New lawyers see stiffer competition for jobs

“I planned to spend five years working for a larger firm, and after that I wanted to open my own practice,” Kent said. “But given the economy and the cutbacks at the larger firms, I decided to go into private practice.”

Kent set up shop in Lawrenceville, mining for new clients and sharing offices with another attorney for whom he worked during his third year in law school. Under the arrangement, he will work on some cases for his former boss on a contract basis as he builds up his own practice.

Freshly minted lawyers like Kent are entering a job market that’s been altered as the nation grapples with the sluggish economy. While the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an 11 percent average annual job growth rate for lawyers through 2016, the jobs are not those that law school graduates had come to expect in recent years with generous starting salaries and signing bonuses at silk-stocking firms.

Competition for those jobs is expected to be extremely fierce as law firms have either reduced the number of new openings or laid off from their existing ranks or both.

But the prospects aren’t affecting interest in law schools.

Georgia law schools report steady to increased enrollments this year and project increases next year. They also are reporting huge spikes in applications.

Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School reported a 17 percent jump in applications to its incoming fall 2009 class.

At the University of Georgia School of Law, applications for this year’s fall class rose to 3,000 from 2,300. And applications for the fall 2010 class are up 6 percent so far, compared with this same time last year.

If that trend continues, the university expects it will have between 3,200 and 3,300 applicants vying for the 210 to 240 slots at the law school, said Paul Rollins, director of admissions at UGA’s School of Law.

“The conventional wisdom is that when people are unable to get jobs directly out of school or they lose their jobs or they think they’re going to lose their jobs, they go to law school,” Rollins said.

Just how many applicants fall in that category is hard to say.

Traditionally, the most popular undergraduate majors for the law school’s incoming classes were political science, history and government. But the second-highest undergraduate major represented in this year’s incoming class was finance and economics. That suggests, Rollins said, just how hard-hit employment in those sectors has been.

Career guidance counselors at the law schools report students remain upbeat and expect economic conditions to turn around by the time they’re ready to graduate two or three years from now.

Still, advisers say some students are being more proactive earlier in their law school careers and seeking help earlier in the process.

“Most of them are coming in and trying to plan ahead,” said Vickie M. Brown, director of career services at Georgia State University’s School of Law. “The only question they’re asking is: ‘Are there really any jobs available?’ ”

In response to the economic headwinds, Brown and her staff have created several programs in the past two years designed to get students to think about their job searches more strategically.

For example, students are required to look into six law sectors including judiciary and government, business and industry and public service, in an integrated career mapping program.

“Before we focused on the students’ interests,” Brown said. “Now, we’re taking the perspective of what do they love to do and then opening up new avenues to them.”

This fall, the career office created SHARP — Short-term Assistance Research Pool — aimed at law firms of all sizes but with a specific focus on sole practitioners. The program pairs new graduates and students with firms needing help on a temporary basis for projects ranging from eight weeks to six or seven months.

Within two weeks of starting it, there were two placements, Brown said.

“We’re excited because they work well for the economy we have but they will work well for the long term,” she said. “These programs will continue long after there’s a change in the economy.”

Some metro Atlanta graduates say despite all the help they’re getting, it’s still difficult to land a job.

Robin Love, who graduated from John Marshall this year, said new lawyers aren’t just competing against each other, but also against experienced lawyers who have been downsized out of larger firms.

“They’re taking those jobs that they wouldn’t have taken,” said Love, who has done volunteer work, sent scores of resumes and been going to networking events in pursuit of a job in criminal law and litigation.

She’s also contemplating expanding beyond Georgia by taking the Florida Bar exam. Several of her law school friends are studying for the bar exams of their home states. The thinking is, if they can’t find employment here, they have another state as a backup.

“I love law,” Love said, adding the tough employment picture hasn’t dampened her confidence about landing a job.

“I have faith that I will find a job. When I first started, it was more sporadic. What I’ve learned now is finding a job has to be a full-time job.”