Job Prospects from Insiders

I've decided to use my law school admissions cycle half-time (4 decisions in, 4 more to go) to see what the job market looks like from the front lines. I have spoken to two 3Ls about the job market. Given that one was in Boston and the other in Virginia, they reported very similar situations. For the Boston market, the anxiousness that dominated the class at the end of the summer has been replaced with a grudging resignation to the reality of the economic situation. The BigLaw jobs just aren't out there for most people. A few people have offers from big firms, but many of the 2009 graduates have not started working and many of them have had their offers deferred or rescinded. Having an offer is still no guarantee that a job will be waiting after graduation. People are turning to government, JAG, and clerkships for gainful employment. The demand for these positions has made them unusually competitive.

I heard a similar story from the 3L in VA. People did not have jobs at the start of the semester, but the offers have started to trickle in. The wrinkle is that these jobs are in small or mid-sized firms and not the high paying BigLaw firms (my Boston source sent me a job posting from a small firm in Chicago looking to interview 3L's, the trend must be national).

I've read similar things about the job market online (if I find good links later I'll put them here), but I wanted to see what people in the midst of looking for a job are actually experiencing. I would like to talk to people with a background like mine. I have a plan to find somebody to supplement what I've already heard about the patent law market, especially for people with advanced degrees. Is there a PhD boost for the job market too? I would like to know before I take the plunge.