Law Firms in Hiring Heaven
When a small Portland, Ore., law firm recently advertised for a transactional associate with two to four years of experience, it was flooded with applications.
“To our surprise, many more experienced applicants applied, to the point where we were able to narrow our search to someone who actually had more experience [than asked for]. And eventually we wound up bringing in a lateral, very experienced associate with a book of business,” says Andrew T. Burns, hiring partner at Cosgrave Vergeer Kester. While being able to attract such a highly qualified associate was great for his 30-lawyer firm, it represents bad news for would-be transactional lawyers fresh out of law school, Burns says. For “people with no experience, I’m not sure that the jobs are out there,” he says. He adds that in litigation, the firm’s main practice area, the market is better. Like Burns, those in charge of recruitment at law firms nationwide say the troubled economy is affecting the way they hire. These days, to win a job as an entry-level associate, fledgling attorneys often must have special abilities over and above the usual academic qualifications. And some laterals may now need a book of business to be competitive.
Many law firms are dealing with the difficult economy by “being much more super-selective,” says Lynn Mestel, who heads a legal recruitment business headquartered in New York City. “Now the same firms that just needed people and bodies, because transactional work is down, they’re just looking for the best super-credentials that they can get,” Mestel says. “And oftentimes they’re looking at credentials that they never would have gotten before. They’re using it to upgrade, if you will.” Craig C. Martin has a similar perspective. He is hiring partner for Jenner & Block, the 400-lawyer Chicago-based firm known for its litigation work and its commitment to pro bono. “My sense of what is going on is that most of the firms are looking for what I would describe as a plus factor for new hires and for lateral hires,” he says. Although Jenner hasn’t upped its academic standards for new associates, Martin says, it is looking for “some strategic fit with the firm, and that may take many different forms.” For example, an applicant who demonstrates qualities in accord with the firm’s client service commitment will have a definite edge over “those who can just do the technical legal work.”
Meanwhile, in Northern California, the collapse in January of the once-mighty Brobeck Phleger & Harrison has increased the number of lawyers looking for jobs. At least one law student at the University of California at Davis expected to start work there this fall, says Mindy A. Baggish, the law school’s director of career services. And some graduates are already associates at Brobeck. Fortunately, all have good credentials and grades, and should be attractive to other law firms, Baggish says. Nonetheless, fewer employers are participating in the law school’s on-campus interview program, and “a fair percentage of our 2Ls have indicated frustration in their job searches,” Baggish says.
The market is also tough for associates in Seattle, says Stephen E. DeForest, a partner at the general business and litigation firm of Riddell Williams. The 60-lawyer firm has cut back on its summer associate program and no longer sends partners to interview at major law schools across the country. Still, he says, “My impression is that we’re getting just as high-level a quality of applicants as before.”
Don’t Give Up
There is still plenty of work at many firms, especially with the massive corporate bankruptcies being litigated in several areas of the country. And, in the depressed Silicon Valley, there are good job prospects for associates in hot areas like litigation, real estate, and patent and trademark matters, says Robert B. Hubbell, the firm-wide managing shareholder for Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, a 600-lawyer firm headquartered in San Francisco.
So, for those associates with the right stuff, says Mestel, “It’s still a great market to work in the law.”
