Does BigLaw's Demise Mean You Should Change Your Plans?

Lawyer Diaries is a new semi-regular feature on LSAT Blog where current and former lawyers will share their experiences.

This one's from Christine Raniga, a lawyer who works as in-house counsel at a nonprofit educational organization. Please thank her for sharing her story in the comments!

Christine's Lawyer Diary:

By now in your law school related research, you should have read plenty about the economy's impact on law firms. "Big Law," as these "white-shoe" firms are called, seems to be in big trouble. Major firms have downsized their incoming associate classes for the past 4 or 5 years, many have merged with one another (or gobbled up smaller firms), and let redundant positions go, and others have simply imploded under their own weight (google: Dewey & LeBoeuf).

You've probably thought at one time or another that the legal market just can't handle more supply, and maybe you should think about another career. But, I'm here to tell you that there is still a lot of legal work to go around.

My background is somewhat unique, as is my current role, so Steve reached out and asked me to talk about it. I attended law school in the evening program, while working full-time during the day (I blog about it here). When I was preparing to graduate in 2011, the job market for attorneys was, well, abysmal. It has gotten better in the past year, but it's not at pre-2007 levels. I was very concerned that I'd either be out of a job, or in my then-job as an office manager--neither option was at all attractive! (Office managers are great, by the way, but when you have worked your tail off for your law degree, you want to make use of it!).

So, I did a little research on the company I was working for. It's a mid-sized non-profit education-based organization, which had no in-house legal. Perfect. I dug into all of the pending and potential legal matters that the company was facing or soon would face, wrote up a memo, and pitched it to the president. He went for it. It wasn't that he was doing me a favor--it was a matter of positioning. I made a good argument that adding my in-house expertise would create a real value-add for the organization.

As in-house counsel, there is no telling what can come across your desk, which is a great thing for a lawyer (you don't get pigeon-holed, and your skills don't have time to get rusty). Since I have only been in the role for just under a year, I haven't been fully able to take off the training wheels (but that's more due to licensure in my state). So, for now I have been acting in an advisory role on business decisions, warning about potential legal issues, and farming things out to outside counsel when necessary. So, it's very much like what a first-year associate does under the guidance of senior associates and partners in firms. The beautiful thing about it is that you don't get put into one practice area.

Once you are in law school, you will get asked 1,000 times what "kind" of law you want to practice. If you already have a very clear idea about that--great! If not, don't panic. You don't have to know right away. I thought I wanted to get into litigation when I applied to law school, but then I found myself loving contracts and employment law--and that's basically the field that I'm in.

The point is that simply because the legal industry has found itself in trouble lately, that doesn't mean that the legal field doesn't need your skills. Think about working directly for a corporate in-house department. They can offer great training, a wide array of legal needs, and here is the best part--no billable hours!!!  There is also a growing trend towards companies taking on in-house legal to contain legal costs, and there is an equally growing support network of in-house professionals. So, you're never left to flap around without help.

If you're already working someplace, you may want to consider staying on in the company, even part-time, to make your way to in-house when you graduate. Or, maybe someone in your family runs a business that you think could benefit from in-house counsel. There are many ways to get these jobs, even though some of the more "senior" in-house roles require a few years of experience.

So, don't be discouraged by the negative things you're reading about the legal field. Although BigLaw may be in BigTrouble, if you have your heart set on pursuing your law degree, then absolutely go for it. Just be prepared to use a little ingenuity to help you get a great job in the field when you graduate. Best of luck, and feel free to reach out if you have questions!

Christine
@christineraniga

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