Where the Jobs Are

CAREER COUNSELOR'S CORNER

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Where the Jobs Are [by Jim Dunlap] Though a rapidly changing legal landscape makes picking a hot practice specialty a risky proposition, here are some of today’s most popular fields.

Litigation is up, corporate and transactional

legal hiring.

work is down. The old reliables - tax, bank-

cent of the 251 jobs taken by the class of 2001 in that city. Other big private-practice markets

ruptcy, labor and employment - are holding

Layoffs have put a number of experienced at-

included Dallas (80.3 percent), San Francisco

their own. And the nearest bet for a sure thing

torneys back into the job market. As a result,

(73.1), New York City (72.4) and Houston (71.1).

in today’s market is intellectual property, par-

the leverage has shifted to law firm hiring

ticularly if you have the technical background

managers, who can now be more selective and

Not surprisingly, Washington, D.C., was the

and training to qualify as a patent attorney.

take a harder line on salaries and perks with

leading market for public service jobs, at 37.1

prospective new associates.

percent. Other hotbeds of public interest em-

say law students are best advised to decide

“Things change overnight in some markets

lis-St. Paul and Miami, all at over 30 percent

what type of law they really want to practice

and oftentimes kids get caught in a transition

of legal jobs.

and stick with it, regardless of industry trends

period,” said Melba Hughes, owner of Hughes

when they graduate.

Consultants legal recruiting firm in Atlanta.

Minneapolis-St. Paul was a top place to find

“Employers in much of the ‘90s had to bite

a judicial clerkship, with 20.9 percent of all

The corollary to that recommendation is that

their tongue and were very open to increases

jobs taken falling into that category. Boston

students should be flexible enough to consider

and hearing about expectations, decreases in

and Philadelphia were even better in terms of

positions in firms or locales that might not be

work schedules, etc., but that’s not the case

total clerkships, although they represented

their first choice, but may be the best route to

so much any longer. In the ‘90s, employers

a smaller percentage of all legal jobs taken

long-term career satisfaction.

went deeper in the [graduating] classes, but

there.

ployment were Indianapolis, Ind., Minneapo-

All that said, several leading legal recruiters

they don’t have to do that now.”

Plotting a thoughtful course through today’s rapidly shifting legal currents may be even

Perhaps due to the sagging job market, the Private practice still the first choice

more important, based on employment

number of J.D.s electing to pursue graduate degrees was 2.4 percent - a relatively small

statistics for the law school class of 2001.

Private practice remains the most popular se-

percentage, but the highest rate identified by

The National Association for Legal Placement

lection for graduates. That avenue drew 57.8

NALP in nearly 20 years of tracking the total.

(NALP) reported that employment rates for

percent of 2001 grads, a slight increase over

new law graduates declined in 2001 for the

2000 but within the 55 to 58 percent range that

Some observers have pointed out that the

first time since 1993.

has prevailed since 1993.

gross employment statistics for law school

Granted, the 90 percent employment rate was

Public service jobs - a broad category that

that they do not necessarily reflect legal

still good, and much better than the 84 to 85

includes military and other government jobs,

employment. NALP’s report, however, does

percent range of the early and mid-’90s, but

judicial clerkships and public interest posi-

show that 75.9 percent of the respondents

the 2001 decline from the 91.5 percent of 2000

tions - accounted for another 27.6 percent of

were employed in jobs for which bar passage

may signal a trend in light of recent law firm

jobs taken. Employment in business was 11.3

was required. Another 6 percent took jobs that

retrenchments.

percent, down slightly from 12.5 percent in

listed a J.D. as preferred.

graduates may be misleading, in the sense

2000.

The decline, however slight, reflects a change

If there is a sure thing for a practice area in

in the legal supply-demand equation. The sag-

Of major metropolitan areas surveyed by

today’s legal employment market, it is patent

ging economy, the collapse of the dot-coms

NALP, Palo Alto, Calif., was by far the biggest

law. Intellectual property in general remains

and the lingering effects of 9-11 have slowed

hot spot for private-practice choices - 98 per-

strong, but a J.D. with sufficient scientific or

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technical background to pass the patent bar

as an associate, he would pick intellectual

that seem to be cooling or leveling off. Major,

holds a strong bargaining position.

property.

Hagen & Africa’s Birchfield and Stanford’s

Gigi Birchfield, senior managing director

“Particularly if I had a technical background,”

tech and dot-com bubble hurt West Coast

of the Los Angeles office of the nationwide

he said. “Over the last 15 years, intellectual

hiring, particularly in the San Francisco Bay.

recruiting firm of Major, Hagen & Africa, said

property has held out. There would be even

patent attorneys are in high demand. “But you

more litigation today if companies could afford

Alexander and Sterling’s Sonne agreed. “The

either have that undergraduate technical de-

it.”

East Coast seems stronger than the West

Robinson agreed that the bursting of the high-

gree or you don’t at this point, although there

Coast, based on partnership activity,” Sonne

are law students who have that degree and

NALP statistics revealed that government,

may not have thought about it,” she said.

nonprofit public interest and military positions

said.

accounted for 16 percent of jobs taken by 2001

Robinson noted that recruiters from the

Bradley Wright, an intellectual property at-

grads, with government positions making up

Washington, D.C., area seemed more preva-

torney with Banner and Witcoff in Washington,

the vast majority. That segment of the market

lent at Stanford this year, while New York City

D.C., and a law professor at George Mason

appears to be more stable and less affected by

law firms had a smaller presence than nor-

University School of Law, agreed that intel-

economic cycles.

mal. Arizona’s Birmingham said the Phoenix

lectual property as a whole has weathered the

and Tucson markets seem to have flattened

dot-com demise well. He also cast his vote for

“The opportunities in public interest law

patent law as a sub-specialty.

and government are really consistent,” said

and are holding stable.

Lisa Taylor, an attorney with the Department

While the major metropolitan glamour mar-

“We have seen the number of patents issued

of Justice and former president of student

kets may seem more attractive, there may

and the number of suits filed regarding those

members of Equal Justice Works (formerly

be a bigger payoff elsewhere for grads more

patents increase,” Wright said. “Attorneys who

the National Association for Public Interest

interested in learning their craft than handing

have experience in industry or an engineer-

Law). “The difference between government

out a prestigious business card. Hughes said

ing background are in very high demand. It’s

and nonprofit public interest groups is that

job seekers should, above all, be flexible.

a very interesting area of the law - in the I.P.

nonprofits have less resources. I think public

world, especially with the Internet, there is

interest is growing. I see a lot of lawyers

“I would not necessarily look to the traditional

new legislation and new technology coming

branching off from the government and de-

places - big cities - to increase my opportunity

out all the time.”

veloping their own nonprofits to take on a lot

of getting a very meaningful first job,” Hughes

of issues that haven’t been addressed by the

said. “I encourage law students to consider

usual suspects.”

a broad geographic area. To the best of my

Wright added that the average starting salary for new patent attorney associates is the

knowledge, there is no hot geographic area

magic $125,000, and that schools with good

Mary Birmingham, assistant dean for career

I.P. programs have extremely high placement

services at the University of Arizona College

rates.

of Law, said government opportunities may be

Although Aaron Williams, president of Aaron

on the rise.

Consulting Inc., a nationwide attorney recruit-

right now.”

ing firm in St. Louis, Mo., characterized the

Susan Robinson, associate dean of career services at Stanford University School of Law,

“I think there will be large growth in the next

current legal hiring market as dead, he said

also championed intellectual property.

few years - the state and federal freezes will

it’s not all bad news.

be lifting, I think - particularly in the federal “Don’t get me wrong, there are jobs out there,

“I.P. is definitely still hot - not the high-tech

government,” Birmingham said. “It’s a great

business so much, but pure I.P. - patents and

way to start, especially if you want to special-

and you want to go with the highest quality en-

that sort of thing,” she said. “Students with a

ize in a particular area.”

vironment you can get your hands on,” he said.

“But don’t worry about where it’s going to be

technical background or a science degree are in more demand.”

Once the “what” has been determined,

- you can always move later in your career.”

students must consider where they want to Bill Sonne, CEO of the Alexander and Sterling

practice it. In the present climate, there do not

While intellectual property and its patent law

recruiting and consulting firm in New York

appear to be any geographical areas that are

pacesetter were the popular consensus as to

City, said that if he was choosing a field of law

notably hotter than others, but there are some

today’s hot practice specialty choices, each of

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the experts consulted had other picks as well.

Virtually all agreed, however, that choosing a

All agreed that litigation is much more prom-

legal specialty is similar to choosing any other

ising these days than corporate legal work,

career - or a mate: It’s best to make up your

although several cautioned that the trend is

mind what you like and do your best to make

likely to be cyclical and shouldn’t necessarily

it come true.

factor into long-term career planning.

“I never recommend trying to time the marSonne said bankruptcy workouts and reorga-

ket,” said Aaron Williams. “Be passionate

nizations are benefiting from the recession-

about what you want to specialize in and stick

ary economy, anti-trust litigation should be

with it. If you want to be a litigator, be a litiga-

a growth area, international trade offers a

tor. Don’t chase the money - there’s a risk and

bonanza to the limited number of firms who

reward factor for everything.”

specialize in it (particularly in China and other Asian markets) and tax is always reliable.

This story appeared in the September 2002

Birchfield characterized bankruptcy, labor,

aljurist.com.

edition of The National Jurist, www.nationemployment and tax as steady areas. She added that if a student’s more general choice is between a corporate and a litigation position, he or she should always stick with what appealed to them most in school.

“Perhaps you got re-directed into corporate and now that’s dead, but it’s three years later and very hard to go back to the litigation you really wanted to do out of school,” she cautioned.

Hughes cited bankruptcy, employment and commercial litigation as promising areas. She also suggested that this might be a good time to put off the decision for a few years until economic indicators improve.

“If I were a law student today, I would look at a wide variety of employment opportunities,” Hughes said. “Those would include government opportunities or clerkships, which would give the person an additional couple of years for the economy to turn around before making a decision.”

Arizona’s Birmingham also included tax as an old reliable, but said in her view, business transactional work has definitely fallen off. She said one group of students that are particularly in demand is foreign students or attorneys who come to the United States to earn an LL.M. in international trade law.

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