Is it impossible to find work as an attorney right now?
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Anonymous
| Graduated in 2016 from a nearby top-30 ranked school. I passed the VA bar last July and am in the process of waiving into DC. Unfortunately, on-campus interviews did not pan out (I was just outside of the 40% of my 1L class) and now I am finding it impossible to get a job! I've been living at my parents house but it is coming up on a year since graduation and I am depressed about my situation. Hoping to hear from others who may have overcome a similar situation. |
Anonymous
| Where are you looking? |
Anonymous
OP - DC and NOVA |
Anonymous
|
I know it's not what you want to hear, but the field in this area is too saturated.
Have you looked into moving? Are you only looking for a position at a big firm or are you also looking smaller? What have you done to get your foot in the door? Are you working at all? Two of my firm's researchers are in the same boat as you. They're under-employed for the moment and still looking. |
Anonymous
| Have you done the "summer associate" thing yet? The firm I work for is hiring, but we are looking for a mid-level. Most of our summer associates end up coming back at attorneys. (I'm not an attorney, just a secretary) |
Anonymous
| Have you looked into contract doc review? |
Anonymous
| I think you're asking more if it's impossible to find work as an attorney without experience right now. That's a big difference. Do you have any attorney connections - family friends, law school contacts, etc that could have a coffee with you and talk about possible options? Applying blind likely won't get you anywhere. |
Anonymous
| OP - I've gone on a few interviews. Mostly midsize firms but also in government before the hiring freeze. Even though the firms advertise 1-3 years of experience they end up hiring someone with more. I've heard from others that the market is saturated but I don't want to have to sit for another bar for a small chance at a job elsewhere. Also, my relatives are here. A friend told me to look at policy jobs but most of those pay less than 60k and ideally I'd like to use my degree and law license. |
Anonymous
OP - I've been told that this can be a career killer, is that true? |
Anonymous
| You're almost certainly going to have to start at a low paying job. That's just the nature of the field right now. My husband has a law degree from a not-great school and his first legal job, around 2009, paid 40k. No joke - less than he made before law school. He's since become an expert in a niche area and now works in-house but it was a pretty long road with some lucky and a LOT of networking involved. Good luck! |
Anonymous
I'd say not working for a few years could be a career killer. |
Anonymous
| I think I might try to do something in the meantime while applying for jobs even if it is contract work. If possible you might want to expand the range of the law jobs you're applying to - in house, public interest, clerkship (including Va state courts), VA state or municipal legal government work. I think if you start doing some legal work even if not exactly what you want to do ultimately, that will help get legal experience on your resume and start getting you contacts etc. |
Anonymous
|
tough at the entry level for the bottom half of a middling law school, but plenty of people get jobs. sending in resumes blindly to places you don't know anyone is the least likely way to get a job. network, network, network. take advantage of your law school's career services. and your alumni network. ask people to have coffee and/or an informational interview. keep an eye out for small firms that might be interested in hiring someone they know. volunteer if you have time/inclination. if nothing, nothing, nothing is panning out, pay your way with contract or temp work at least for the short term. or title work. A friend of mine got hired as a "clerk" at a title company after law school, and eventually got promoted to counsel. Neither lucrative nor prestigious but the hours are ace.
I know a couple of guys who tired of trying to find jobs and hung out their shingle, operating a "law firm" out of one's basement. it paid the bills for awhile (barely), and eventually they got hired on by a small firm. That's tough to do without any meaningful experience. but I've always admired their moxie. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for your responses everyone. I am trying to network more and have expanded my search beyond law firms. I guess I just feel beaten down because all of my friends were able to secure jobs right after graduation. It's good to know that others struggled at first but eventually landed on their feet. Do you think working as an unpaid "law clerk" for a state court judge would be valuable experience, or would law firms see it as a waste because it isn't an official "clerkship"? |
Anonymous
|
Bro if you didn't read third tier reality before you went to ls in 2013 I question your judgement.
By 2013 everyone knew it is t13 or don't go. |