Well, we are approaching the end of the year, and that means some snippets from newspaper articles saved by co-contributor Mike’s father-in-law Tom Basehart. Here you go.
Brutal Law Grad Market.
A Wall Street Journal analysis earlier this year found that members of the 2011 law school class had little better than a 50-50 shot (actually, only about 55%) of landing a full-time, long-term job as a lawyer within nine months of receiving their degress. (“Long-term” was defined as those don’t have a term of less than one year.) And, even for those who did, earned as little as $25 to $30 per hour in grunt-work jobs. Also nationally, 8% of 2011 graduates were said to be in full-time, long-term jobs for which a law degree was preferred but not required, and another 4% were employed in full-time, long-term positions for which professional training was required but for which a law degree offered no advantage. (In comparison, about 78% of 2011 graduates of MBA programs landed jobs within three months of receiving their degrees, according to U.S. News & World Report.) The 2011 data showed that top-ranked schools sent graduates into long-term legal jobs in high numbers, but 87 lower-tier schools had placement rates of 50% or less.
Law Schools Putting on the Brakes.
Several law schools are cutting down on the size of their incoming classes, based on fewer applicants and a weak job market for lawyers. Experts are estimating that the planned reductions are being done by at least 10 or the roughly 200 law schools accredited in the U.S. According to the Law School Admission Council, Inc., the number of law school applications this year is 65,119, down 14% from a year earlier. About 86% of 2011 law school graduates found jobs in what NALP, a nonprofit educational association for the legal profession, described as the worst market since 1994, when the employment rate was 85%.
Top Priced Attorneys.
Many top insolvency attorneys are charging over $1,000; however, former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson bills $1,800 per hour, the highest rate yet to be publicly disclosed according to Washington, D.C. consulting firm Valeo Partners.
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