Pasadena, CA — Thousands of law firms are under serious pressure because of the turbulent recession. Many of them have already affirmed that there would not be any substantial growth in the earnings of their attorney staff this year. Others have also resorted to cut on annual partner promotions. LawCrossing, the legal industry's most reliable job board, now offers more than 130,119 live and active legal job listings to battered job seekers, who live in fear of losing their jobs. The legal job board has added more than 10,000 new jobs in the last seven days.
“The legal job market is experiencing unprecedented volatility and employers are looking for more options other than layoffs to save their bottom lines,” says Harrison Barnes, CEO and founder of LawCrossing. “LawCrossing, on the other hand, has been relentlessly on the lookout for lucrative legal jobs from every possible source and adding them to its database. It hopes to relieve legal job seekers from their troubles through more and more job research.”
Legal services employment has continuously declined (-1.1%) every year since some time, due to a marked slump in residential real estate markets since 2006. Further, according to Cincinnati.com, many law firms are seeking alternatives to layoffs and have come up with some of them. Some law firms are resorting to mandatory unpaid leaves (short-term furloughs), pay freezes, pay reductions, and overtime or hour reductions depending on what is feasible to them. Most of the firms have already brought about a hiring freeze too.
Michelle Snodgrass of Campbell County shut her firm for a week to save costs. Butler County’s Common Pleas Court also cut about $500,000, with the help of hiring and salary freezes. Major law firms, including Cleveland-based Squire Sanders, are also looking to cut costs in a similar fashion.
Firms like Mayer Brown, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Weil Gotshal & Manges have all reduced their partnerships this year than in 2007. In Weil Gotshal & Manges particularly, promotion figures dropped by 35%; from 20 promotions in 2007 to only seven promotions in 2008.
“In spite of the recession, some rare firms like Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal see troubled times as a time to gain important market share, and leave rivals behind. A downturn also gives good opportunities for small firms who charge low rates, to woo big clients, because money is a big concern today. The economy is in a crisis all right. But the flip side to every crisis is another opportunity. For the job seekers, LawCrossing offers not one or two, but hundreds of thousands of new legal opportunities,” says Barnes.
The 130,000-plus legal jobs listed on LawCrossing comprise attorney jobs, law student jobs, paralegal jobs, and other legal openings. For more information on LawCrossing, please visit www.lawcrossing.com.
Contact:
Mary Wilson, Editorial Coordinator
626-243-1821
LawCrossing mary@lawcrossing.com
About LawCrossing
LawCrossing is an affiliate of EmploymentCrossing, a powerful and comprehensive organization dedicated to helping professionals find jobs that will enhance their careers. LawCrossing consolidates every legal job opening it can find in one convenient location. LawCrossing was ranked 72nd on the 2007 Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing companies in the US. The website also offers a seven-day free trial to new members.
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