I keep reading about the legal profession and changes it needs to make. Recent ideas have included changes to billing, concept and pay structure. Which is great, but what about those of us with crazy huge student loans and no visible means of support therefor?
I can see why each of the above makes sense; the cloud-computing model of law firms can charge less because it has less infrastructure, but for large firms and work in complicated business models such as corporate work, it makes far less sense. While I realize that companies are becoming frugal and wanting to pay less, they also need to pay for the expertise that they want to use.
It would also be great if law school tuition went down to affordable rates, but higher education, like everything else, has a certain financial structure. In this economy, it's more likely that donations will go down and tuition will go up, especially at private schools.
It's all well and good to say things need to change, but my guess is that law firms never had crazy bonuses like Wallstreet did and it feels like people are lumping attorneys in with the financial players who looted their companies.
Showing posts with label law school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label law school. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Recessions Effect on Lawyers
Who are they trying to kid? There has been a glut of lawyers on the market for a generation; I'm working on a project with an attorney who graduated from Law School in 1976 and says the market was bad then and has never improved. They keep churning out lawyers.
In my state, there are four law schools and there were too many attorneys graduating before the 4th school opened. In fact, the university started its own law school only after having been rejected in its bid to buy the stand-alone law school.
While I saw an ad today, many of the 25 or so attorneys with whom I last worked on a project are currently out in the cold, collecting unemployment. I met up with four experienced attorneys for cocktails a couple of weeks ago, only two of whom were working at the time. A corporation that was a steady workhorse for one of the agencies outsourced its document review to its location in India a year ago. At first, they had a higher level review done in-house, but I think they've even stopped that; they're just not using contractors in their US facility.
The last review on which I worked was quite complicated; it was a techno-IP project and I don't believe the associates at the firm really understood everything. We muddled through it, with protocols determined, some of which were later changed, and learned to notice the keywords we needed. We worked closely with the associates, unlike on most reviews so came through it pretty well. I'm skeptical that it would be done as well in a foreign country; while I know some companies in India have their outsourcers work the afternoon shift, so they're in the office during US office hours, not all of them do so.
There will be more and more innovations and fewer and fewer traditional law practices but I doubt it will stop anyone from applying to law school. I have a neighbor who wants to go to law school. She's planning on going in 2010. I think she's nuts and so do her parents; she thinks she'll be the exception and be the one to get the high grades and get the job that she wants. Because I know her education history, I'm a bit skeptical that she'll get the grades and the job.
She wants to work in the non-profit world, which is great if the economy is doing well; it sounds easy to get into an entry-level position, but one of the things you don't necessarily see coming is someone from a big law firm or the AG's office downsizing their life once loans are paid off. No matter what experience you or I have, those people trump it.
Case in point? I worked with an attorney who saw a posting for the perfect non-profit job for her. She procrastinated a bit and wasn't one of the first people to respond. Even worse for her? An attorney who had experience with the AG's office applied and, of course, got it based on his experience with the AG. Another case? One of my networking contacts worked for BIG law for a few years, paid off her loans and downsized to the AG's office. After several years there she moved to an environmental non-profit.
I hope my neighbor realizes that with the economy in shambles, borrowing for an expensive private law school isn't going to be the best bet for her future. I wish I had had someone to un-recommend law school for me when I applied.
In my state, there are four law schools and there were too many attorneys graduating before the 4th school opened. In fact, the university started its own law school only after having been rejected in its bid to buy the stand-alone law school.
While I saw an ad today, many of the 25 or so attorneys with whom I last worked on a project are currently out in the cold, collecting unemployment. I met up with four experienced attorneys for cocktails a couple of weeks ago, only two of whom were working at the time. A corporation that was a steady workhorse for one of the agencies outsourced its document review to its location in India a year ago. At first, they had a higher level review done in-house, but I think they've even stopped that; they're just not using contractors in their US facility.
The last review on which I worked was quite complicated; it was a techno-IP project and I don't believe the associates at the firm really understood everything. We muddled through it, with protocols determined, some of which were later changed, and learned to notice the keywords we needed. We worked closely with the associates, unlike on most reviews so came through it pretty well. I'm skeptical that it would be done as well in a foreign country; while I know some companies in India have their outsourcers work the afternoon shift, so they're in the office during US office hours, not all of them do so.
There will be more and more innovations and fewer and fewer traditional law practices but I doubt it will stop anyone from applying to law school. I have a neighbor who wants to go to law school. She's planning on going in 2010. I think she's nuts and so do her parents; she thinks she'll be the exception and be the one to get the high grades and get the job that she wants. Because I know her education history, I'm a bit skeptical that she'll get the grades and the job.
She wants to work in the non-profit world, which is great if the economy is doing well; it sounds easy to get into an entry-level position, but one of the things you don't necessarily see coming is someone from a big law firm or the AG's office downsizing their life once loans are paid off. No matter what experience you or I have, those people trump it.
Case in point? I worked with an attorney who saw a posting for the perfect non-profit job for her. She procrastinated a bit and wasn't one of the first people to respond. Even worse for her? An attorney who had experience with the AG's office applied and, of course, got it based on his experience with the AG. Another case? One of my networking contacts worked for BIG law for a few years, paid off her loans and downsized to the AG's office. After several years there she moved to an environmental non-profit.
I hope my neighbor realizes that with the economy in shambles, borrowing for an expensive private law school isn't going to be the best bet for her future. I wish I had had someone to un-recommend law school for me when I applied.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Advantages of Living Near ones Law School
As I've been thinking about my talents, education and interests, I've looked at jobs that want some background in statistics, of which I have none. So I keep thinking that I should take a statistics class but hadn't seriously looked into it. Until a free class fell into my lap a few weeks ago.
Much to my surprise, my alma mater is starting a Statistics Class for Attorneys. Even more surprising? Tuition waived for alumni. And? They're applying for CLE credits! The book? $30! That's an incredible deal. Because law school hours are 50 minutes and CLE hours are 60 minutes, there will be a conversion. I assume that CLE credits will be based on each night of class, though it could be done as an aggregate. I think it'll be about 11.5 credits total. That, plus the CLE I attended in July and the one Sept. 11, takes me to about the halfway mark.
I e-mailed the contact person immediately, providing my year of graduation so am in the class.
Much to my surprise, my alma mater is starting a Statistics Class for Attorneys. Even more surprising? Tuition waived for alumni. And? They're applying for CLE credits! The book? $30! That's an incredible deal. Because law school hours are 50 minutes and CLE hours are 60 minutes, there will be a conversion. I assume that CLE credits will be based on each night of class, though it could be done as an aggregate. I think it'll be about 11.5 credits total. That, plus the CLE I attended in July and the one Sept. 11, takes me to about the halfway mark.
I e-mailed the contact person immediately, providing my year of graduation so am in the class.
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