New Law Grads Urged to Have Backup Plans
The nearly 44,000 law students set to graduate in 2009 will have at an average of $73,000 in loan debt and face a grim hiring market.
The 3Ls who’ve come to grips with the fact that many won’t make big-firm wages are now also grappling with the country’s economic downturn and wondering what, if any job, will be waiting for them, the National Law Journal reports.
Carole Montgomery, director of career development at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., said students are wondering if they should wait it out by adding more letters behind their name—going for an LL.M. But Montgomery isn’t recommending that route.
“I tell them, ‘you need to make a good-faith effort to get yourself a job,’ ” she is quoted saying. “They’ve got to have a backup plan, and a backup, backup plan.”
Looking for government opportunities is one of Montgomery’s suggestions because of training and loan-forgiveness programs.
Meanwhile, the NLJ notes that law schools are bumping up their career office offerings and holding workshops. There’s “The Job Search in Tough Times” at the University of Iowa College of Law.
Florida State University Law School student Will Hall is getting resumé-writing help and told the NLJ he would welcome a state government job if he could get beyond the current hiring freeze. Hall’s father has his own firm. “I may be going there sooner rather than later,” he said.
