There’s no real way to sugarcoat recent reports about the
state of the legal industry. Law school applications are down, lawyers have
been laid off, profits at some firms have diminished.
The thing is, I remember when reports like this were about
M.B.A. students and teachers. There were once too many of those.
Every business is being impacted by globalization, the
recession, and technology. Some old models will fail. Some new ones will become
vast successes. Sure, someone whose lifelong dream has been to work in the
legal field, whether to be a lawyer or a paralegal, could go to art school
instead. Or she could get an agriculture farming certificate, or figure out
what engineering degrees are all about and get one of those. But a dream’s a
dream. If the legal business is featured in yours, make it work for you. And
don’t forget to hussle.
On the bright side:
- If you’re a middling student, you just may well have a better shot at a better law school right now.
- The retrenchment that’s going on may well mean the end of ever-escalating associates’ salaries—and the 80-plus hour weeks those lawyers work to earn them. Make less; live more.
Ten years from now, we’ll all have adapted. Industry changes
are never easy, especially if some measure of shrinkage is involved. The law’s
not going away; crime hasn’t ended; civil disputes certainly still exist.
Someone is always going to need a good lawyer, and a good lawyer is always
going to need an even better paralegal. What that lawyer and paralegal do to
get more business and remain competitive, though, is probably going to change.
But shouldn’t it change anyway? At least no one can accuse the law biz of being
stagnant.
—Lori Tripoli
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