‘New Reality’ Leads to Unusual Jobs for BigLaw Recruiting Manager and Ex-Prosecutor

Laid off in 2009 from her job as a recruiting manager for Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, Janet Raiffa initially found what Fox News calls the “new reality” of the unemployment market depressing. But even though she now works six jobs to earn a fraction of what she did at Orrick,…

Jul 6, 2011 5:43 PM CDT

Law Job Stagnation May Have Started Before the Recession—And It May Be a Sign of Lasting Change

The legal profession is undergoing a massive structural shift—one that will leave it dramatically transformed in the coming years.

Jul 1, 2011 9:40 AM CDT

State of the Union: The Nation’s Lawyer Population Continues to Grow, But Barely

Jul 1, 2011 5:59 AM CDT

City Attorney in California Says He’ll Quit Rather than Outsource Legal Work

The city attorney in Newport Beach, Calif., is so dismayed with a plan to cut his staff that he is quitting his $220,000-a-year job. City Attorney David Hunt announced his resignation after the city council asked him to create a plan to outsource legal work and save costs, report the…

Jun 30, 2011 1:00 PM CDT

Study Finds a Lawyer Surplus in Nearly Every State; DC Has a Deficit

All but two states and the District of Columbia have an oversupply of lawyers, according to a consulting company’s calculations. Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. compared the number of people who passed the bar exam in each state in 2009 with the estimated number of lawyer job openings in those states,…

Jun 28, 2011 12:23 PM CDT

A Lost Generation of Lawyers? Of 30 Laid-Off Lawyers, Two Got Jobs, Law Grad Says

A 2009 law graduate who was laid off from BigLaw says he hasn’t given up his job search, but that’s not the case with his friends. The unidentified grad tells the Careerist that he knows 30 laid-off lawyers in the classes of 2008 and 2009, and only two have found…

Jun 9, 2011 12:54 PM CDT

Appeals Court: Associate Can’t Seek Punitives from Law Firm That Allegedly Misled Him re Partnership

A former associate can’t seek punitive damages from a law firm that allegedly misstated his partnership potential for years to keep him working on an important case and then terminated him once it successfully concluded. Upholding today the trial court’s ruling on punitives, the New York Appellate Division for the…

Jun 7, 2011 11:40 PM CDT

Legal Market Lost 1,000 Jobs in May and 700 in April

May was a down month for the legal job market, and it turns out April wasn’t a good month either. The legal industry lost 1,000 jobs in May, the Am Law Daily reports, citing figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS originally reported that April was a good…

Jun 6, 2011 1:34 PM CDT

‘Tax Lady’ Roni Deutch Says She’s Broke, Will Close Her Firm, Surrender Law License, Plans to Cry

An embattled California attorney known as the tax lady says she is broke and is closing her law firm of 20 years, which at one point employed 200 people. Roni Deutch also said in a press conference today that she plans to surrender her license to practice law, reports the…

May 12, 2011 11:00 PM CDT

More Legal Jobs. But Will They Last? What Is Your Plan Beyond Holding on to Your Job?

Monday’s ABAJournal.com contains this upbeat headline: “A Promising Spring: Legal Industry Adds 1,500 Jobs, Demand for Legal Services Increases.” The reason for this growth appears to “increased demand” which has caused firms to “selectively [add] more attorneys.” This is good news, clearly better than the months of stories on layoffs,…

May 10, 2011 1:30 PM CDT

Kershaw Firm Lays Off One-Third of Staff, Says Business Is Up, But New Focus Requires Less Support

A California personal injury firm says it has increased its business by refocusing on complex litigation. But Kershaw Cutter Ratnoff, which is based in Sacramento, doesn’t need as much support now, partners tell the Sacramento Business Journal. So it has laid off eight staffers and one lawyer. “People are working…

May 9, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

Unions Warn Workers to Expect 400-500 Layoffs in NY Court System

New York’s court system has notified unions to expect massive layoffs, of between 400 and 500 workers, starting June 1. The layoffs follow $70 million in additional budget cuts to New York’s Unified Court System, according to a layoff update from the Civil Service Employees Association, the largest of 11…

Apr 18, 2011 11:22 AM CDT

Public Defenders Feeling Budget Pinch, 450-Per-Lawyer Caseloads

Already strapped for cash, states and local jurisdictions are turning to cuts in spending on public defenders, leading to higher caseloads and threats to defendants’ constitutional right to counsel. “The system is not allowing us to provide competent representation,” Edward Monahan, the head of Kentucky’s Department of Public Advocacy, told…

Apr 15, 2011 6:40 PM CDT

DA Budget Woes: Job Threats in Wisconsin, and a Standoff Over Budget Cuts in Nevada

Standoffs between prosecutors and budget officials have reached new levels in Wisconsin and Nevada. In Nevada, Clark County District Attorney David Roger said he won’t comply with a request to cut 9 percent from his budget, according to the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas Review Journal. Roger said…

Apr 8, 2011 1:14 PM CDT

Despite Job Increases for Nation, Legal Sector Sees Another Decline

The legal sector lost 500 jobs in March even as the national economy added a total of 216,000 jobs. The decline in legal jobs comes after an adjusted loss of 2,000 jobs in February, the Am Law Daily reports. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the legal sector had 1,112,600…

Apr 4, 2011 11:23 AM CDT