The Red Velvet Lawyer

Still a Good Option If You Can Get  a Bargain on Legal Education For the full story, see  here .

Another Gap  Created by  Retiring Baby Boomer Lawyers Over the last several years, several state and local bar associations have focused on under-served clients living in rural areas.  Twenty percent of the U.S. population resides in rural counties, but only two percent of law practices locate there.   The October 2014 issue of the ABA Journal re-visits the topic again, profiling a number of lawyers practicing in rural North Dakota and South Dakota.  The article, Too Many Lawyers? Not Here. In Rural America, Lawyers are Few and Far Between by Lorelei Laird, gives a general overview of the situation, identifies a number of resources, and suggests the adaptations to rural practice required of young lawyers. An associated podcast is here . Additional states -- including Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, Vermont, Montana, New Hampshire, and Maine -- have started various types of programs designed to encourage younger lawyers to practice in rur...

Law Grads in  Legal Temp Agency Jobs The ABA has picked up the story on job equilibrium that I started  here  and expanded this month  here ,  here , and  here . The first comment posted to the ABA article reads: "Low-paying, monotonous doc review jobs for everyone…the sooner the better!" In that story line, I promised to follow up on two concerns expressed by scambloggers about the JD Advantage jobs. I said: Scambloggers have expressed great concern about the number of graduates finding employment through legal temp agencies and as paid employees of law schools. The comment to the ABA article shows that this concern continues to exist. Analyzing the Data. What Data? So, how many grads, nine months out of law school, held positions as legal temps? I'm guessing most of these grads engaged in document review projects -- either associated with litigation discovery or transactional due diligence review. NALP first began tracking...

ABA Blawgwhisperer Picks up  the Job Equilibrium Story ABA journalist Sarah Mui, of the Blawgwhisperer, reported December 6, 2013 on the job equilibrium story line, first appearing here on The Red Velvet Lawyer. The article  is entitled:  "When will law grads and law jobs reach equilibrium? Between 2015 and 2021, depending on who you ask." I want to thank my friends and colleagues for giving this story the attention it has gotten.   I largely attribute this attention to the coverage provided by Brian Leiter on his blog, Brian Leiter's Law School Reports , that he provided here and here . Thanks for supporting The Red Velvet Lawyer.   

Counting the Unemployed Here’s the next question?  Do we adjust the data predicting a job equilibrium as early as 2015 and as late as 2021 by accounting for law graduates who do not fall into the categories of "employed" grads?  These "unemployed" grads have: Enrolled in a full-time advanced degree program, like an LL.M; Are not working and instead are studying for the bar exam full-time; Are not working and not seeking employment (perhaps a new mom or dad, for example); or Are not working, but seeking employment. NALP first began tracking the ranks of the “unemployed” for the graduating class of 2003.   I continue to use the NALP data, despite Professor Merrit’s comment that it is off by a year when compared to the ABA data.  Again, I am looking for trends and averages.  I also like knowing both the total number of graduates and, more importantly, the number of graduates responding to the NALP employment survey. The seco...

Jobs for Law Graduates in Banking, Finance, Technology, E-Commerce, Management Consulting, Government, Public Interest, Accounting  -- and  Yes -- as Legal Temps NALP describes a JD Advantage job as follows: It turns out that the JD degree prepares you for a variety of exciting jobs and careers. While many law school graduates go on to practice law, many others go on to play leadership roles in a variety of settings.  * * *   You will see that JD Advantage positions are jobs that do not require bar passage, an active law license, or involve practicing law in the traditional sense. However, in these positions, a JD provides an advantage in obtaining or performing the job. In fact, many graduates view entry-level opportunities with the federal government or in business/industry as a primary goal. There are many law-related positions for which a JD is a significant competitive advantage. At the same website page, NALP offers a series ...

JD Advantage Jobs:  The Data In November, I tried to support Prof. Organ's prediction that new law-related jobs would exceed the number of graduates in 2015 or 2016. That posting has gotten a lot of attention since then.  Top law blawger, Brian Leiter , first drew attention to it. Then Ohio Professor Debra J. Merritt made further calculations on her blog . Then the Wall Street Journal picked up the story. Then the National Jurist cited my posting in its December issue.  One feature of that conversation is how to count a category of jobs that NALP began tracking in 2001 -- the "JD Advantage" (or "JD Preferred") jobs versus the "Bar Passage Required" jobs. Some people suggest, including many scambloggers, that the JD Advantage jobs should not be considered when reporting the employment rate of law graduates.  Apparently, these folks believe that all prospective law students choose law school because they al...