“Candy-coated” – that’s how the New York Times characterizes a recent U.S. News and World Report assertion that 93% of recent law school grads were employed within nine months of graduation. What that statistic doesn’t tell you is how many are working in jobs that actually require a law degree -- the survey counts a lawyer stocking shelves at Home Depot as being every bit as employed as a new hire working at a prestigious firm.
According to the Times, 15,000 attorney and legal-staff jobs at large firms have disappeared since 2008. Associates have been laid off and recruiting programs drastically cut back. As another money-saving strategy, corporations are out-sourcing their entry-level legal work to independent contractors throughout the United States and in countries like India.
Add to the mix the daunting student loan liability facing recent grads and it’s not hard to see why some young lawyers say they mortgaged their future under false pretenses.
