Bankruptcy and Employment

Recruiting Process to Change?

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:17:00 +0000

Nate Raymond of Law.com posted an interesting blog on 2/10/10 entitled "Large Firms Balk at Plans to Revamp Law School Recruiting Process."

I thought you would be interested, so I am repeating it here today with full attribution to Mr. Raymond.

"A proposal to revamp the law school campus recruiting process is being met with resistance among some of the largest legal employers in New York.

Recruiting officials at a number of law firms have raised concerns about recommendations made last month by a commission under the National Association for Law Placement that would restrict them from making offers to second-year law students until January, five months after on-campus interviews usually take place.

The change was intended to respond to a harsh economy but would become permanent if implemented. Critics say it may add to the costs of the recruiting season and make it difficult to manage the hiring process, adding that it may even result in fewer students being hired.

"I think the net result of this will be, if it's adopted, people will make fewer offers, because everyone will be very concerned about over-hiring," said Jorge Juantorena, a hiring partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

The report was released last month by a recruiting commission formed by NALP, a national organization of law schools and employers that, among other things, sets guidelines on the annual on-campus interview season, such as how long students can hold onto a job offer before making a decision. While the process has changed in minor ways over the years, since the 1970s it has remained largely the same: Law firms recruit in the fall and make offers shortly thereafter.

But after the recession began affecting the legal market, law firms found themselves overstaffed and laid off hundreds of lawyers in New York and nationwide, and delayed by up to one year the first-year start dates. Employment in legal services in New York shrank 5.7 percent last year, according to the New York State Department of Labor.

Law firms also extended fewer offers to second-year law students in 2009 for summer associate positions in 2010.

A 17-member commission appointed by NALP examined ways to alter the recruiting season in large part in response to the pressures the recession had created on hiring demands. Its preliminary recommendations included what the group said would be the most significant change to law student recruiting since the association began developing recruiting timelines: a fixed "kick off" or offer date.

Instead of making rolling offers beginning in the fall, firms would have to wait until January, under the theory that students could consider all of their options before taking an offer, while law firms could look over the whole applicant pool instead of rushing to hire the best students at schools with early interview dates. By pushing back the offer date to January, firms would also be able to consider their year-end financial results before making offers to students to join as summer associates.

The report also recommended, among other things, shortening how long students could hold onto an offer to 14 days from 45 and encouraging employers to inform students as soon as they decide not to extend them offers.

The idea of a kick-off date has its supporters. Rosalind Kruse, the hiring partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, said the firm supported having an official offer date if that meant law schools would move forward the interview date. Schools have largely scheduled on-campus interviews in late August, when many corporate lawyers are on vacation, she said.

"It would really enable us to go to more schools and send more senior attorneys if we had the [on-campus interview] date in September," she said.

J. William Dantzler Jr., a hiring partner at White & Case, said the later offer date would give firms and students more time to get to know each other.

Students have better odds of landing at the right firm by learning about a firm during the semester, rather than the way it is now, "which is rush rush rush to make a decision and move on. And of course what they trade off on their part in a little longer uncertainty."

RESISTANCE TO OFFER DATE

But many firms are resisting the proposed January kick-off date.

"The proposal is sort of nightmarish, in that most schools currently are confirming their August on-campus recruiting period," said Steven Sletten, the firmwide hiring partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. "To have to wait until January to extend offers would mean we'd have a six-month fall recruiting period instead of what would typically be two to three months. And that doesn't help anybody."

James Leipold, executive director of NALP, said reaction to its proposals among the schools and firms has been "mixed." NALP is reviewing feedback from more than 825 members, including more than 125 written comments. People agreed the system was not working, he said, but "almost universally people felt a January kick-off date was too late."

A majority of officials from law firms and schools who attended a forum in November on the recruiting system favored an offer day in early November 2010, according to a Jan. 20 memo sent to NALP by the leaders of that meeting at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Stanford University. While a January date was considered, the memo said, many were concerned it would increase the time and cost of recruiting.

Naima Walker-Fierce, director of legal recruiting at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, said she was concerned that by creating a prolonged recruiting season, firms may spend nearly half a year wining and dining top students.

"It's going to be very costly for firms, because I don't know if firms know what else to do other than throw more money at it," she said.

And some firms, such as Cleary Gottlieb and Jones Day, are opposed to the notion of a single offer date, regardless of the month. Juantorena at Cleary said a fixed date gives firms less control over acceptance levels. With so many out-of-work lawyers, he said, firms would likely decide to err on the side of under-hiring at law schools and hire more lawyers through other venues if needed.

"If there's one thing I think we've learned in this downturn, it's that it is in no one's interest if a firm over-hires, because it means you'll have trouble down the road and will either have to lay people off or have to defer people," Juantorena said.

Jones Day, in a widely publicized letter to NALP written by hiring partner Gregory Schumaker, said the recommendations would "impermissibly alter the competitive market for the hiring of law students."

law firms who laid off scores of associates, rescinded offers or delayed start dates. Those firms, he wrote, "have damaged their reputations among law students and law schools and impaired their ability to recruit effectively." By imposing the January kick-off day, he said, those firms are able to level out the playing field.

Leipold at NALP said it is "too premature" to say which proposals will be adopted. He said the commission may complete a final recommendation by the end of the week. NALP's board of directors is expected to vote on recommendations on Feb. 25-26."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. The information provided on this blog is NOT legal advice. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Attorney Partnership Is Harder to Obtain

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Making partner in a law firm is a goal for many lawyers. However, that goal appears harder to achieve according to Law.com, which published the following article written by Nate Raymond. Below is the article:

"Fewer associates are winning promotion to partnership this year, a trend industry experts say is a result of the economic downturn.

This month, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton elected four new partners firmwide, half as many as in 2008, while Latham & Watkins cut its firmwide promotions 25 percent to 23. Ropes & Gray named one third fewer with eight new partners, while Proskauer Rose named four to partnership, one less than in 2008. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the most profitable firm in the country, this month named two new partners, down from six last year.

Consultants say the trend likely is a reflection of the financial condition law firms have found themselves in, with demand for legal services down and profits falling. Making partner had already become tougher in recent years, Dan DiPietro, advisory head at Citi Private Bank's law firm group, said via e-mail. With the recession, he added, "the bar has been raised on what it means to become an equity partner and to stay an equity partner."

He added, "While I don't think the economic meltdown caused this trend, I do believe the trend accelerated as a result."

The bulk of promotions at law firms are expected to be announced over the next two months. But several firms have already made their decisions known, and most have elevated smaller classes.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, for example, named eight new partners firmwide in April, down from 25 in 2008. Davis Polk & Wardwell in July named four new partners compared to six a year earlier.

Firms based outside of New York are promoting fewer associates as well. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker named six new partners firmwide, down from 11 a year earlier. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher named 11 new partners, compared to 13 in 2008. Mayer Brown on Monday named 14 partners, down from 27 in 2008.

Law firm net income through the third quarter is down 6.1 percent industrywide, according to a recent survey by Wachovia Legal Specialty Group, part of Wells Fargo Corp. Top-tier firms are experiencing a 4.3 percent decrease, Wachovia said.

Ward Bower, a consultant at Altman Weil Inc., said firms may be trying to avoid dividing their dwindling net income among even more partners.

"Profits are squeezed at big firms this year, and they don't want to dilute partnership income any more than they have to," he said.

The reduction may also relate to the firms' reluctance to promote from business practices that have slowed, said David Cruickshank, a consultant with Kerma Partners. Because transactional practices were the hardest hit by the downturn, Cruickshank said he expected fewer new partners coming out of that area this year.

"To the extent they think business-making prospects are down, they're going to defer people for at least a year," he said. "The sweet spot right now would be to be a senior associate up for partnership in bankruptcy. Whereas if you have been working in the securitization practice, even the partners don't have enough work."

Joseph Altonji, a consultant at Hildebrandt International, said firms had more relaxed standards in the boom years as firms expanded in New York and across the globe. With demand for legal services down, firms are not as willing to extend partnership to as many senior associates, he said.

"Going forward, the requirement for making partner at many firms is going to get tighter," Altonji said.

The head of one New York firm, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the promotion process, concurred. He said he expected New York City firms to cut the number of new partners by one third to one half of 2008 levels because of the slide in demand for legal services.

"If you have a superstar and the superstar is eligible, you'll probably make the superstar partner anyway," the law firm leader said. "But for anyone else, you'll probably want another year to look at the economy and the law firm economy in particular."

AGAINST THE TREND

A few firms are announcing larger new partner classes. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy last week elected five attorneys to partner, up from four in 2008.

"We certainly pay attention to the economy in making new partner decisions, but we also pay attention to the fact that we're strong enough that we should mostly be focusing on long-term investments," said Mel Immergut, Milbank's chairman.

None of Milbank's new partners in New York come from its corporate side. Instead, it promoted two restructuring associates and a litigator. One new partner is in Munich and the other in Tokyo, regions where Milbank is trying to grow.

Milbank promoted all of the lawyers who were nominated by the practice groups, Immergut said, though he acknowledged it was possible some groups did not nominate anyone because they did not see a need for more partners.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in September named seven new partners, up from five a year earlier. The promotions followed a year where Fried Frank shrank firmwide more than any other law firm, according to data collected by The National Law Journal, with the number of lawyers falling 26.4 percent to 468 attorneys.

Sullivan & Cromwell in October elected five new partners, the same as a year earlier.

"We're obviously not going to stop making partners because of the financial conditions," said H. Rodgin Cohen, chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell.

Firms that have made fewer partner promotions, such as Cleary Gottlieb and Latham, generally say that while competitors may be factoring in the economy in their decisions, they themselves are not reducing promotions because of it.

"At least on our end, it's not any sort of strategic decision," said Francesca Odell, a partner at Cleary. "We select candidates from a pool of eligible candidates, and this year it happened to be smaller."

Odell said Cleary would never reduce its promotions because of a bad economic year "because it would hurt you five years down the road."

Cleary named four partners, down from eight in 2008.

Latham & Watkins named 23 globally this year, down from 28 in 2008. Richard Bress, who chairs Latham's associates committee, said the drop was "typical variation year to year." The firm was not considering profits per partner or the level of activity in certain practice areas in making partner decisions, he said.

"The easiest way to understand that is we made the same number of transactional partners this year as we did last year," Bress said. "And that's really the aspect of the economy that's been hardest hit."

Kirkland & Ellis in October promoted 51 lawyers to partner globally, a 27 percent drop from last year. In New York, the firm named nine partners in restructuring, corporate, litigation and intellectual property, down from 15 in 2008. As is typical at the firm, all of Kirkland's new partners entered as non-equity, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Kirkland, like all firms, has been facing a tough economic climate. In September, it laid off 20 associates in New York, as well as lawyers in Washington, D.C., a source familiar with the situation said.

Yet despite the smaller number of new partners, Kirkland partner Jay Lefkowitz said the firm "didn't change our criterion for partnership" because of the economy. A source at Kirkland familiar with the process said the firm had a smaller senior associate pool to promote from and estimated that roughly the same percentage of senior associates made partner as did last year. "

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Starting Salaries are Cut

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Law.com has published an interesting article written by Gina Passarella regarding the reduction in starting legal salaries. Here is the article:

"Reed Smith has cut starting salaries by about 20 percent for the 51 first-year associates set to start in January and, in turn, is cutting their billing rates by the same margin.

The decision comes just a few weeks after the firm did away with associate classes and instead instituted three levels of associate tiers that will work within a competency-based advancement model.

The near 20 percent cuts to salaries, which only affect U.S. offices, are from the high the firm had been paying in 2008 and are market dependent. Billing rates will be cut by an even 20 percent.

In New York, Chicago, California and Washington, D.C., for example, associates will move from $160,000 down to $130,000. In Pittsburgh, starting salaries will go from a 2008 high of $135,000 down to $110,000 and in Philadelphia that number will move from $145,000 down to about $117,500.

Reed Smith Global Managing Partner Gregory B. Jordan said the moves were in response to a very clear message from clients and the marketplace.

"As part of the reset that's going on in the business world, clients are expecting their law firms to drive their costs down," Jordan said.

One of the biggest areas of friction was starting salaries for entry-level associates, he said. And it's really the rates that most directly affect cost, so the firm decided to take a swing at both, he said.

As part of the reduction in salary and billing rates, first-year associates will also see a reduction in their billable hour targets from 1,900 to 1,700 hours. That was done in part, Jordan said, to ensure they could take advantage of the new training programs that go along with the competency-based advancement model.

The salary and billing rate cuts affected only the U.S. associates. The firm said those rates in its European, Middle Eastern and Asian offices will be decided in 2010. Though the firm has said compensation for other associates will be tied to the new competency-advancement model, Jordan said decisions on compensation for the rest of the associates won't be made until 2010, after they are evaluated.

"Our new U.S. starting salaries represent a reasonable and appropriate reset based on today's economic environment," Eugene Tillman, the firm's global head of legal personnel, said in a statement. "We believe this will put Reed Smith in a stronger business position in a changing marketplace while still providing fair compensation to our new associates."

Jordan said the 51 incoming associates, who were deferred until January 2010, are spread across the firm's U.S. offices. There are six in Philadelphia and eight in Pittsburgh. "

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Attorney Fees Reduced

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:03:00 +0000

I thought you would be interested in reading Todd Lightly's article published by the Chicago Tribune regarding the reduction in legal fees paid as a result of the current oversupply of lawyers. Here is the article:

"William Shakespeare famously suggested in "Henry VI, Part II" that, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

Well, maybe not so fast.

The recession has led to a glut of unemployed and underemployed lawyers, and that could benefit city taxpayers.

Mayor Richard Daley's top lawyer, Mara Georges, told aldermen during a budget hearing that she tries to keep in-house as many legal cases as she can. But Georges added that she often has to hire private lawyers to handle cases, many of them involving complex legal matters in federal court.

Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, was concerned about the cost to taxpayers. He asked Georges if she has been able to take advantage of the abundance of lawyers looking for work during the current economic crisis.

"We've been capitalizing on that opportunity," Georges said.

For example, she said, the city's maximum hourly rate for the most difficult cases is normally $295. She said the city has been able to get that reduced to $250 per hour.

The city so far this year has paid $14 million in fees to private lawyers but did not offer figures for how much was saved.

A couple of aldermen told Georges not to get too cheap with legal fees, with one cautioning, "You get what you pay for." "

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

2009 Law Grads Have Start Dates Postponed

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:06:00 +0000

The Chicago Tribune is publishing that more big law firms have postponed the start dates for first-year associates. Ameet Sachdev reported as follows:
"Seyfarth Shaw said Friday that it has again postponed start dates for some of its first-year associates. The 2009 class of 16 lawyers originally had starts dates pushed back to January 2010. Now half of them won't start until October.

Those facing a longer wait will receive a monthly $2,000 stipend. But that might not be enough to cover rent in a Lincoln Park apartment.

Those who do get to start in January will share some financial pain. Seyfarth said it is reducing first-year associate salaries by 5 to 10 percent.

Like other big law firms who have cut associate salaries and postponed start dates, Seyfarth said the economy has put pressure on legal costs and demand for services.

Here's the firm's statement:

"We are continuing to manage our staffing levels in light of anticipated client demand and market conditions. As a result, we have decided to postpone start dates for 8 of 16 first-year associates who were scheduled to start in January 2010. We have rescheduled their start dates until October 2010 to ensure we are staffed appropriately to meet clients’ anticipated needs. Given the timing of this notification, we are providing each of these people with a $2,000 monthly stipend until October to offset any disruption this may cause. We are telling them that, as conditions improve, we hope to call them to start earlier.

We also have decided to reduce the base salary levels by approximately 5-10% for all the first-year associates joining us in 2010. While we see bright spots ahead in the economy for 2010, we also believe that economic conditions will continue to put pressure on our clients, including the costs of legal services, and we need to address those issues."

Above the Lawfirst reported the Seyfarth news. The blog had reported earlier this month that Winston & Strawn had also adjusted start dates for first-year associates.

If you're a member of the Class of 2010 who was lucky to receive a job offer from a big firm, it's pretty safe to say you'll have plenty of free time before you start your careers."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Associate Salaries Cut 20%

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:34:00 +0000

Do you hear the sound of newly minted lawyers crying? The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the sounds being heard by young lawyers are "cut, drop, slash." Unless you are practicing bankruptcy law, young lawyers need to adjust their expectations regarding professional compensation.

While bankruptcy law is booming, and bankruptcy legal training is available from National Bankruptcy College (see http://www.nationalbankruptcycollege.com/ ), non-bankruptcy areas of the law are struggling. This has a direct effect on compensation for newly minted lawyers.

I found the following report regarding the woes of young lawyers. I thought you would be interested. The Wall Street Journal On Line filed the following report:

"Cut, drop, slash. Those are the verbs emanating from Reed Smith, which on Tuesday announced it was slashing associate salaries and billing rates and dropping its associate hour requirements from 1900 to 1700 hours. (1700 hours! Reed Smith attorneys, time to take up a hobby!)

According to a press release, the firm will reduce its hourly billing rates by 20 percent and also cut annual salaries for first-year associates in 15 U.S. offices by 20 percent. These changes will apply to the 51 new lawyers joining the firm in January 2010.

"In response to our clients' feedback and concerns about driving down the cost of legal services, we wanted to send a clear message that we are listening. So, we have therefore reduced both the rates and the salaries of our incoming first year associates" said Gregory B. Jordan, Reed Smith's Global Managing Partner. "We have also launched a new competency based development program to better prepare our new lawyers to meet the needs of our clients."

Annual starting salaries for the new associates beginning in January 2010 will range from $130,000 in major markets such as New York City, Chicago, California, and Washington, D.C. (down from a high of $160,000 in 2008), to $110,000 in Pittsburgh, PA. These actions solely involve the new associates entering the firm's U.S. offices. Salary levels for 2010 newly qualifying lawyers in the firm's European, Middle Eastern and Asian offices will be determined in the normal course of business during 2010.

"Our new U.S. starting salaries represent a reasonable and appropriate reset based on today's economic environment," said Eugene Tillman, the firm's Global Head of Legal Personnel. "We believe this will put Reed Smith in a stronger business position in a changing marketplace while still providing fair compensation to our new associates."

In conjunction with the new compensation, Reed Smith has also reduced the first-year associate annual billable hour expectation from 1,900 to 1,700 hours, allowing additional time and opportunity to take advantage of the training and development programs associated with CareeRS, the firm's newly launched talent development initiative."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Bankruptcy Jobs are Plentiful; Other Legal Jobs are Hard to Find

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:50:00 +0000

Except for bankruptcy jobs, 2009 was the worst year for legal jobs. Lots of lawyers lost jobs and many lawyers without jobs could not find jobs. The secret: look for bankruptcy jobs. Get bankruptcy training at www.nationalbankruptcycollege.com as soon as possible.

Below is an interesting article written by Leign Jones that was published in the National Law Journal entitled "2009 Worst Year for Lawyer Headcount in 3 Decades." The author stated:

"The United States' largest law firms this year suffered the deepest cuts in their attorney numbers since The National Law Journal began tracking their census figures more than 30 years ago.

The total number of attorneys working at the top 250 law firms plunged by 5,259 lawyers. Put another way, it's as if all of the lawyers working at two firms the size of Jones Day vanished in 2009.

The results of the 32d annual National Law Journal survey of the nation's 250 largest law firms provide a vivid picture of the toll that the economic recession exacted from law firms this year. The 4.0 percent decline in the total number of attorneys marked only the third time that the lawyer count among the group has dropped since the NLJstarted collecting headcount data in 1978. The last time totals backslid was in 1993, when they dipped by 0.9 percent. The first decline was in 1992, when they fell by 1 percent. The tally this year wipes away nearly one-third of the growth that firms made during the past five years and puts many of them well below levels they enjoyed in 2005.

The number of attorneys in 2009 sank to 126,669 lawyers, compared with 131,928 attorneys last year. In 2008, the number of attorneys increased by 4.3 percent.

Among the top 75 law firms on the list, 15 had reductions of more than 100 lawyers. Of the top 50, seven cut more than 200 attorneys. The firm with the largest percentage decrease was No. 95 Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, which declined by 26.4 percent to 468 attorneys from 636 in 2008. Last year, the firm held the No. 58 slot in the rankings. The firm losing the greatest number of attorneys was Latham & Watkins, which shed 444 lawyers. It had 1,878 attorneys this year, compared with 2,322 in 2008, for a 19.1 percent decline. It slid from No. 4 to No. 6 in the ranking.

Taking the No. 1 position on the NLJ 250 was Baker & McKenzie, which had 3,949 attorneys. The firm maintained that position from the NLJ 250's inception until 2007, when DLA Piper edged it out. DLA Piper took the No. 2 spot this year. Its lawyer population fell by 7.3 pecent, to 3,450 attorneys from 3,721 attorneys in 2008. Last on this year's list is newcomer Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, based in Portland, Ore. It reported 164 attorneys.

The greatest movement among the top 10 firms came from K&L Gates, which rose to No. 7 this year with 1,813 lawyers from No. 10 in 2008. It broke into the top 10 last year, when it had 1,726 attorneys.

ASSOCIATE WOES

Not surprisingly, associate ranks were hit hard by work force reductions. The percentage of those attorneys shrank by 8.7 percent, to 61,733 from 67,648 last year.

In addition to laid-off associates, the decline reflects would-be first-year associates whose start dates law firms deferred. Of the 250 firms on the list, 113 reported that they deferred a total of 2,784 associates. That figure represents 42 percent of the 6,636 law graduates who would have been in the incoming first-year associate class. The average number of associates deferred per firm was 25.

At the same time, partner employment, as a whole, remained unscathed. The number of partners in 2009 was 53,468, compared with 52,980 in 2008, an increase of 0.9 percent. Among the top 50 firms, 30 increased their partner totals. The results confirm that law firms' strategy in managing the downturn was to save the partners -- and partnerships. "The cuts made were done primarily to preserve workloads for partners," said Ward Bower, a consultant with Altman Weil. And perhaps troubling to clients, "it suggests that work done by partners is work that associates could do," he added.

Attorneys in the "other" category proved the most expendable. The category includes nonpartner, nonassociate lawyers, including counsel, of counsel, senior counsel and staff attorneys. That group nosedived by 8.9 percent to 11,433 from 12,547 in 2008.

The overall downturn in totals this year was partly a correction of the rapid growth that NLJ 250 firms experienced during the preceding five years. Between 2004 and 2008, firms added 21,948 attorneys. Many firms declined to near or below their numbers of five years ago. Latham & Watkins' total this year of 1,878 was just 38 attorneys more than it had in 2005. The firm announced in February that it was laying off 190 attorneys, a move that followed speculation about other unreported attorney reductions. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, with 1,243 attorneys, fell below its 2005 number of 1,281. Other top firms with this year's totals lower than their 2005 results were Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; McDermott Will & Emery; Shearman & Sterling; O'Melveny & Myers; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; and Fulbright & Jaworski. "

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Bankruptcy Jobs are Booming

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:37:00 +0000

The secret is out. Bankruptcy jobs are booming. Americans are feeling economic pain. Jobs are being lost, pensions are being cut, credit card bills are mounting, and mortgages are being foreclosed. Who should these American turn to? BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS

Below is an interesting article authored by Debra Weiss of the ABA Journa Law News Now. The article is entitled "Bankruptcy Boutiques are Quietly Booming." I thought you would enjoy it. She writes:

"The declining economy is good news for boutique law firms handling business bankruptcies.

“Bankruptcy boutiques across the country have been quietly booming in this economy as bankruptcies and workouts soar,” according to Portfolio.com. “Unlike large law firms which have been pummeled by the recession, forcing them to fire lawyers and entirely rethink established business practices, these smaller bankruptcy shops say the current economy is actually an opportunity to shine.”

While most large law firms have bankruptcy practices, they are unable to handle some cases because they also represent large financial institutions, creating a conflict of interest, the story says.

Peter Roberts, a partner with 25-lawyer Shaw Gussis Fishman Glantz Wolfson & Towbin in Chicago, told Portfolio his law firm began to seeing more business about six months ago from financially troubled smaller and middle-market businesses. “The banks ... have turned their attention to the smaller loans in their portfolios,” he said.

Harold Murphy, the head of the bankruptcy and financial restructuring practice at 31-lawyer Hanify & King in Boston, said Chapter 11 filings are already up and will probably increase over the next year.

“Bankruptcies are a lagging indicator. They generally peak near the tail end of a recession, rather than leading the recession,” he told Portfolio.com.

The article says other bankruptcy boutiques include Craig & Macauley in Boston and Warner Stevens in Fort Worth, Texas."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Bankruptcy Filings are About to Rise

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Bankruptcy filings are about to rise. Unemployment causes people to lose the ability to repay debts. These people may want to repay the credit card and medical debts, but the loss of income may prevent them from making payments. The American Bankruptcy Institute discussed the increasing unemployment rate, stating

"The unemployment rate has surpassed 10 percent for the first time since 1983 - and is likely to go higher, the Associated Press reported today. Nearly 16 million people can't find jobs, even though the worst recession since the Great Depression has apparently ended. The Labor Department said Friday that the economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs in October, less than the downwardly revised 219,000 lost in September. August job losses were also revised lower, to 154,000 from 201,000. But the loss of jobs last month exceeded economists' estimates. It's the 22nd straight month the U.S. economy has shed jobs, the longest on records dating back 70 years. Counting those who have settled for part-time jobs or stopped looking for work, the unemployment rate would be 17.5 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994. The jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent from 9.8 percent in September. Economists say it could climb as high as 10.5 percent next year because employers remain reluctant to hire. In addition, the number of Americans who have been out of work for six months or longer rose to a record 5.6 million. They comprise 35.6 percent of the unemployed population, matching a record set last month. Today's report is the first since the government said last week that the economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, the strongest signal yet that the economy is rebounding. But that isn't fast enough to spur rapid hiring, raising the specter of a jobless recovery. Many economists also worry that persistently high unemployment could undermine the recovery by restraining consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm.
Click for Bankruptcy Lawyer Job Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Lawyer Looking for a Job Should Consider Bankruptcy Law

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:17:00 +0000

An interesting observation was made by columnist Jennifer Iikka in the October 2009 issue of the Chicago Laywer. She observes:

"There are few professions other than [law] where you spend years of your life and up to six figures in loans to graduate, and literally not know what you are doing when you get a job. If you do not know what you are doing as a young associate, how do you learn on the job without appearing ignorant?"

I think the answer is better training before you start your job. Law schools don't prepare you to "run with the ball" upon graduation. I urge young lawyers who are eager to join a growing legal field to seriously consider a job as a bankrutpcy attorney. Fantastic legal training is offered by the National Bankruptcy College and more information can be found at http://www.nationalbankruptcycollege.com/.

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm. Click for Employment Opportunities.

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Bankruptcy Jobs for Unemployed Attorneys

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:03:00 +0000

High school students are routinely told that the path to success runs through colleges and universities. College students are told graduate and professional schools are also on the path towards success. In short, one is told that the more education you have the more successful one will become. While that was undoubtedly true for people born in the middle to earlier part of the 20th Century, some are questioning whether that is still true today.

The above strategy didn't contemplate the increasingly heavy burden of student loan debt. The burden is even heavier for students who seek advanced degrees, such as law degrees. The ABA Journal reported that the student loan of some law school graduates exceeds $90,000. I was once told never to buy a home valued at more than $50,000; now many vehicles cost that much. Some commentators have equated student loan burdens with that of a non-dischargeable house mortgage...something to be paid over decades.

Nevertheless, some students eagerly accepted the student loan burden with visions of financial riches dancing in their head. However, the reality of the current economic climate has been a cold slap in the face to some recent law students. Ok, those law students didn't notice when the factories were closing and the employees being laid off. Most of the law students didn't observe that the secretarial pools were drying up.

But, unemployed law school graduates never imagined unemployment for a person who worked hard for 11 years of schooling, having excelled in high school, succeeded in college, thrived in law school, and passed the bar exam. As one person has said "It's as if some unspoken intergenerational contract has been broken."

So where should an unemployed attorney turn? I suggest trying bankruptcy. It's a booming market with plenty of growth potential. You can gain exceptional training from the National Bankruptcy College ( go to http://www.nationalbankruptcycollege.com/) and clients can be obtained by referrals from http://www.nbcattorneynetwork.com/ or you can consider joining a law firm. I suggest you consider looking at www.schallerlawfirm.com/employment.html.

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Unemployment for Law Graduates

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:37:00 +0000

Unemployment is a real issue for law school graduates. Please read the article below authored by Debra Cassens Weiss that I found in the ABA Journal entitled "Columnist Laments Unemployed Law Grads and Broken Unspoken Contract" Here is the article:

"As factories closed and the economy changed, young people were repeatedly told that the way to succeed was to get an education.

But that advice hasn’t helped many of today's law and college graduates, according to columnist Bill McClellan of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. It’s the No. 1 topic of conversation among people his age, he says. McClellan’s daughter and a lawyer friend both told him of difficult times for law graduates, who are saddled with student debt on graduation.

“It's bad enough that the factories are closed, bad enough that the secretarial pools have gone dry,” he writes. “But that has been happening for some time now. This other thing is newer—unemployed college graduates, unemployed law school graduates. It's as if some unspoken intergenerational contract has been broken.”

McClellan says he wasn’t a particularly dedicated journalism student, and he left Arizona State University before getting a degree. Still, he got a job. “That was a good thing about those days,” he writes. “You didn't have to set the world on fire to get a job.”

“Today even good students are having a difficult time getting jobs. Even good students from good schools are having trouble.”"
Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Associates Path to Partnership in a State of Flux

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:02:00 +0000

Employment opportunities are changing in the legal profession. Many of the old standards are in a state of flux. Here is an interesting article written by Amanda Royal entitled "Reed Smith the Latest Big Firm to Drop Associate Lockstep." Enjoy and pondering the future. Now read the article:

"Reed Smith on Tuesday joined a handful of Am Law 100 firms that have dumped lockstep associate promotion and launched a new focus on associate training.

The new program will divide associates into three tiers: junior, midlevel and senior. To advance, associates will need to meet a set of competencies. Courses will be available to help associates advance, and partners will be matched with associates to serve as career advisers.

San Francisco managing partner David Thompson said the firm wants to create strong business people as well as strong lawyers. "The point is to differentiate ourselves," Thompson said. "We think our training is good now, but our goal is to improve it and deliver on a higher level of execution and tailoring."

"This provides a real road map for associates to understand what is required of them at every step along the way," said Nicky Dingemans, who helped create the program as the head of human resources at Reed Smith.

The firm has not decided yet how compensation will change, she said.

The firm's Web site lists 673 associates, 98 in California, with all but six in the San Francisco or Los Angeles offices.

Several firms this year have announced a move away from lockstep and toward more merit-based promotion and compensation. The firms include Howrey, Bingham McCutchen, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Townsend and Townsend and Crew.

Reed Smith said it started working on the program 18 months ago, and it was not a response to the recession.

The program covers four main areas -- legal skills, citizenship, business skills and clients -- and nine core competencies. Some of those competencies include mastering fundamental legal skills, support of the firm's culture, demonstration of leadership and business skills, and understanding and effectively managing client needs.

An internal team developed the program with input from partners and associates from throughout the firm, Dingemans said.

"There's somewhat of a disconnect when you are in law school, and when you get in the law firm environment and what's expected of you as a litigator," said R. Euna Kim, a senior associate in San Francisco. "I think this is a wonderful tool to bridge that gap."

Each of the three associate levels will be tied to an "academy." The firm will continue its "Reed Smith University," which already offers 140 in-house courses. The program will help reduce associate attrition and create higher client satisfaction, a firm statement said.

Dingeman said the focus will be on creating strong business people as well as strong lawyers.

"Being a great lawyer today is not just about having those great legal skills," Dingemans said.

As part of the program, junior associates will study a "mini-MBA" course that will focus on the quantitative and accounting side of the business. More senior associates will learn about matter management, client development and the more strategic aspects of a business degree, Dingemans said.

The firm has placed first- and second-year associates into the junior class, third- through fifth-year associates into the midlevel class, and sixth-year associates and above into the senior class. There is no set time for each associate to move through the ranks.

Dingemans said the adviser program is less like a traditional mentoring program and more a way for the associates to have someone to help explain how to navigate through the new system. "

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Associates Fear Rainmaking? WSJ Ponders Question

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:43:00 +0000

The Wall Street Journal published an interesting article entitled "Do Law Firm Associates Fear Rainmaking?" That's an intriguing question. As the article suggests, law schools don't train law students how to get clients. If they are lucky, new minted lawyers will join a firm which will train them to get bankrutpcy clients or some other clients.

Enjoy the following article:

"It's not every day that a Thomas Friedman column in the NYT mentions lawyers and law firms. But it did today.

In talking about the challenges facing U.S. workers - and why the educational system that produces them needs a big upgrade - Friedman breaks into a discussion of the types of workers that are succeeding in today's challenging marketplace. He writes:

A Washington lawyer friend recently told me about layoffs at his firm. I asked him who was getting axed. He said it was interesting: lawyers who were used to just showing up and having work handed to them were the first to go because with the bursting of the credit bubble, that flow of work just isn't there. But those who have the ability to imagine new services, new opportunities and new ways to recruit work were being retained. They are the new untouchables.

We don't know if Freidman's totally right on this point - we're not sure that hiring partners went through rosters of associates and put checkmarks next to those who lacked “the ability to imagine new services, new opportunities and new ways to recruit work.” We suspect it was much more haphazard and scattershot than that at many firms. Still, the general point strikes us as correct: that those law-firm lawyers who can bring in the biz - in addition to doing the work handed them - are those who are going to thrive, regardless of the economic situation.

But that's not what BigLaw lawyers are trained to do, is it? We daresay not. In fact, we're inclined to agree with a recent column out in the UK's Legal Week, which goes so far as to say that associates “fear” the prospect of having to make rain.

Writes author Alex Novarese:

On one hand, associates want early access to clients; indeed, they resent law firms that don't give them that access. But the idea of bringing in clients doesn't seem to be one that drives young lawyers, at least those at large commercial law firms. In some cases an ambivalence about partnership appears to be strongly connected with the belief that the role comes with an expectation of rainmaking prowess. A considerable number of aspiring lawyers fear they'll hit five years . . . bump up to senior associate and then find themselves unequipped for a world in which they must hunt what they eat.

What explains this ambivalence? Continues Navarese:

I guess this is part of the institutionalism of young lawyers. At the best firms, they are the top performers in academic institutions, before moving on to well-established providers of vocational education and then into corporate law firms - which are themselves highly structured institutions. Little wonder these young workers are not programmed for a world of risk. Such sentiments are also a reminder that - for all the talk of law firms becoming businesses, the mindset of lawyers remains, to a considerable extent, that of a profession.

So what about rainmaking - or “client development” in the more antiseptic law-firm parlance - is so risky? We're not entirely sure. But here's a thought: Bringing in business - at least in its rawest form - involves a bit of gladhanding and salesmanship, which, yes, isn't always going to work. So the risk is that such efforts will fail, something that lots of lawyers just don't have the stomach for."
Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Attorney Commits Suicide After Being Terminated

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:36:00 +0000

The Wall Street Journal reported on the tragic death of a once prominent attorney who may have committed suicide after being terminated from his firm. It is worth your time to read:
"On the Tragic Story of Kilpatrick Stockton’s Mark Levy

The law firm layoffs that have swept the nation over the last 18 months or so have been a source of great pain - not only to those laid off, but to their families and friends as well. Arguably, however, no single office has felt the shockwaves of it layoffs as acutely as has the D.C. office of Kilpatrick Stockton.

It was there that on the morning of April 30, partner and Supreme Court litigator Mark Levy put a loaded handgun to his head and pulled the trigger. Levy was 59.

We wrote several posts on the tragedy (here, here and here), but, as is so often the case, didn't even come close to capturing the deeper motives behind Levy's final act.

The likelihood is that the world will never unravel the core of the mystery. But in the November issue of the ABA Journal, freelancer Richard Schmitt comes as close as anyone, in this gripping 3000-word article.

Schmitt's opening is chilling:

Mark Levy began his last day at Kilpatrick Stockton like he'd begun countless others.

He pulled his Jaguar into the garage at the law firm two blocks from the White House just before 5:30 and took the elevator up to the 11th floor.

Always an early riser, he enjoyed getting a jump on the news of the day and sharing it with friends and colleagues. His were often the first e-mails they received-a pitch to attend a Democratic fundraiser, a pat on the back for a well-written article, or his take on the latest from the U.S. Supreme Court.

But this particular Thursday morning something was different. Levy had cleared his calendar, coyly dodging the reason when he canceled lunch the day before with a longtime friend.

"He said something had come up, and that I'd be able to read about it in the papers," the friend says.

"I thought he'd gotten a big case. I was happy for him."

. . .

[But e]ven his closest professional colleagues had no inkling-and they certainly had no idea that he would sit down in his office chair the morning of April 30 and, with a .38-caliber handgun, fire a bullet into the right side of his head.

So what happened? According to Schmitt, a former legal reporter at the Wall Street Journal and LA Times: some of the answer likely lay in the fact that Levy had days earlier been asked to leave the firm.

Writes Schmitt:

Just days before he killed himself, he found out that he was being let go by Kilpatrick in a round of cost-cutting driven by the unraveling economy. He had been one of 24 lawyers nationwide laid off by the 500-lawyer firm.

Measured against massive firings elsewhere, Kilpatrick's cutbacks were unremarkable-except to those no longer employed. In many cases, layoffs have become so routine that even the gentlest protocols have been abandoned.

Levy, for instance, had asked the firm whether he could keep his office while he figured out his next move, according to his cousin Leslee Gilhooley. Even just five years before, that had been a common way to cushion the blow for senior lawyers at major firms. But not in this recession.

"When they wanted him gone, they wanted him gone," Gilhooley says.

Kilpatrick declined to comment to Schmitt, beyond a prepared statement: "We are deeply saddened by the death of Mark Levy earlier this year and our condolences continue to go out to his entire family, friends and colleagues," said Bill Dorris, the firm's co-managing partner. "Mark made such a positive impact on so many people during his life and career. He was highly respected in the legal and business communities for his numerous successful appearances before the Supreme Court of the United States. Out of respect for his family, we will not offer additional comment."

According to Schmitt, Levy “loved the practice of law, but he struggled with the business of law.” And as an appellate litigator “without a firm stable of paying clients, he grew vulnerable in a world where rainmaking is often valued over skill and judgment. For all his prestige, he had little real power behind his formidable stature.”

"He was not interested in compromising to make law a business. His pleasures in practicing law were largely intellectual and professional," says Herbert Zarov of Mayer Brown in Chicago, who worked with Levy there in the 1980s. "I suspect that change in the profession, given Mark's temperament and commitment to values, hit him real hard."

Others quoted in Schmitt's story see Levy's suicide as an indictment of the legal profession. Said one Washington lawyer who knew Levy for years: “none of us should have our self-worth tied up in our professional existence as lawyers. It is a fool's errand to do that because it is a profession that is very hard on people even when they are succeeding."

Ruth Wedgwood, a law school classmate of Levy's who is the director of the program on international law and organizations at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, sees his death in a broader context. "If someone like him cannot prosper in law practice, you wonder what law practice has become."
Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Reduced Compensation, Layoffs, Deferred Start Dates

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:23:00 +0000

More problems for young lawyers: deferred start dates, layoffs, reduction in income, etc. The employment situation for new associates continues to get worse. Below is an article written by Brian Baxter identifying the problem at one large firm:

"Changes at Squire Sanders: Deferrals, Layoffs, New Management

Deferred associates, possible layoffs, a shuffle in upper management: things are happening at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey.

According to a memo the firm sent to Above the Law, Squire Sanders is indefinitely deferring half of its incoming 2009 associate class and planning to let go of an additional 20 to 25 "timekeepers" firmwide.

Squire Sanders already had deferred incoming associates until January 2010. Should the firm carry through with its plan to reduce head count, it would be the fourth round of cutbacks in the past year.
The firm cut 32 lawyers in May and slashed first-year associate pay by 10 percent. In January, nine support staff employees were let go in the firm's Miami office. That came on the heels of a cull of 30 associates and paralegals in November 2008."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Too Many Attorneys?

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:41:00 +0000

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a new law school is in the works. Here is an interesting article concerning the glut of attorneys.

"Brace yourselves, young attorneys and law students: you may soon face more competition in the job market.

The University of Massachusetts is pushing to open a new public law school. Strange timing, huh, given that this is perhaps the worst job market for lawyers since, well,

ever?

The Globe has a report today on the law-school plan, which was first introduced ─ and rejected ─ four years ago by the state Board of Higher Education.

The revived plan calls for UMass-Dartmouth to take over the private Southern New England School of Law in North Dartmouth.

"Law is a missing piece of the UMass curriculum," said Jean MacCormack, chancellor of UMass-Dartmouth. "This would fill in that gap."

We admit they seem to have a fairly strong case give that Mass has no public law school.

Still, the proposed new law school would be no bargain: $24,000 a year in tuition, fees and books. That is, of course, more affordable than many law schools. But given the glut of lawyers in the foreseeable future ─ along with recent past ─ that's still a fair amount of debt to take on. Perhaps, on the other hand, a UMass public law school would not be much bigger than the existing law school it would acquire.

The stiffest opponents in the past of the plan, the Globe reports, were Suffolk Law School, New England School of Law, and Western New England School of Law in Springfield. They argued at the time that the new school would cost taxpayers millions while burdening the state with more law schools and lawyers than it needs."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Informational Interviews for Bankruptcy Jobs?

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:37:00 +0000

Here is an article by Alyssa Dragnich that I found on Law.com entitled "Use Informational Interviews to Help Your Job Search." I thought you would be interested. Should these attorneys/law students consider a career in bankruptcy law? Here is the article:

"Mention "networking" to a law student and watch her cringe. Suggest an informational interview and prepare for her eyes to glaze over. Law students are told frequently about the value of these activities but generally find the idea of an informational interview intimidating and overly time-consuming. Why should I bother? What should I ask? How do I arrange one? How do I prepare? This article will answer those questions.

WHY SHOULD I BOTHER WITH INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS?

Despite their seemingly intangible benefits and the daunting task of approaching strangers for advice, informational interviews can be invaluable in a job search. For example, one student looking for career advice talked to five different attorneys in his practice area of interest. He initially planned to speak with only two, but each of them gave him additional names to contact. These advisers gave him tips on how to tailor his resume and cover letter specifically for jobs in this practice area. Furthermore, he was able to use the names of some of these contacts in his cover letters. Tailoring his application materials led to interviews, during which he was able to display a deeper knowledge of the field than most entry-level candidates. When it came time to negotiate his offer, he was armed with current information on the state of the market and salary standards.

Think of informational interviews as a long-term investment, not one where you expect an immediate return. You are not meeting with Attorney X to ask if his firm has a job opening or if he knows of job openings elsewhere. You are meeting with Attorney X to ask specific questions about his practice, his career and career path, and steps you should be taking along your career path.

WHAT SHOULD I ASK?

Many advisers tell students not to expect an informational interview to lead to a job offer -- but that it may. Even this may give students the wrong impression. You should pursue informational interviews to obtain information. Interviews are not just clever ways to wrangle a meeting with an attorney: They are goals in and of themselves. In order to make effective use of an informational interview, you must be clear about what you want to accomplish. Throw away the list of generic informational interview questions that you found online and develop a list of topics that apply to your situation.

Are you trying to decide between two cities? Then your questions might focus on that. "Partner X, if I hope to pursue a career in environmental regulatory law, is the highest volume/most interesting work in Washington, D.C.?" If Partner X practices environmental law in Phoenix, ask whether her practice deals more with federal or state agencies. Ask her how often she travels to Washington for hearings and meetings. Does she collaborate with a Washington-based firm for some of her cases?

Are you hoping to learn more about a particular practice area? Let's pretend you are considering a career in bankruptcy law. "Associate Q, do you feel a clerkship with a bankruptcy judge is essential for beginning a career in this field? Would a clerkship in a non-bankruptcy court be of value to employers? I see that you represent creditors exclusively; how did you decide to focus on a creditor practice and how does it differ from a debtor-side practice?"

There are also some standard questions that can be asked of almost anyone. Are there particular courses that you recommend I take in school? Are there internships or clinical opportunities that would be particularly tailored for my career path? How has the economy affected your practice (practice area, geographic location, etc.)? Do you expect this practice area to grow, shrink or remain stable in the next five years?

HOW DO I ARRANGE AN INTERVIEW?

Now that you are (hopefully) persuaded of the value of informational interviews, how do you actually go about getting one? Your law school's alumni network is an excellent place to start. You can of course request a meeting with anyone, but attorneys with whom you have some connection, such as an alma mater, are the most likely to be helpful.

Your initial contact should be made through e-mail, which allows the recipient a few days to think about the request. E-mail also allows you to say a bit about yourself and what you are seeking, which can be difficult in a voicemail or initial telephone call. In your e-mail, indicate that you will follow up by phone in two or three days and then make that call. Do not be concerned that calling is being "pushy." It's not. If, however, you don't receive a reply to an e-mail and two voicemail messages, accept that the attorney is probably not able or interested in speaking with you at this time. Don't be discouraged, just continue on to your next contact.

Your e-mail query should be brief but clear about who you are and what you seek. Here is a sample query:

Dear Ms. Attorney:

I am currently a second-year student at the McDonald School of Law and am considering a career in tax law. As a fellow McDonald alumna, I wonder if you might be willing to meet with me briefly to discuss your practice? I would be happy to come to your office or meet you for coffee, whichever you prefer.

I will take the liberty of phoning your office to follow up on Wednesday, Aug. 10.

Thank you,

Sally Student

In-person meetings are the best way to conduct these conversations because people are generally more candid than in a telephone or e-mail dialogue. If you are seeking meetings with attorneys in locations other than where you attend school, try to set up several meetings while you are in the area, perhaps over spring break or winter break. Your e-mail query could then say something like "I will be in Los Angeles the week of March 13-16 and would love to meet with you in person. If this is not practical for you, I would be happy to telephone you at a convenient time."

If it is simply not possible for you to meet with an attorney in person, do not worry. You can still have a productive discussion on the telephone or perhaps with video-conference equipment, if your school offers it.

HOW DO I PREPARE?

Assemble your list of questions and topic areas in advance but be prepared to go with the flow of the discussion. If your attorney is the chatty type and is off and running with the advice, go with it. If your attorney seems to be waiting for you to prompt him with questions, you will be happy you prepared your list in advance.

Students often ask if they should take notes during these meetings. I see nothing wrong with taking notes -- on paper. Do not bring your laptop and take notes on it! Taking notes telegraphs your interest and desire to retain the advice the attorney is offering. Be careful not to write constantly, however; maintain sufficient eye contact.

After your meeting, send a thank you note immediately (within 24 hours). This need not be lengthy, just something to thank the attorney for her time. Try to add one mention of something specific you discussed to keep the note from being too generic. For example, "Your advice on the Poverty Law Clinic was especially useful; I will be contacting Professor Smith as you suggested." If the attorney was especially friendly or helpful to you, keep in touch. Send him an e-mail when you land a fantastic summer internship or your first job. Before you know it, you have a professional network."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Lawyer Recruiting: A New Vision?

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:23:00 +0000

Below is an interesting article authored by Ashish Nanda with The American Laywer entitled "Lawyers Should Be Recruited Like Doctors." Has the time come to change the interviewing/hiring process? Read Ashish Nanda's article and consider its ideas. Here's the article

"The current oversupply of new associates has sent law firms scrambling to implement short-term adjustments, such as secondments and deferrals. But the legal profession needs more than temporary half-measures. The new-associate recruitment market is fundamentally broken, and it has been for some time. Incremental changes are not going to address its underlying problems. The market needs a structural fix -- a centralized matching authority, like the one that the medical profession has been using for more than half a century.

Firms make most of their new-associate offers to their summer interns. Thus, associate recruitment mostly happens at the intern-selection level. Summer internships operate as a bilateral matching market, in which law firms rank the candidates they interview and the candidates rank firms with which they wish to intern. The labor market "clears" in a decentralized manner. Law firms choose schools from which to interview, interested students at those schools apply to particular firms, the interviewing firms offer summer internship positions to specific students, and the students decide whether to accept the offers.

This decentralized clearing of the labor market leads to predictable inefficiencies, to the detriment of both firms and students. First, it creates bad matches. A firm waits for a top-ranked candidate to decline its offer before making an offer to a second-ranked candidate, who by then has gone elsewhere, perhaps to their second-ranked firm. The same dynamic occurs on the other side of the market: A candidate who is wait-listed by their first-ranked firm risks that forgoing a second-ranked firm could leave them without an offer from either. Candidates hoard offers, and firms make "exploding offers" that push candidates to decide very soon after receiving them.

Second, the job market can "unravel." A second-tier firm tries to preempt first-tier firms by approaching students earlier and making them time-bound offers. First-tier firms respond by also moving their recruitment dates up. This spurs second-tier firms to move their recruitment dates further up. The same dynamic occurs among law schools. A second-tier school opens its campus recruitment window just a little earlier than first-tier schools, hoping to encourage firms to make more internship offers to its students than they would otherwise. Recognizing that they are being preempted, first-tier schools also move up their recruitment windows, encouraging a second-tier school to move still earlier.

The consequence is that recruitment occurs long before jobs begin. Currently students are recruited at the beginning of their second year of law school, almost two years before starting their jobs. This situation causes three main problems deleterious to both the firms and the candidates: Firms have to recruit based on limited information, the labor market becomes inflexible and summer internships lose meaning.

At recruitment time, students have been through only one year of graduate school. Many have no full-time work experience. Other than from the interviews themselves, firms judge candidates' abilities principally through extrapolation from the reputation of their law schools and their first-year grades. Since these are exceedingly important determinants of where the students will get their first jobs, both law school admission and first-year academic performance become even more stressful and laden with meaning for law students. Over the next two years of law school, students will learn their strengths and weaknesses, interests and passions. But neither the students nor the hiring firms are able to use those insights and information; job assignments have already been made. Instead, many of the students, secure in the knowledge of where they will go upon graduation, pay less attention to second- and third-year courses.

As demonstrated by law firms' current predicament, recruiting two years before jobs begin introduces rigidity into the labor market. If the economic environment changes dramatically, firms, unable to easily adjust their new associate numbers, face a supply-demand imbalance: undercapacity, if times are better than expected; overcapacity, if times are worse (as is the case now). In difficult times, firms have to renege on implicit commitments to new hires (such as reducing the ratio of summer candidates to whom they make job offers or postponing start dates) or force current junior and midlevel associates to bear the brunt of the stress (such as through layoffs).

In the current system, internships lose their value. Properly conducted, internships are opportunities for firms and prospective associates to try out one another, evaluate such soft elements as the firm's work environment and culture and the intern's work ethic and collegiality, and eventually gauge the fit between the firm and the intern.

Law firm summer internships currently do not perform this filtering function. If a firm considers not offering a position to an intern, it likely no longer has access to second- or third-ranked choices, since they would probably have been offered jobs in the firms at which they interned. Thus, a firm will choose to extend an offer even to a less-than-ideal intern. Similarly, a student may not be happy at the firm with which they interned but hesitates to reject an offer because they will be forced to interview only with firms that have not been able to fill their job openings with interns. Thus, summer internships have become formalities. Firms try to not cause prospective associates to worry too much about their jobs and interns try not to create unnecessary waves.

These problems can be addressed by creation of a centralized matching authority. Under such a system, participating firms would still interview candidates for summer placement. At these interviews, candidates and firms would still be free to discuss any aspects of the internships. But the firms would not make offers directly to students, nor would students finalize placement at the time of the interview. Instead, firms would give the matching authority their preference ranking of candidates, along with the number of seats they have available. Students would give the matching authority their preference ranking of firms. On a preannounced date, the matching authority would match the firms with the candidates, taking into account both sides' preferences.

The matches would be made through an algorithm. These have long been in use and shown to work well in other settings. The best-known is the algorithm employed by the national medical residents matching program. Since 1952, a centralized matching bureau has annually assigned medical school graduates to their first jobs as residents. The algorithm, with some modifications, remains in use to this day, with very high levels of voluntary participation from both sides of the market, placing 20,000 graduating physicians in their jobs every year.

Careful studies of the matches have demonstrated that the algorithm does not favor either side of the market and allows few possibilities for strategic behavior by participants. An antitrust case that argued that centralized matching depressed resident salaries was dismissed by a federal district court in August 2004. Also in 2004, Congress passed legislation clarifying that the matching program does not violate antitrust laws. With use, the matching algorithm has become increasingly sophisticated, allowing the matching bureau to take into account considerations such as paired geographical preferences of couples who enter the labor market at the same time.

For centralized matching to be effective in the legal profession, major schools and firms must sign on. Once major schools and firms have agreed to centralized matching, other schools and firms can choose to join the regime, or, if they stay away, risk signaling lower quality to the market. Nonparticipation can be reduced if participating schools and firms commit to giving priority to other participating firms and schools.

It is crucial that members of the matching authority understand the concerns of both sides of the labor market but be independent of each. The matching authority should have the right to investigate allegations of cheating and punish those who it finds to have broken the rules. To retain independence, the matching authority should be financially self-sufficient, funded by fees from member firms and small fees from candidates who request matches.

Because matching would be done by a centralized authority on a particular date, problems associated with decentralized matching would disappear. Inefficient matches would be avoided. If a candidate or a law firm is unable to get its first-rank choice, they can seek a second-rank choice before moving further down their preference ranking. Market unraveling would be prevented by the matching authority disciplining schools or firms that encourage or make offers ahead of the match date. Rule-breakers could be fined or suspended from the matching regime.

Once unraveling is prevented, recruitment could be rolled back to dates closer to the summer internships. Firms would have more information on candidates. Students would focus on learning in the early part of the second year and develop a deeper appreciation of their own interests and strengths before recruitment begins.

If centralized matching is beneficial to market participants on both sides and addresses most of the problems of decentralized matching, why has such a system not emerged already in the legal profession? There are three reasons: concern with centralization of power, the challenge of instituting collective action and resistance to change.

Some market participants recoil from the idea of centralized matching because they conflate centralized markets with centralization of power. Centralized matching does not take choice away from individual students or firms. Instead, it provides a common platform for the labor market to function efficiently. In that regard, it is akin to a stock exchange, which allows people to execute trades according to their individual preferences but within the ambit of explicit rules that increase the efficiency and robustness of trading.

Centralized matching requires collective action. Most of the major market participants have to agree to a centralized matching regime to make it work. Individual schools and firms feel unable to move to such a system on their own. Because of this inertia, the existing system prevails, even though individual market participants have to live with its inefficiencies.

Replacing the current system with centralized matching might make recruitment officers at firms and placement officers at schools feel threatened, even though it would allow both recruitment offices and placement offices to focus on what their primary goals ought to be -- for the former, finding and ranking the best candidates and encouraging them to choose their firm, and for the latter, advising students on application and interview strategies and prioritization of preferences. However, because centralized matching obviates the need for their involvement in the match process itself, individual recruitment officers or placement officers might perceive it as diminishing their roles and resist its introduction.

A transition to centralized matching, therefore, is unlikely to be triggered by a bottom-up process or through the initiative of individual law schools or law firms. It requires the shared commitment of leaders of law schools and law firms. Centralized matching will become a reality only if they concur that it is superior to decentralized matching and are prepared to establish a matching authority with the requisite capability and authority. Is it time to institute this radical but much-needed change?"
Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Laid Off Associate Finds Job Outside of Law Firm

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:54:00 +0000

Let's face it. The legal job market is tough--- real tough. Many associates have been laid-off or down-sized not because of poor performance. Rather, these associates were let go because of a reduction in business and simply not enought work to keep the associates busy and profitable.

Some laid-off attorneys have retooled by learning bankruptcy law and then found work in a hot market. Other attorneys have quit the law altogether. Below is an interesting article how one laid-off associate found a job outside the normal law firm route. This article is written by Francesca Heintz:

After a Year, Laid-Off Associate Finds New Job Outside a Law Firm

By: Francesca Heintz

The American Lawyer

October 09, 2009

Nearly a year after Lynne Zagami was laid off from Brown Rudnick, she's back to work. After the third-year corporate associate was let go in a round of firings at the Boston-based firm last November, she spent 11 months scrambling to find a new job. (Zagami's job search efforts were chronicled in a story in The American Lawyer's August issue and also in this video.)

On Monday, Zagami began her new job as the director of client strategic processes at Brightleaf Corp., a startup company based outside of Boston. Brightleaf's six employees in Massachusetts and 30 employees in India are developing software to streamline document production in law firms and in-house legal departments.

Although Zagami won't be practicing law, she will be using her legal expertise to create software for lawyers who are. We spoke with Zagami about her new job, why she thinks the big firm model is broken, and whether she'd ever go back.

Q: How did your job search lead you to Brightleaf?

A: I had been interviewing with three companies that were vastly different opportunities. One was a junior role at a midsize financial services company doing a lot of public company work. Another was at a more entrepreneurial company where I would be doing contracts. And then there was Brightleaf, which was totally different, and would be a step away from practicing. It is a company that is trying to capitalize on a lot of problems that exist in larger law firms.

Q: What is Brightleaf doing to solve problems at larger firms?

A: When you are a first- or second-year associate at a big firm you do a lot of document editing. It ends up being very mundane. It's also risky because the document is only as good as the person who is editing it. The document doesn't prompt you and say if you make this change here, than you should probably change it there. Brightleaf is developing technology that would automate this process so there is less margin of error.

Q: Would it also mean there would be fewer associates doing document review?

A: Big firms operate in a triangular model where they have a small number of partners and a huge number of associates. When the economy went sour and profits per partner took a dip, firms couldn't support all of the associates at the bottom. It would be wiser to use technology to free up junior lawyers from word processing to do actual legal work.

Q: Throughout your job search you were looking at jobs at firms or in-house legal departments. When did you make the decision to stop practicing law?

A: I was under the impression that I needed to continue practicing, at least for a while, to really develop my career. But in my first conversation with Luke O'Brien, who is our VP of strategy (and a former lawyer), I was so excited when I hung up the phone. I realized that all of the things I loved about my work had nothing to do with practicing law.

Q: Do you think your experience as a big firm associate will be helpful in your new role?

A: Yes, they really wanted to bring in someone like me because I sat there for three years doing this kind of work. I know exactly what the problems are and how firms will expect to use this tool.

Q: Do you think you will practice again?

A: I don't think anyone can plan more than five years out. But it's my first week of work and I'm happy getting into the car, which is something I've never experienced before. It's the difference between "Oh sure no problem" if I have to work late as opposed to "Oh jeez, here we go."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Bar Exam Results

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:25:00 +0000

Dear bloggers:

The Chicago Tribune published the following article about how eager law students were in discovering whether they had passed the bar exam. I still remember almost 24 years ago when I was in the same position. However, I wonder how many of these new lawyers will consider becoming bankruptcy attorneys. Bankruptcy is booming and some say there is room for more bankruptcy attorneys.

The Tribune reports as follows:

"The results for the Illinois bar exam were released Thursday and for the second year in a row lawyers complained that there were delays in learning whether they passed.

The lawyers said they had problems logging into a web site run by the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, which administers the exam, that posted the scores. They tried logging in so many times that the agency's Web address, www.ibaby.org, was one of the most searched terms on Google yesterday. Yes, I know, the acronym sounds like an application for the iPhone.

Lawrence Hill, who serves on the board of the organization, acknowledged that some of the test takers experienced difficulties with the web site. But they have no one to blame but themselves, Hill said.

He explained that the applicants were supposed to wait until they received an email that there score was posted on the Web site before logging in. Instead, many overanxious applicants checked the Web site at the same time, once word started filtering that some had received their scores. The influx made it harder for those who had received email notification to check their results.

"Everyone who has gotten a message to check their scores has received them," Hill said Thursday evening. "But some applicants are not using the system in the way it was designed to be used."

About 2,700 people took the bar exam in July.

The state board decided to release the results in small increments to avoid a repeat of last year when its Web site crashed because it could not handle the influx of people. The agency also quadrupled the number of servers that support its Web site, Hill said.

Every lawyer says that waiting to see whether you passed the bar exam is one of the most tense periods in your life but how hard is it to follow directions?"
Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Bankruptcy May Be the Answer for Small and Family Businesses

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Fellow bloggers:

Many small and family owned businesses are experiencing financial problems. Some of these businesses are staring at bankruptcy. These businesses would never have dreamed that bankruptcy was a possibility prior to the recession. But, now, their dreams could be shattered. Bankruptcy is looming.

Consequently, I though you would be interested in the following article written by DANA MATTIOLI of the Wall Street Journal:

"Siblings Georgia, Jimmy and John Roussos have spent most of their lives working in the kitchen of the restaurant their father opened in 1954. The eatery managed to survive a hurricane and other setbacks, but it wasn't until this August that the recession took its toll, forcing Roussos Restaurant in Daphne, Ala., to permanently shut its doors.

After months of slow sales, family businesses are being forced to close, ending legacies and leaving behind a wake of sad customers and loyal employees. "Some family businesses that were just hanging on have said it's time to get out," says Dann Van Der Vliet, director of the Vermont Family Business Initiative at the University of Vermont.

An estimated 90% of U.S. businesses are family-owned or controlled, from traditional small businesses to a third of Fortune 500 firms, according to the Small Business Administration. Hard data are hard to come by on the number of small family-controlled enterprises that have closed in this recession, but experts say the prolonged slump has hurt a significant number. About 4.3 million businesses with 19 or fewer employees closed during the fourth quarter of 2007 through the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

These businesses, often steeped in tradition and not as flexible to change, tend not to have formal plans in place to respond to crisis. "They've seen reductions in top line revenue that they just can't react fast enough to," says Beth Wood, assistant vice president of market development and family-business advocacy with MassMutual. Problems securing credit in this recession have also prevented some family businesses from getting the funding they need, she adds.

The economic downturn is really just the latest setback for family-run businesses. In the 1970s and '80s, exorbitant income taxes and estate taxes forced many to close, says John Ward, professor of family enterprise with Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Before that, the anti-establishment movement during and after the Vietnam War made many children reluctant to take over the family business, he says.

Jimmy Roussos, 60 years old, says the financial meltdown last fall caused business at Roussos Restaurant to drop in half practically overnight.

The restaurant, which claims to have served the likes of Elvis Presley and Jimmy Buffett, began offering specials to help drive traffic, but the attempts ate into its bottom line. "You had to discount so heavily to get someone in the door that it just wasn't profitable anymore," says Georgia Roussos, 53.

After months of being unprofitable, the siblings made the difficult decision to close shop, leaving their 55 employees -- many who have worked there for more than 35 years -- out of work. The siblings say it was emotional not only for them, but for their workers and loyal customers.

Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, a family-run chain of four small bookstores in Milwaukee, had to shut its doors in March. The shops, started in 1927, were a fixture in the community, known for author visits, children's story time and ability to bud romances. Carol Grossmeyer, former president of the shops, says she met her late husband David Schwartz at one of the locations when she applied for a job and he hired her.

Mr. Schwartz passed away in 2004 and Ms. Grossmeyer eventually took over. Already the book business was suffering, with customers gravitating toward online orders and larger chains eating into sales. The economy's rapid decline in the last year put an even bigger dent in sales, 5%. and Ms. Grossmeyer says she realized she couldn't remain in business.

"It was really hard because you're closing your family legacy," says Ms. Grossmeyer. "I cried for a month before it happened and a month after."

To be sure, there are many family businesses that are holding their own, better equipped to survive a downturn because they usually hold less debt than public companies and can turn to older family members who have navigated other recessions.

But for those who couldn't shake the current lapse, losing a legacy is particularly difficult.

"To shutter an enterprise that often has a family's name above the door is a horrible experience to go through; there is grief and loss associated with it," says Drew Mendoza, managing principle of The Family Business Consulting Group Inc.

It can also be a curveball for would-be heirs. Austin Blankenbeckler, 27, grew up on his family's car lot in Waxahachie, Texas. As a child he washed cars at Carlisle Chevrolet and always expected he would one day run the business like his grandfather and father. Now, the General Motors Co. dealership that has been around since 1926 and managed to survive the Great Depression and World War II, is faced with closing.

Mr. Blankenbeckler worries about his career options. "I actually never really thought about doing anything else," he says."

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Compensation for Young Attorneys Changed by Recession

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:11:00 +0000

Here is an interesting article from Tamara Loomis of The American Lawyer. Loomis reports as follows:

"Believe it: The worst economic downturn since the Great Depression has hit law firms hard. Historically, the legal sector has weathered recessions better than many other sectors have, buoyed by the attendant surges in litigation and bankruptcy work. That's what's happened, for instance, amid the wave of corporate scandals -- the so-called Enron era -- that followed the bursting of the high-tech bubble. Not this time. Big firms are hurting, their profit margins squeezed by both sagging demand and record-high expenses. The result: the now familiar litany of mass layoffs, salary freezes and cuts, deferred start dates for first-year associates, and canceled or downsized summer programs.

Given all that, the $160,000 question now is, what happens when the economy recovers? Will things go back to how they were?

The answer, according to law firm and law school leaders, is no. They say that the recession and events leading up to it have permanently changed the way business is done in the legal industry. The recent boom -- with its eye-popping billing rates of $1,000 per hour, first-year associate salaries of $160,000, and bloated ranks of junior associates -- is over. In its place, for now at least, is a new era in which law firms are expected to focus on being more cost-efficient. For the law student looking to join an Am Law 100 firm, that means smaller classes, more competition and lower pay.

The Am Law 100 itself is looking less monolithic these days. While some firms haven't dropped the $160,000 starting salary, and won't, others, even the largest and most profitable, are set to forge a new path. At some firms, starting salaries, associate pay structures, training programs and promotion schemes are already starting to split from the pack. Those trends will continue postrecession, says James Leipold, the executive director of NALP. "Firms today are less worried about what their rivals are doing," he says. "I don't think everything is going to coalesce around a new normal."

To understand what's going on, it's worth going back in time. The past 17 years were a period of unprecedented prosperity for the industry. Toward the end of that era, law firm expenses -- driven by pricey real estate and rising associate salaries -- rose by an average of 10.1 percent each year from 2000 to 2007, according to the 2008 Annual Survey of Law Firm Financial Performance by Citi Private Bank.

Firms didn't mind writing the checks when demand -- measured by gross billable hours -- was exploding. But then demand began to dry up. On the transactional side, the falloff in work began with the unfolding of the credit market crisis at the start of 2008. On the litigation side, it's been building for a few years, with clients increasingly pushing for their firms to outsource work and manage matters better. A case that demanded eight lawyers a decade ago now may pull in half as many, because clients don't want to pay for associates to wade through documents, says Wally Martinez, managing partner of Hunton & Williams. Instead, many clients generally want routine work handled by contract lawyers, he says.

Corporate counsel -- feeling internal pressure to cut costs -- are also getting stingier about paying for litigation that isn't "bet-the-company." And budget management software is helping in-house lawyers review bills and track matters more closely than ever before.

The recession has accelerated these trends, Leipold says. Desperate to stop hemorrhaging profits, law firms have resorted to layoffs -- according to The American Lawyer, the number stands at more than 2,900 associates since the start of 2008. Another sign of contraction in the industry: smaller summer classes. Among the 131 firms that responded to the The American Lawyer's summer hiring survey, the average class size was 20 percent smaller this year than it was last year, dropping from about 58 to 45. And of those summers who have gotten offers from Am Law 100 firms, all but a handful are looking at delayed start dates.

Most firms have also cut back sharply on on-campus recruiting for next summer; at least nine firms, including Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman; and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, have canceled their 2010 summer programs in all or some offices. Many associates still working have seen their compensation frozen or cut, typically by about 10 percent, or from $160,000 to $145,000 for first-year associates in major cities. Even when the economy picks up, don't expect law firms to return anytime soon to prerecession associate staffing levels. The work that's been outsourced isn't coming back, Martinez says.

As for salaries, "Not everyone is going to retreat from $160,000," Leipold says, adding that "over the long haul, attorney salaries will continue to drift upward." But in the short term, Leipold doesn't think the salary structure that firms had moved to before the recession is supportable: "Clients are saying they are paying too much, and in particular too much for the newest talent, who are not fully trained lawyers."

To make matters worse, last year's recruiting season produced a very high yield. At the time, firms didn't understand the depth of the recession, says David Van Zandt, dean of Northwestern Law School. As a result, their summer classes are much bigger than they need, he says. With far fewer spots to fill, firms have become choosier. "During the boom years, firms just needed bodies," he says. "Now they're looking for students who not only can draft briefs and review documents but can also work well with clients and other lawyers." Van Zandt says firms are also starting to look more closely at a candidate's basic project-management and communication skills. This means that students who try to tailor their abilities through class choices, internships and work experience can help to make themselves more attractive to prospective employers, he says.

Law firms are also starting to take a more rigorous approach to their end of the recruiting process. "We're seeing better-prepared interviewers, more senior people" coming on campus, says Bruce Elvin, director of career and professional development at Duke University Law School.

As for the interview itself, it's no longer about whether you like the same sports teams, at least not at places like Vinson & Elkins and McKenna Long & Aldridge. These firms are using behavioral interviewing techniques, in conjunction with law school rankings and grade point averages, to evaluate candidates. The idea behind behavioral interviewing -- used by consulting and other professional service firms for decades but fairly new to the legal industry -- is that the best predictor of future performance is past performance in specific situations. Interviewers are trained to ask questions such as "Tell me about a time when you had a setback and how you dealt with it," or "Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split-second decision." Vinson & Elkins hiring partner Thomas Leatherbury predicts that behavioral interviewing will be more common in the years to come. "It's much more substantive," he says.

Even in traditional interviews, Elvin says, law students can and should adopt a behavioral focus: "Students can benefit themselves by talking about challenges they've overcome, decisions they've made. It shows you are taking ownership."

Beyond making the right impression, students armed with certain skills will fare better than others, law school and law firm leaders say. The most sought-after students are those with a joint J.D./MBA degree, Van Zandt says. With four years of business and legal training, as well as an average of four years in the workforce, "these graduates have had no problem getting a job in this market," he says. (Northwestern actually prefers students who have gained work experience before entering law school.)

Students with specialized training can also tap into at least two hot practice areas: financial regulation and energy law. Sweeping changes in the first area mean that young lawyers who catch that wave, via jobs in or outside of government, will be well positioned for law firm jobs, says Arnold & Porter managing partner Thomas Milch. Energy law, propelled by climate change issues, is also booming -- good news for law students with a background in science, he says.

Even students who don't land an offer in the current recruiting season need not despair. "Speed is not necessarily anyone's friend in this economic cycle," Vinson & Elkins's Leatherbury says. At least two firms -- Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and DLA Piper -- skipped the August recruiting season, and plan to visit campuses in November instead. Some firms may even come back in the spring for a second recruiting cycle if they decide to increase the number of summer associates they'd like to hire, Leatherbury says. But he doesn't anticipate any permanent shifts in the recruiting season, at least for now.

Leatherbury would actually like to see recruiting pushed back to later in the school year, given the difficulties of predicting hiring needs two years into the future. In April, Leatherbury drafted a plan asking law schools to delay on-campus recruiting, but he says the idea didn't go over so well. "The general reaction was that if Harvard moved, then everyone else would move," he says. Harvard Law School did move, but in the wrong direction, in Leatherbury's view. Its recruiting program, which had been in late September, now takes place at the end of August, along with those of most other top law schools.

Once in the door, depending on where they land, students may well face an entirely new approach to associate pay, training and advancement. A handful of early adopters are abandoning lockstep compensation, in which each associate class is paid the same base salary, in favor of performance-based pay programs, in which associates are promoted -- and their billing rates raised -- as they master a range of competencies and skills. The pioneer of performance-based pay, the firm that Husch Blackwell Sanders grew out of, has used it for close to a decade. Other recent converts include McKenna Long & Aldridge, which switched over in the fall of 2007, and Howrey, which put the final touches on its new program in January 2009.

In the last few months, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe; DLA Piper; and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal all announced plans to replace lockstep associate compensation with performance-based programs. Laura Saklad, Orrick's chief lawyer development officer, says the firm's new pay program "recognizes that not all associates advance at the same pace, tenure is not a proxy for advancing skill, and clients should not bear the cost of training associates. In the end, our goal is to deploy the right lawyer or professional for the right task at the right cost."

Expect many more firms to follow suit. Peter Sloan, a partner in the Kansas City, Mo., office of Husch Blackwell who wrote the bible of performance-based associate pay, "From Lockstep to Levels, Classes to Competencies," says firms like McKenna and Howrey are just "the tip of the iceberg." After years of being virtually ignored by his industry peers, Sloan sees a surge of interest in merit-based pay. In July he led an online seminar on the subject that was cohosted by NALP and the American Law Institute-American Bar Association. The seminar drew more than 200 attendees from law firms, law schools and consulting firms.

Sloan says he has also been "quietly contacted" by firms that are actively planning to switch to performance-based pay, and hears "rumors" that other firms are telling associates that they, too, are moving to such systems. "This economic climate sends a clear signal that business as usual may no longer be a viable strategy," Sloan says. "I think we are close to a tipping point, with more and more firms taking a hard look at how they manage associates. Many of those firms may move to a merit-based compensation system."

(Before you throw in your lot with a pay-for-performance firm, you should know that merit-based pay does not immunize associates against layoffs in a recession: So far this year, Husch Blackwell has laid off 41 associates.)

Pay-for-performance programs vary but typically feature four or five performance-based tracks or levels along which associates advance. Compensation, billing rates, and progress toward partnership are tied to levels of competencies, rather than hiring class. Associates can also expect mutually agreed-upon goals set in advance, quarterly feedback and supervising attorneys who have actually been trained in mentoring and feedback. Jennifer Queen, McKenna's chief recruitment and development officer, says that with a merit-based pay system, associates know in advance what they need to do to make it. "The secret to success isn't a secret anymore," Queen says. She says clients like performance-based programs too. For one, it's how they pay their professionals. Plus, they know they are getting their money's worth, since an associate's billing rate is tied directly to his or her performance level.

Despite the merit-based pay's advantages, even its fans expect many firms to stick with the tried-and-true, at least for now. Lockstep compensation is familiar and easy -- two big selling points. "Just because you're breathing and it's another year, you get promoted," says McKenna's Queen. By comparison, a merit-based system can be quite labor-intensive, since moving from one level to the next requires an in-depth performance review.

Look to Howrey for another upheaval in the once-predictable world of associate training and advancement. Starting this fall, Howrey's first- and second-years will take part in a new apprenticeship program, going to classes, working on pro bono projects and shadowing partners at depositions, court appearances, client meetings and the like. The billable-hour requirement for participants has been cut from 1,950 to 700 hours. The program's final three months is a secondment, in which associates are embedded at client sites at a reduced billing rate. Despite a sharply lower starting salary of $100,000 (plus a $25,000 bonus earmarked, in most cases, for making student loan payments), Howrey partner Richard Ripley says all 23 associates who began in September signed on.

Will others follow suit? The program certainly has its appeal in a time when more and more clients refuse to let junior associates work on their matters. Ripley says "clients are thrilled with it, since we're giving our young associates the skills they need to bring value to our matters." Philadelphia's Drinker Biddle & Reath and Louisville, Ky.,'s Frost Brown Todd are also launching apprenticeship programs this fall.

Where does it leave today's law students? No question, they are headed into a job market sure to present significant challenges for some time to come. But these future lawyers may also be the first in years to have real choices, as even the largest firms begin to diverge on pay and promotions. As President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has said, a crisis presents opportunities "to do things you think you could not do before." Easy for him to say. He has a job. "

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

Law School Student Loan Debt Can be Crushing

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:08:00 +0000

The average law student who graduated from a private university in 2008 borrowed more than $91,500 on the way to earning that degree, reported by Daily Business Review.

Combine that with leftover undergraduate debt and the shrinking job market, and you've got a surefire recipe for postgraduate financial fright. In a sharp departure from recent history -- when students coming out of even mid-tier schools could count on commanding six-figure starting salaries -- law school debt is now a heavy burden.

"Graduating law students have just spent three years working very hard, and suddenly they're out on their own in very uncertain times," says Beth Kobliner, author of "Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties." "It's easy to feel overwhelmed, but the best thing you can do is to educate yourself about your options."

Law school grads may have a particularly heavy burden to bear but, like other borrowers, they have several options that can help them in this regard. For those with debt worries, here are four questions to ask.

WHO OWNS YOUR LOANS?

Debt is often sold on the secondary market, with the debtor as the income stream. One loan can be sold many times, making it tricky to know who owns yours. Joe Russo, director of student financial strategies at the University of Notre Dame Law School, suggests visiting www.nslds.ed.gov. The U.S. Department of Education database has information on all government-backed loans, the vast majority of student debt. It's the best resource for finding out how much you owe -- and to whom.

ARE YOU READY TO STRETCH?

Once you know who's collecting your payments, ask about loan consolidation and extension. Standard terms call for student loans to be repaid in 120 equal monthly installments over 10 years. These days, there are various payment plans, especially for government-backed loans including Stafford, Perkins and PLUS. Those with more than $30,000 in government-backed debt from college, law school or both can combine balances directly with the department and extend the repayment period to 20 or even 30 years. Monthly payments will be lower, but you'll pay more in interest over the life of the loan.

DOES THE NEW RULE APPLY?

Find out if you qualify for income-based repayment. William Hoye, director of financial aid at Duke University Law School, said this new program for government-backed loans is one that every law grad should know about. The program offers especially attractive repayment terms for those who take public interest jobs.

HOW LOW WILL THEY GO?

If you are unemployed and unable to make any payments, ask your lender for a deferment or forbearance. Both delay payments for a defined period of time and are relatively easy to obtain, especially if you're out of work. But Patricia Christel, a spokesman for Sallie Mae, one of the largest student loan servicers, said a deferment or forbearance should be a last resort. Your lender will tell you what the criteria for qualifying are. Beth Kobliner recommends a deferment, if possible, because the federal government will often subsidize the interest payments. With a loan forbearance, interest continues to accrue. Source: Matt Straquadine of the Daily Business Review.

Building a bankruptcy practice and becoming a bankruptcy lawyer may be the best bet for some law school graduates to survive in the current work environment. Bankruptcy attorneys are in huge demand in a hot market.

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.

2,000 Legal Jobs Lost in September; Bankruptcy Jobs a Bright Spot

noreply@blogger.com (Attorney Robert Schaller) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Bankruptcy continues to be a hot jobs market with the number of bankruptcy filings surging to over the 1,000,000 mark. Jobs in bankruptcy are offering a source of hope for unemployed young attorneys. Schools like the National Bankruptcy College are offering retraining programs to attorneys who cannot locate a job or need to transition their job skills from fading practice areas to a surging bankruptcy practice.

In contract, the non-bankruptcy legal market is not doing so well. According to a monthly jobs report released Friday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation lost 263,000 jobs in September of 2009 as the unemployment rate reached 9.8 percent, highest in 26 years.

The legal sector wasn't spared. When the data is seasonally adjusted, the sector shed another 2,000 jobs. When not seasonally adjusted, the legal industry lost 13,600 jobs, likely a result of the conclusion of most summer associate programs and the return of students to their law schools.

While layoffs at Am Law firms appear to have tapered off from their brisk pace earlier this year, some firms still are thinning their ranks. Reportedly, Chicago-based Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal enacted its third round of cuts of the past 18 months, reducing its ranks by 30 attorneys in September, including 10 income partners.

Signs don't point to any major improvements in the employment stats in the legal field for October.

On Friday, The Recorder reported that Colley Godward Kronish was laying off 58 staffers, with the majority of the cuts coming from the secretarial ranks. The layoffs represent nearly 6 percent of the firm's total staff. Cooley previously cut 52 lawyers and 62 staff in January. Source: Brian Baxter of The Am Law Daily blog.

Warmest Regards,

Bob Schaller

Your Bankruptcy Advisor Blog
By: Attorney Robert Schaller (Bob's bio) of the Schaller Law Firm

Bob is a member of the National Bankruptcy College Attorney Network, American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

I encourage you to SUBSCRIBE to this blog by completing the box to the right of this post so you will automatically receive future blog postings. Next, you can review past and future blogs at any time by clicking the "archive" link in the column to the right of this posting. Plus, you are invited to submit a question by utilizing the "question" box in the column to the right of this posting.

For information about Chapter 7 bankruptcy Click Here

For information about Chapter 13 bankruptcy Click Here

You are invited to contact Attorney Schaller at 630-655-1233 or visit his website at http://www.schallerlawfirm.com/to learn about how the bankruptcy laws can help you.

NOTE: Robert Schaller looks forward to the opportunity to talk with you about your legal issues. But please remember that all information on this blog is for advertising and general informational purposes only. Please read Bob's disclaimer.

I recommend that you review a few other blogs that may be of interest to you. These blogs are identified in the right column and are set forth below: bankruptcy issues blog; bankruptcy and family law issues blog; bankruptcy and employment issues blog; and bankruptcy and student loan issues blog.