Unemployed Editor-in-Chief of Chicago-Kent Law Review Blames Book Author, Gets Job-Hunt Help
Updated: In the latest sign of the dismal legal market for new law graduates, the editor-in-chief of the Chicago-Kent Law Review for 2009-2010 is still looking for work. Interviewing, volunteering, applying for clerkships and surfing the Internet for job listings has so far failed to put him in an entry-level legal job.
But it sounds like David Freedman has the imagination and drive to get where he wants to be sooner or later. Sent a free copy of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law by author Mark Herrmann, who serves as Aon’s chief litigation counsel, Freedman wrote back to complain that the book had gotten him excited about working and thus only making him more upset about his unemployed state, Herrmann recounts in an Above the Law column.
Admiring his spunk, Herrmann met him for coffee and has now taken Freedman under his wing and is trying to help him reach out to potential employers.
“I must say I was dumbstruck,” the in-house counsel writes, “to learn that the editor-in-chief of the Chicago-Kent Law Review is having trouble finding a job, even in a terribly tough job market.”
Updating the ABA Journal after this post was initially written, Freedman says he’s got a couple of possible leads but is still looking. While he would ideally like to be in commercial litigation, he says he is open to all possibilities including contract work.
“I’m just trying to get myself out there,” he says, and urges readers to take a look at his blog, The Law Movie Review, for more information about his job search and prior work experience.
In it, he recounts how he happened to contact Herrmann, and explains how thinking creatively helped gain him the kind of publicity that money can’t buy, with the help of the ATL post.
“Sitting around unemployed isn’t fun. I look for jobs, I apply to jobs, I volunteer. I interview, I watch TV, I eat potato chips, I rinse and repeat,” writes Freedman. “And then, every 15th of the month, I spend the remainder of my savings on a stack of student loans just so that i can avoid deferring for one more month, in hopes that I’ll find something within those next 30 days. It really isn’t fun. So a change—a change would be appreciated, even if it meant I’d have to endure the notorious ATL commenters for one day.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Law School? Bag It, Bloggers Say”
ABAJournal.com: “Law School ‘Wonderland’ Stats Show 93% of Grads Employed, Despite 15K BigLaw Job Cuts”
ABAJournal.com: “Unemployed Lawyer Applies for 1,000 Jobs, Scores Zero Interviews”
Updated on Jan. 25 to include information from Freedman and correct spelling of his name.
