Soon-to-be lawyers face the ultimate test - finding a job
by Michelle Lore Associate Editor
William Mitchell law grad Emily Swann proudly displays the letter informing her that she passed the Minnesota bar exam. Swann is one of the many new lawyers who will be sworn in this month still searching for a job. (Photo: Bill Klotz) |
She’s not alone. A total of 731 individuals passed the July administration of the Minnesota bar exam. As of last May, local law schools estimated that only about 40 to 50 percent of their grads had so far secured employment, down 10 percent or more from a “typical” year. And with lawyer layoffs still in the news and the economy’s rebound still a distant promise, many soon-to-be attorneys are finding getting a job to be far more challenging than the bar exam.
“[Not having a job] can be difficult, especially for law students who are used to being busy all the time,” Swann told Minnesota Lawyer last week.
Rasheen Tillman, who recently found out that she passed, but is still looking for a job, said that for many recent law graduates the past couple months have been filled with tension — not knowing whether they passed the bar, and for many, not having a job. With the bar exam results now out, at least some of that tension is gone, she said.
“But for many, it is still a scary time due to the uncertainty of what will happen in the next couple months,” she added.
No improvement
Hamline University School of Law Dean Donald Lewis pointed out that some employers have decided to forgo on-campus interviewing this fall, demonstrating that the effect of the downturn in the economy has become ingrained. Firms are “reconfiguring how they are hiring — if they are hiring at all,” he said.
Some big firms appear to be shifting from summer-associate programs, instead looking for attorneys with experience from another legal employer, Lewis said.
While these developments are disturbing for law students and recent grads, they are not catastrophic because “the market is much larger than just big downtown law firms,” Lewis said. At least two-thirds of Hamline’s law grads find work in mid-sized or small law firms, he told Minnesota Lawyer.
“The middle market is where the opportunity lies and where we counsel students to be flexible enough to consider those opportunities,” he said.
Tillman said there have been a few job postings for state court clerkships, greater Minnesota public defender positions and some other scattered legal jobs in the metro. However, she has not noticed much of a change in the employment picture from a couple months ago or even from the beginning of the summer. “Law firms do not seem to be hiring at an increased rate,” she said.
Swann said that most of the employed recent law grads she knows had jobs lined up before taking the bar exam. She added that many of her fellow bar exam takers have no job, are working part time or have full-time employment in a nonlegal position.
While some recent grads have been fortunate enough to find work through temporary agencies, even that kind of work is hard to come by, Swann said.
According to Swann, temp agencies told many law grads to talk to them again after they get their law license because there may be work available for them then.
Swann also noticed several job postings in the last couple of months seeking resumes only from licensed applicants. She is therefore hopeful that having a license as a credential will boost her employment opportunities.
Hope but also competition
A few legal market watchers say there may be at least a few glimmers of hope for the new lawyers.
Cindy Eidnes, division director of the placement firm Beacon Hill Legal, said that the good news for entry-level lawyers is that there are opportunities for contract work.
“Those newly-minted lawyers who are sharp, motivated and eager — and have a visibly positive attitude toward doing contract work — are always the best candidates for project assignments,” she said, adding that candidates with strong technical/computer skills or foreign language skills, as well as those who had a business career prior to going to law school, have a “leg up” for getting some of the contract assignments.
Craig Sandok, a legal recruiter with Sand Search Partners, said that attorneys are busier now than they were this summer and it’s likely to increase.
“The indication we are getting from law firms is that business is improving and they are having greater need for associates,” he said. “The outlook is better for this class than it was for the February bar takers.”
But landing one of the few open jobs — temporary or permanent — is by no means easy. The competition is “as bad as I’ve ever seen it,” Sandok said.
Swann, who took a couple of weeks off after taking the July exam before pounding the pavement again, said that it can be frustrating sending out applications and sometimes not even hearing back from employers. She added that in some cases she was told that while her resume looks good and she appears qualified, the employer opted for someone who already had two to three years of experience.
“It can be frustrating,” she said. “It’s kind of hard to compete with that.”
Tillman agreed. “It is still unbelievably competitive. In the past, amazing references, good grades and a great deal of experience may have landed recent graduates a job, but that doesn’t seem to be enough anymore.”
An ‘extra boost’
Bridgid Dowdal, assistant dean for career and professional development at William Mitchell College of Law, said that many graduates began coming in to her office after taking the bar exam to talk about how to make themselves employable in such a competitive market. She anticipates another jump in visits now that bar exam results have been released, which for some at least, is a sort of verification.
“It just gives them that extra boost of confidence and self esteem, and credentials,” Dowdal said. “And now they are in a better position, psychologically and emotionally, to say ‘OK that’s behind me now.’”
Tillman said that now that most bar exam takers have found out they passed, there is even more stress on them to find jobs.
“The clock is ticking,” she said. “There is nothing else standing in our way; we have graduated, studied for the bar, taken the bar exam, and now everyone has received their results with a good majority of students passing.”
Tillman’s backup plan is to open up her own law office and start getting some experience.
“I really don’t have much to lose, either sit at home and wait for someone to offer me a job or try to make it on my own,” she told Minnesota Lawyer.
Swann said her next step will be upping her networking efforts and getting out and doing informational interviews to get a feel for who might be hiring, recognizing that many jobs don’t ever get posted. And she’s staying positive, hoping that having a law license will make her job search a little easier — or at least allow her to get some temporary legal work.
“There will definitely be more opportunities to apply. I don’t know how it’ll change the result though,” she said.
