Thursday, November 13, 2008

Market for lawyers

A NY Times article reports that the recession is causing some law firms to contract: Law Firms Feel Strain of Layoffs and Cutbacks .

It contains two insights into the market that struck me:

"Lawyer departures, whether voluntary or through layoffs, pose special risks to firms. Layoffs scare off law school recruits, who crave security and wealth. "

“Clients often don’t want to invest in discretionary litigation in a downturn,” Mr. Younger said. Responding to government investigations has been keeping lawyers busy but does not generate continuing work for armies of associates, like a big lawsuit does, he said. “There are tons of government investigations going on now.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

See also:

http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=135334

It appears that young graduates view a law career and banking career as substitutes