I'm encouraging readers to visit and participate in JD Junkyard. JDU has jumped the shark, IMHO. While I'm not an old-timer, I joined JDU when it was still a vibrant hangout for disaffected lawyers and law graduates. Lately, it's been overrun by trolls and drooling nitwits. There is still quality content, but like TLS, it's not worth wading through the crap to get to it.
Please note that I have no association with JD Junkyard and was not asked to publicize it.
Good news, and even better news. The good news is there were 3,900 legal jobs added in April. Granted, about 45,000 people are about to graduate from ABA schools, but that means 3,900 fewer JD baristas, JD stock clerks, and JD unemployed.
The even better news is the ABA is set to give provisional accreditation to UMass Law, f/k/a Southern New England School of Law. Harvard, look out! It's comforting knowing that even though the planet is going to hell, that the sun continues to rise every morning and the ABA continues to [A]lways [B]e [A]ccrediting.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm
| Not seasonally adjusted | March | 2011 | 1,108,500 | |
| January | 2012 | 1,111,800 | ||
| February | 2012 | 1,111,700 | ||
| March | 2012 | 1,116,500 | 8,000 | |
| Seasonally adjusted | March | 2011 | 1,114,000 | |
| January | 2012 | 1,118,700 | ||
| February | 2012 | 1,117,000 | ||
| March | 2012 | 1,120,900 | 6,900 | |
| Change from Feb-12 to Mar-12 | 3,900 |
Legal employment shrunk a bit last month. Nevertheless, law schools continue to sprout like weeds, ensuring a rosy outlook for legal faculty and administrators. At least for now.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm
| Not seasonally adjusted | March | 2011 | 1,109,600 | |
| January | 2012 | 1,110,500 | ||
| February | 2012 | 1,111,500 | ||
| March | 2012 | 1,111,500 | 1,900 | |
| Seasonally adjusted | March | 2011 | 1,114,300 | |
| January | 2012 | 1,117,500 | ||
| February | 2012 | 1,117,700 | ||
| March | 2012 | 1,116,400 | 2,100 | |
| Change from Feb-12 to Mar-12 | (1,300) |
If you missed your chance to appear on CBS Evening News, here's another opportunity to hit the big time. A Japanese public TV network is doing a story on tentacle porn unemployed NYC lawyers. I realize that few people, myself included, are willing to lay waste to their "career" to speak to the media, but this is as obscure as you can get while still reaching a large audience.
From a Shit Law Jobs post:
Hello,
I'm a producer/director of a NY segment of a nightly TV newsmagazine program on NHK. NHK is Japan's public TV network. I'd like to produce an episode about student loan problems with a particular emphasis on the situation with law school graduates. Are you based in NYC? I'm looking for someone or an organization that is dedicated to help those graduates with student loans. I also would like to portray someone who holds a law degree but is not currently working as a lawyer. Please contact me at: miwamccormick [at] earthlink.net
Sincerely,
Miwa McCormick
NHK Cosmomedia America, Inc.
The title is the first thing that popped into my head; it may be a dig at Obama, or maybe just frustration.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has updated its industry projections through 2020. Let's cut to the chase and say that the outlook for lawyers sucks.
The table below is from a search I ran. The "Total Employment" is all lawyers and the "Legal Services" is, I believe, law firms. If I find differently then I'll update the post.
There will be an increase of 73,600 lawyer jobs between 2010 and 2020, during which time probably 450,000 people will graduate from law school and perhaps 200,000 will leave the "profession." The report doesn't touch on the quality of the jobs, treating a Cravath partnership-track position the same as doc review in a boiler room; however, I'm ASSuming the BLS took automation into account and its deleterious effect on low-end legal work.
You can see the data for yourself at http://data.bls.gov/oep/nioem/empiohm.jsp. Then, get your seat deposit in at Rutgers-Camden Rowan.
| Industry | 2010 | Projected 2020 | Employment change | ||||
| Title | Code | Employment | % | Employment | % | Total | % |
| Total employment | TE1000 | 728,200 | 100 | 801,800 | 100 | 73,600 | 10.1 |
| Legal services | 541100 | 368,200 | 50.6 | 389,800 | 48.6 | 21,600 | 5.9 |
This is one of those glass half full reports. The industry gained about 5,000 jobs year-over-year, a decent showing after a long period of contraction and slow growth. Of course, during this time nearly 50,000 people graduated and another 50,000 are due shortly. Things are so bad that even Columbia Law School is fudging its numbers. From the NY Post:
Some students reported having jobs paying $160,000 lined up. But legal-staffing firms reported placing recent grads of both NYU and Columbia in paralegal and support staff positions for as little as $35,000.
"I’ve never seen more attorneys applying for non-attorney jobs," said Tony Filson, president of Filcro Personnel, a staffing firm in New York.
"They’re all from top schools," said Maritza Murphy, a legal account manager at DeltaForce legal staffing. "Columbia, NYU, Fordham. A lot of small law firms are hiring them in paralegal jobs because they can get them at a lower cost."
TLS posters should read the last paragraph until it sinks in. C'mon, read it again. And, again. Got it? A CLS degree may not get you even a shitlaw associate position in the largest, possibly healthiest, legal market these days. That's pretty much everything anyone reading this blog needs to know. If Columbia and NYU have a cold, the NY-area toilets must have pneumonia.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm
| Not seasonally adjusted | February | 2011 | 1,107,600 | |
| December | 2011 | 1,118,800 | ||
| January | 2012 | 1,111,400 | ||
| February | 2012 | 1,113,000 | 5,400 | |
| Seasonally adjusted | February | 2011 | 1,114,700 | |
| December | 2011 | 1,115,600 | ||
| January | 2012 | 1,118,800 | ||
| February | 2012 | 1,119,600 | 4,900 | |
| Change from January 12-February 12 | 800 |
Will you look at that! Legal jobs increased by 1,000 in January 2012. Thanks to this performance, the industry employed 100 more individuals than January 2011. NALP is quite certain this is not a rounding error.
So, next time a bitter JDU loser tells you that law is dying and we're all doomed, insult their race/religion/school/manhood and then inform them: Nope, it's GROWING.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm
| Not seasonally adjusted | January | 2011 | 1,108,500 | |
| November | 2011 | 1,117,900 | ||
| December | 2011 | 1,119,200 | ||
| January | 2012 | 1,109,100 | 600 | |
| Seasonally adjusted | January | 2011 | 1,116,500 | |
| November | 2011 | 1,116,700 | ||
| December | 2011 | 1,115,600 | ||
| January | 2012 | 1,116,600 | 100 | |
| Change from December 11-January 12 | 1,000 |
