Subpoena Envy No More II

Graduating law school, six figures in debt and jobless is the plight of an increasing number of law school graduates face, even those who pass the bar in their local state. Let’s start with these numbers from the American Bar Association, which are consistent with their 2011 numbers: “Excluding jobs funded by law schools, only 55.1 percent of all 2012 law school graduates were employed in full-time, long-term lawyer jobs on Feb .15, according to the analysis by the law school reform group Law School Transparency… That's 1.1 percentage points lower than the 56.2 percent figure cited by the ABA, which includes school-funded positions in the number of graduates holding full-time, long-term lawyer jobs, according to the analysis.

“Moreover, a ‘devastating’ 27.7 percent of 2012 graduates were either underemployed, meaning they were working in short-term, part-time or nonprofessional jobs, or not employed, meaning they were either unemployed or pursuing an additional degree, according to Law School Transparency's analysis…

“ABA data showed … that fewer than half of the graduates at 66 schools—one-third of all ABA-accredited schools—were working in full-time, long-term legal jobs; less than a third of the graduates of 11 schools, or 5.5 percent of total, were so employed.” ABA Journal, April 1^st. Law school is hideously expensive, and top law school professors make very serious six figures a year. It’s no surprise, therefore, that law school applications have fallen by 30%. For those contemplating debt- financing, perhaps it’s worth waiting for the law of supply and demand to drop the cost.

So obviously, the lucky ones who get those coveted law firm jobs must be ecstatic, right? Not exactly! A survey of 65,000 puts those young “associates” (a title law firms give to their junior lawyers) as the unhappiest workers in America, behind (in order of maximum unhappiness): customer service associate, clerk, registered nurse and teacher. “Associate attorney is No. 1, making it the unhappiest job, Forbes reports in a story noted by Above the Law. Legal assistant is No. 7 on the unhappiest jobs list, compiled by the jobs website CareerBliss.

“Heidi Golledge, chief executive of CareerBliss, told Forbes why associates are so unhappy. ‘In many cases, law firms are conducted in a structured environment that is heavily centered on billable hours. It may take several years for an associate attorney to rise to the rank of partner,’ Golledge said. ‘People in this position rated the way they work and the rewards they receive lower than any other industry.’” ABA Journal. You spend tons of money, get deep in debt, face dropping pay levels to work at a job you have to have to pay that debt… and hate.

Why? Law firms are facing pressures from big clients to cut fees and not to charge for young associates who are too early on the learning curve to provide much in the way of value. It’s a perfect storm. I’ve practiced in smaller firms and by myself. The hours get longer (15 hours is a typical workday in my life) and the tolerance for multiple layers of attorneys looking at the same matter has dropped. For entertainment lawyers, who often represent clients on a percentage, the tanking of fees for most actors, the reduction in the number of theatrical features, the total disruption of the music business, the self-publishing business and the fractionalization of television with a lot a low budget productions has definitely hit the bottom line. For entry-level lawyers, consumer access to Web-enabled forms and procedures has decimated the demand for legal work at the lower end of legal services.

There are little rays of mini-hope out there, however. Rural areas are often places where lawyers cannot be found for miles. “In South Dakota, 65 percent of the lawyers live in four urban areas. In Georgia, 70 percent are in the Atlanta area. In Arizona, 94 percent are in the two largest counties, and in Texas, 83 percent are around Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. Last summer, the American Bar Association called on federal, state and local governments to stem the decline of lawyers in rural areas… Last month, South Dakota became the first state to heed the call. It passed a law that offers lawyers an annual subsidy to live and work in rural areas, like the national one that doctors, nurses and dentists have had for decades…

“‘A hospital will not last long with no doctors, and a courthouse and judicial system with no lawyers faces the same grim future,’ South Dakota’s chief justice, David E. Gilbertson, said. ‘We face the very real possibility of whole sections of this state being without access to legal services.’” New York Times, April 8^th. How’re you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm when they’ve seen gay Paree? Subsidies and a job!

For the balance of lawyers, when the revolution comes, says one wag, all those years studying a legal system of a nation in collapse is a skill-set that will have to totally reinvent itself. Maybe doctors complain about Obamacare, managed care by insurance companies, but they’re not anywhere in the top ten of unhappy workers. But then again, no one really cares what happens to lawyers! Insert lawyer jokes here. Maybe under-employed and unemployed lawyers will lead that revolution! They’ll meet the doctors in triage.

I’m Peter Dekom, and if you actually see a working lawyer out and about in daylight hours… be nice.