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Question of the Week

How is the Financial Crisis Touching Your Life?

Posted Oct 15, 2008 2:51 PM CST
By Molly McDonough

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The 24/7 financial crisis news stream, layoff reports and, yes, that nasty word, recession, has us scrambling, looking for all the ways these current events are having an impact on lawyers and the legal profession.

We've seen law firms regroup to form rapid response teams and "new" practices sprout up.

This made us wonder how you—the regular Joe Six-Pack lawyer—are weathering this crisis so far and how or if you have a plan to get through it.

So tell us ...

How has this unprecedented global financial crisis affected you? And if it hasn't, how are you keeping your practice and personal life above the fray?

Answer in the comments below.

Read last week's question and abundant answers about whether LSATs and letter grades are telling or useless.

Our favorite answer from last week:

Excerpted from a post by "Tiger": "Are there great legal minds who might not get accepted to law school because of poor LSAT scores? Sure. Are there rote memorization savants who will get a good undergraduate GPA and LSAT score, but who will make poor attorneys? Sure.

However, no system that attempts to judge the potential of individuals on an objective basis (or subjective for that matter) will ever be more than partially effective. No one is a perfect judge of character. At least GPA and LSAT create some objective criteria to look at."

Comments

1.

April
Oct 17, 2008 6:53 AM CST

It hasn’t.  In law school, you live in a bubble, and all that matters is that you can get to the library.  The great thing is that gas prices have gone down!  That has made my life happier.

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2.

Lynn
Oct 17, 2008 7:19 AM CST

I become smug with the satisfaction that I am a Government Lawyer.  Guess who rode out the last depression?  Government Employees.

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3.

DIana Straube
Oct 17, 2008 7:20 AM CST

With the exception of watching the value of my 403(b) decrease (which is just a number until I actually retire), my life has not yet been affected.  I think it’s important to rein in the fear and panic or a recession will be inevitable: it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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4.

HT
Oct 17, 2008 7:25 AM CST

Hasn’t affected me one bit.  As a matter of fact, it has made filling up my Ferrari cheaper and offered many great stock buying ops and housing ops that the schmucks out there created for me because those morons overpaid.  It’s a great market now for those of us with cash money and I anticipate coming out of the slump with about triple net worth

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5.

Hadley V. Baxendale
Oct 17, 2008 7:54 AM CST

Business is great for us bankruptcy lawyers.  In down times, litigation increases because people fight over the money moer (or find reasons not to pay).  Transactions are busy because a forced or distressed sale is still a sale.  But I suspect that as the clients examine the fee structure and business models at the big firms, “pull back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz” so to speak, those firms will teeter if not collapse.

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6.

A
Oct 17, 2008 8:36 AM CST

once you’re out of the law library phase, this is possibly the worst time to search for your first job. Doubt next year will get any better. Graduating 3Ls should brace themselves… it’ll be tough.

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7.

R
Oct 17, 2008 8:46 AM CST

I am a non-practicing lawyer working in law firm professional develompent and pro bono. The firm just cut our department and I got laid off.  I am not the only one in this field suffering. Firms are cutting back on what they see as non-essential.

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8.

MV_Esq.
Oct 17, 2008 8:48 AM CST

I would hate to be a 3L searching for a legal job right now.  The past couple of years have been pretty bad for graduates in the Midwest.  My husband (another attorney and recent grad) had to take a government job in NYC after searching for an attorney position for 16 months.  I’m still here in Ohio, practicing law in a small town.  If I can’t get an attorney position in NYC and move to join him, I’m going to seriously look at non-legal jobs there.  Hell, I’ll be a paralegal or secretary if that’s where the jobs are.  I’m not willing to trade my happiness just so I can practice law in a bad economy.

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9.

SJB
Oct 17, 2008 9:10 AM CST

We have not been affected.  Our law firm continues to have the best year on record.  We are in the process of hiring new associates.  As far as the other “Joe Six Pack” lawyers that I know, things are fine.  I think a lot of the panic is unwarranted except in certain sectors or geographic areas.

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10.

Priscilla Schwab
Oct 17, 2008 9:12 AM CST

The so-called recession reminds me of the scene in the Wizard of Oz where the “Wizard” hides behind the screen.  Did you ever think the whole market scenario is manipulated by those who will gain at the expense of those who will panic?  Will we have a recession if nobody believes in one?  My advice?  Stay the course and don’t read or listen to the media..

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11.

Marion Mansfield
Oct 17, 2008 9:42 AM CST

I am a government employee and am thankful for that but in the job I have, I have not received a raise in years whereas expenses have risen and continue to rise.  I also have three children, one of whom just finished college, another who is a junior in college, and one who starts college next year.  College tuition and expenses have risen these past several years.  I have cashed in three insurance policies, stopped paying into a retirement fund, watched my retirement savings decrease.  And that is just to keep my kids in college.  My college graduate has not found a job in her field and is working part-time in a coffee shop.  And she has been selling whatever she can on eBay.  I have not made any major purchases in a couple of years.  I continue to pare down my life style.  I honestly cannot remember the last time I purchased any new clothing for work.  I think it has been about five years ago.  But such is life.  My sole goal at this time is to get my kids through college.

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12.

Frank Allen
Oct 17, 2008 10:02 AM CST

The most recent effect on me is that as a civil service retiree, I just learned that I will have to endure the indignity of receiving the largest COLA I have ever received since my retirment.  As to my part time law practice—estate planning and probate—noting much has changed.  Net result is a compulsion to increase my pledge to the church.

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13.

Maggie Keegan-Gross
Oct 17, 2008 10:10 AM CST

I just graduated from a top tier law school and thought I had a job waiting for me after taking the bar exam, but I was laid off before I even started working.  I have been searching for a new job in Los Angeles for the last two months with absolutely no luck.  I’ve only had one interview from the hundred or so resumes I’ve submitted.  I’m hoping things will change once I have my bar results, but am starting to think I need to look for a job in a different industry. Meanwhile my credit cards are almost maxed out, my savings have dwindled, and my student loans are about to go into repayment.  I may be able to get through December, but have no idea what I’ll do after that if I don’t find a job soon.

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14.

jk
Oct 17, 2008 10:34 AM CST

As a 3L, things are pretty tough right now. Most of my fellow students who worked at big law firms are still applying every where else - just in case.  Firms I have applied to have outrightly said they are on a hiring-freeze. Most people are trying to land clerkships, which seem to be the safest bet. I fortunately landed a clerkship, but I only hope the market will be better when that term is up.

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15.

TR
Oct 17, 2008 12:40 PM CST

Well, it seems to me that alot of people who answered that it has had no impact are probably single with no families or older and more established in their careers.  For me and my family (early 30’s with 2 children) the economy has had an effect.  Not going out to eat as often, going straight to the courthouse as opposed to the office first then the courthouse, refraining from ‘wants’ as opposed to needs, wondering if our mortgage will one day become on overburden.  In addition, I can tell you that my receivables (and others in my firm) are down for this year.  This is the first time since I began here (in 2001) when I may not bring in my numbers for the year.  The economy has definitely impacted us.

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16.

Diana
Oct 17, 2008 12:41 PM CST

I am a solo employment attorney who usually represents the employees.  While the number of legitimate cases that I will take has gone down significantly, I have seen double the number of people who call me to take on their discrimination cases pro bono.  The callers no longer even pause before asking for me to work for free.  Many of these callers assume that because I am a female attorney I will gladly work for free for the “single mom who supports her kids”.  For some reason the public thnks that attorneys get food, gas, rent, utilities, etc. free with their law license.

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17.

Rocco
Oct 17, 2008 12:43 PM CST

In further response to No. 2, screw big firm life and the uncertainties it brings.

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18.

Jim Roberts - Dallas
Oct 17, 2008 3:50 PM CST

I do only estate planning.  Our firm has 82 attorneys in 3 offices all in Texas.  Our estate planning group (12 attorneys - Dallas office) is doing very well.  Around the firm (Dallas office anyway), talking to the real estate lawyers, intellectual property attorneys, ERISA and employee benefits lawyers, etc., most are telling me that they are very busy.

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19.

bg
Oct 17, 2008 9:42 PM CST

It has not effected me at all.  I just paid cash for new gutters for my house, looking to buy a new computer, and am planning an expensive weekend in Vegas early next year, so clearly I am not hurting for money.  The economy in my area has been depressed for years so the effects have been a bit less noticable here.  Local industries have been laying off workers at regular intervals for over 10 years, with few of these jobs replaced.  Our legal market has also been fairly tight during that time as well.  I haven’t heard of any local law firms laying anyone off, but one has announced it is not hiring any first year associates.  My firm recently hired another associate, and I have more work than hours in the day.  I am contemplating suspending my 401k contributions for the moment since they seem to disappear just as soon as they are “invested” [my employer does not match], and I would love to be able to invest my 401k in an online CD [my bank has them at 4%!] for the next 6-9 months in order to stop it from bleeding.

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20.

DC lawyer
Oct 18, 2008 1:13 PM CST

I was laid off in May from an In-house counsel position. I have a small group of private clients, but not enough to sustain me. The job market seems impossible. Add to that the decline in the value of retirement funds and I am looking for a way to get out of the law. Reinvent myself. Any suggestion?

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21.

California lawyer mom
Oct 18, 2008 5:07 PM CST

I’m a lawyer employed by a county govt in California, and I’m looking at a salary reduction (definitely), layoffs (quite likely), possibly even provatization of my office.  Sucks to be me.  My salary barely covers law school debt and groceries as it is.
They say this recession is hitting California first.  So, brace yourselves.  Might be coming your way, too.

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22.

Kevin Nicus
Oct 20, 2008 4:04 PM CST

The majority of my practice revolves around my clients’ buying, selling or starting small businesses.  These transactions are accomplished chiefly through bank financing, which has dried up completely - for example, I have a client with an 8-figure net worth who can’t borrow half a million right now.  In short, banks are sitting on their money and I haven’t got a damn thing to do.

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23.

Shari
Oct 23, 2008 4:12 PM CST

I’m a solo practiioner in real estate law in Florida and suffice to say my practice died.  Clients come to me now to defend against foreclosure actions, but unless they have money to reinstate or there was fraud, how can you defend.  I’m just trying to revive my Personal Injury practice now.

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