Law Practice Management
For One Law Firm, Canceled Summer Associate Program Is Old News
Posted Aug 21, 2009 12:49 PM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Check out the website for Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, and you’ll see this cryptic post on a page for summer associate recruiting: “The firm is not actively recruiting law students at this time.”
Several law firms have announced cuts to their summer associate programs this year as they scramble to cope with reduced demand for their services. But at Pittsburgh-based Eckert Seamans, the decision to do away with a summer program was made about five years ago.
Since then Eckert Seamans has hired all of its associates laterally from other firms.
CEO Timothy Ryan says he pushed to do away with the summer associate program because of the expense. “We couldn’t afford it,” he told the ABA Journal. “The summer programs were costing us a lot of money. We couldn’t charge rates to justify the salaries and programs.”
“Simply stated, we can’t afford to pay $130,000 or $140,000 for a first-year associate. Our clients just can’t pay the freight, or they won’t pay the freight."
Ryan says the new recruiting method is producing “fabulous” results. “We have very low turnover and very low difficulty finding the talent that we need,” he says.
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Comments
unemployed law grad
Aug 22, 2009 8:45 AM CST
Yes, why should anyone ever hire someone out of law school ever again? Thanks for the support, ABA.
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Geof in Baltimore
Aug 25, 2009 9:42 AM CST
I can imagine that it is very frustrating for recent law grads coming out of law school at this time an unable to find employment they had believed would be there while in law school The fact is however that associates got too greedy. (I say this as an attorney who was an associate during the tech boom of the late 90’s and having experienced the run up in salaries from that time until now. I’ve also expereinced being laid-off for an extended period of time because of those salary levels, though I’ve found new employment too.) When labor costs get so out of line with return received for the price charged for the product produced, consumers of that product will refuse to pay that price. That’s where we are. No new law grad, I don’t care who is worth $170K—more accurately, they are not worth the fee that must be charged by the firm to recoup that $170K salary. Period. The model of not hiring new law grads and only hiring experienced laterals makes the most econominc sense from management and the client’s perspective as there is a justification for the expense of the fee charged in terms of more value received by the client. This is simple economics. New law grads will need to adjust to this reality and firms will have to get more innovative in how they use the services of new law grads—either not using at all or using them for more routine tasks, at lower salaries, and lower fees charged (like what happens with medical residents). It’s the simple economic reality of the world and firms will have to adjust as its what is demanded by the corporate clients they serve. Associates, particularly new grads and current students, will also have to adjust their expectations under this new reality.
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