that add up? Over the past two years, law firms have laid off attorneys and even closed for business entirely. Law school graduates have faced an extremely challenging job market and many have not found the work they expected from the legal industry.

So, why is it that firms experience challenges in finding skilled legal professionals? The survey points to one answer: “a single legal posting can generate several hundred resumes.” So, the problem may simply be that it’s hard to find the best talent amid the large volume of applicants.

I have two other theories that would explain why so many attorneys think it’s hard to find skilled legal professionals. First, the legal profession constantly churns through attorneys. Some attorneys work at large law firms for three to five years and then decide that the work they are doing isn’t satisfying. As a result, the legal services industry needs to continually harvest fresh attorneys to prevent their ranks from shrinking.

Another theory is that while there is an abundance of attorneys in the market, there are comparatively few that come from top-ranked schools. If these are the most attractive candidates to hire, law firms may always feel like they are competing for the top talent.

In any case, from a purely economic perspective, law school certainly looks more interesting in 2010 than it did in 2008 and 2009.