42% of Lawyers Surveyed Fear Career Fallout from Lehman Woes

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42% of Lawyers Surveyed Fear Career Fallout from Lehman Woes

Posted Sep 18, 2008, 12:06 pm CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

An increasing number of lawyers are worried that problems on Wall Street will hurt their careers.

Forty-two percent of practicing lawyers responding to a survey through the blog Above the Law said the recent bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch would harm their careers. Only 27 percent felt that way when the government bailed out Bear Stearns.

The survey, sponsored by legal recruitment firm Lateral Link, got 830 responses. Most of those who answered were associates, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports.

Law students are particularly concerned about the impact on their careers, with 50 percent of 3Ls, 68 percent of 2Ls and 63 percent of 1Ls feeling fearful, Lateral Link spokesman Aven James told ABAJournal.com in an e-mail. The fear factor is also strong in New York, where 55 percent of the respondents were fearful.

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Posted by Ellen Barshevsky - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 7 hours, 45 minutes ago

This will be bad for all lawyers, but especially for WOMEN, who will be the first to be layed off because of the stock market.

We already know that it is a OLD BOY’S NETWORK and that when there is a choice, the firms prefer keeping the men and letting the women go.

Equal Rights mean that we be treated equally. The Women did NOT cause the problem at the stock market, so WHY are the WOMEN the first to be layed off?

We MUST ban together to try and prevent this form happening. If we have equal rights, we can only be layed off one man for one woman.

We should MAKE The firms all remember we have EQUAL rights.
Posted by OR - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 4 hours, 48 minutes ago

What is wrong with you (besides the fact you can’t spell and you have bad grammar)?
Posted by DCEsq - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 4 hours, 16 minutes ago

Notwithstanding the commentary to date, the article is of very little intellectual use if for the simple reason that there is no mention of which kinds of lawyers are in danger of losing their jobs and what the career objectives are of the fearful law students who anticipate a poor job market. Could this be an appropriate time to consider a career change to bankruptcy law? Personally, I have little sympathy for these lawyers, whose careers are organized around the principle of law as a business rather than a profession (or what is sometimes known as “a calling”). If lawyers are in it for the money, they should consider this current downturn as a decline in the market. In the end, there is little to distinguish the trading of law firms for higher salaries from the trading of securities on Wall Street.
Posted by David Stern - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 4 hours, 5 minutes ago

I think things will certainly look up in terms of compliance for Broker Dealer entities, Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds, but given that for many firms there will be a new focus on cost savings and concern for efficiency, they will probably find that it makes far better sense to hire good senior paralegals seasoned in corporate, securities and compliance work, than bear the costs and risk associated with taking upon new associates who invariably need hand holding right up to the 3rd and even 5th year. The lady with the ultra right wing militant feminist rant granted there are firms and attorneys who can be rather piggish, the reality is far different. Most firms in fact do not discriminate on the basis of gender – at least, in my experience the associates are spared. The politics of course naturally become a nagging issue for attorneys aspiring to be partners, but really more than ever before what matters now is performance. There are both excellent male and female counsel and yet you also have those with some inane agenda or the odd control-freak megalomaniac, the disgusting pervert who can’t focus on the female counsel’s face with eyes riveted to her bosoms, the macho male-only-club or the angry clenched fists feminist; but in all cases it does not make for an efficient work environment. Indeed I have seen women, particularly in large & medium size firms form vicious cliques where cut throat politics, back stabbing and destructive plotting is the name of the game. There are good and bad everywhere.
Posted by Kevin Nicus - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 4 hours ago

Ellen, thank you for being consistently insane - with all the worrying I’ve done lately because of the economy and my own transactional practice, it’s nice to see that you’re still a rock of paranoid madness in a sea of economic uncertainly.

Seriously, everybody else (especially moderators), is there any way to ban this loon? I can’t remember the last time she offered anything constructive or new.
Posted by R - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 3 hours, 37 minutes ago

The article didn’t mention, but I assume this was a poll exclusively of M&A lawyers in New York City?

These trying times are probably gold for workers’ compensation, personal injury, criminal defense and government lawyers, I would think.
Posted by Bob Loblaw - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 3 hours, 32 minutes ago

Ellen did it occur to you that the stock market woes were caused by too many women in the workplace; with their time taken up at the office they had less time to support the economy by shopping and driving around in SUV’s? Hmmm?
<sorry, y’all, just had to throw an alkaseltzer to the seagull>
Posted by Government attorney - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 3 hours, 10 minutes ago

We have a hiring freeze right now too.
Posted by Andy the Lawyer - 2 months, 1 week, 6 days, 3 hours, 1 minute ago

Ellen—If you truly believe that the greed, stupidity, shortsightedness and venality that dominate America’s real estate, mortgage and investment banking industries, and the government’s refusal to regulate them, are not gender-neutral—then I would like to buy a few ounces of whatever you’ve been smoking.
Posted by Hugh in LA - 2 months, 1 week, 5 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes ago

“As ye sow, so shall ye reap.“ Several major firms funded and lobbied for the “loosening” and eventual repeal of Glass-Steagel, no doubt presuming it would generate much work. Time will tell if those bets pay off as intended.
Posted by LocalNC - 2 months, 1 week, 4 days, 21 hours, 2 minutes ago

This is a worthless article. After reading this I assume all lawyers and students everywhere fear fallout? Usually identifying a sample size and population helps put the numbers in context and hopefully target and qualify the article.

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