Morris Manning and McKenna Long cut salaries in 2009, but this year have restored salaries to pre cut levels in some practice groups. They have also resumed their summer program, which was cancelled entirely last year. Fisher & Phillips announced that they would be raising associate salaries by 10%. Across the board we're starting to see a rebound in the legal market, although there's still a ways to go.
As we reported last week, clients are refusing to pay for work done by summer associates, and some are continuing to negotiate with firms to not have first year associates assigned to their files. This increases the cost of hiring and training a newly minted JD for firms, many of whom are reacting by increasing lateral hires rather than risk the money on a new associate who may or may not be around long enough to recoup the investment.
With law school enrollment up, the market is still in danger of being saturated. Now is the time to be proactive and start making contacts in the legal community. If you're still in school, remember that grades and class rank are only half the story. In this legal market, who you know is almost as important as what you know. Get involved in the legal community by joining professional organizations, volunteering at legal aid clinics, doing pro bono work with groups that use student lawyers and make contact with partners at firms that interest you. What you do while still in school may be the difference between finding a good job upon graduation and pounding the pavement.
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