Anticipated Revenues Drop for Law Firms and a Job-Hunting Law Grad

Veronique Tousignant knows firsthand about the tight job market. A 2007 graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law, she has sent out 200 résumés. But her only legal work is as a law clerk for Chicago firm Kameli & Associates.

Tousignant hit the job market as the subprime meltdown was affecting law firms, Crain’s Chicago Business reports.

She says she is making about a third of the salary she would earn as a lawyer. "It's hard enough getting a job in the first place," she told the publication. "The economy just didn't help at all."

Tousignant, like the law firms getting her résumés, is coping with less revenue.

A recent managing partner survey by a unit of Wachovia Corp. found that law firm revenue is predicted to fall by 6 percent to 8 percent this year, the story says. Several law firms with Chicago offices are already reacting to the downturn with delayed start dates for new associates and, in at least one case, layoffs.

Among the firms pushing back start dates are DLA Piper, Seyfarth Shaw, and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. Sonnenschein made headlines earlier this year when it laid off 37 lawyers and 87 support staffers nationwide.