Jobs for New Law Grads: Temporary Employment Rate Masks Job Market Weakness for New Attorneys

National Association for Law Placement  released findings from its recent Employment Report and Salary Survey for the class of 2009.  The report indicates that the employment for new law grads fell off 4 percent in two years.  Only 4 percent-you might be saying to yourself-the figures are not as bad as many of us might have expected.  But according to NALP, the employment rate masks a number of weaknesses in the job market.  For example, deferred associates count among the employed group even though these new grads waited months to begin their positions.  In addition, many new lawyers are accepting temporary positions-nearly 41% of those who took positions in the public interest field and 30% of those in business jobs.  The overall number of temp jobs for this group totals 25%  a significant portion of the total employment figure.

The fact that employment has decreased for two years in a row is an indication of the impact of the recession on employment of new attorneys. NALP Executive Director James Leipold noted that " while the employment rate of 88.3% may seem stronger than expected, when the statistic is teased apart, it begins to reveal some of the fundamental weaknesses in the job market faced by this class. For instance, a different survey conducted by NALP found that between 3,200 and 3,700 graduates with jobs in law firms had their start dates deferred beyond December 1, 2009, with many deferred well into 2010."

If you would like to review the complete statistics of the employment statistics for the class of 2009, follow this link.