Recession Lawyer Layoffs Because of The Large Companies

WASHINGTON - In America, there are always people to continue or to negotiate contracts, right? Apparently there is not enough.

The recession is high toll on the legal profession, an industry long considered immune from the ups and downs of the economy. Trying to overcome the financial crisis, the largest law firms are laying off and delay the commitment of others.

More than 3,000 lawyers were laid off in the first three months of 2009.

"Many people go into law because it is one of those professions where you are still under work. There is not usually large layoffs, "said Samuel Smith, of Charlotte, NC" In fact, I do not think people saw coming. "

Last summer, Smith worked at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, while flirting with opportunities for some other companies. But in August, Smith was laid off as the economy deteriorated. Companies that had previously been involved are now reluctant to hire.

"I'm still looking for jobs," said Smith, who http://www.rateapartner.com launched a Web site links to news articles and legal firms allows lawyers and clients anonymity rate firm partners.

At what point is there?

The Labor Department said the number of unemployed jumped by 66 per cent of lawyers last year to 10-year high of 20000.

The first time this year that three consecutive working days passed without one of the highest law of the companies announcing job cuts came in mid-March, according to the website Lawshucks.com. They counted 3149 lawyer layoffs - only in large companies, only in the first three months of the year.

New York City Bar Association, for the first time in more than 135 years, offering career counseling to lawyers between jobs.

Law firms are delaying the hiring last year of law students that are normally given on a year in advance of graduation. Students graduating in law at the job this spring are paid to delay their start date. Some have said there will be no work later this year, perhaps in 2010.

Thus, many are being lawyers face this situation, volunteer lawyers from the Justice, a group that trains volunteers to provide free legal assistance to low-income clients, held a "deferred Associates Job Fair "in Newark, NJ, for graduates looking for temporary work until permanent jobs through.

For some Americans, there is little sympathy for lawyers who are suddenly unemployed.

They make more money than the average Joe, with the nation of millions-or-if the lawyers averaged $ 118,280 in 2007, or $ 56.87 an hour, according to the Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And the number of out-of-work lawyers was minuscule compared with the manufacturing sector, which had 945,000 unemployed workers last year, or the construction industry, which saw more than 1 million jobs vanish in 2008.

But these jobs do not require four years of college, plus a degree from a law school which costs about $ 70,000 to attend.

"My computer is about to die with the amount of CV that I sent," said Tim Brown, 32, from Alexandria, Va.

Brown was fired from his job on the right franchise for the National Auto Dealers Association by March 26 and sent hundreds of resumes. The answer?

"We have received your CV. Thank you very much, "said Brown, who made the payment of the loan in April, but is concerned by May

Karla Cortes, 33, lost his job as the Nature Conservancy, a lawyer in November, just two years after graduating from American University Law School.

Money is tight now, "said Cortes, who attended a workshop at George Washington University to get a job in the difficult economy. "I hope to find a job soon," she says. "Otherwise, I will have to return to Puerto Rico because my savings were exhausted."

Tommy Wells, president of the American Bar Association, said counsel for the increase in dismissals is partly the fault of the legal industry.

In the past, large law firms that have diversified by work in areas such as bankruptcy and litigation that could help companies and mergers and acquisition work when the economy worsened and vice versa, he noted .

"Companies may have a little balance in terms of practice areas and putting a lot of resources in areas that are unfortunately not nearly as much as they were a few years ago," he said.

The economy is responsible for all law firms in the course title.

In Philadelphia, WolfBlock, which has been in business since 1903 and has more than 300 lawyers in several states, is "ending" in preparation for closure. Partners blames the banking crisis, the recession - especially in the core business of real estate practice - and the lawyers and clients bailing like writing on the wall became clearer.

In New York, Thacher Proffitt & Wood, in business since 1848, survived the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, it had offices in the World Trade Center and has lost none of its more than 300 lawyers and support staff. But he could not survive the bad economy and closed in September.

Koszeg Fanni, 34 years old, lost his job at Thacher, in April 2008. Koszeg thought she would be out of the summer and may return to work as a public interest lawyer.

"It was very naive on my part," said Koszeg. "Now, all other law firms have been laying off hundreds of lawyers."

It was more than a decade, as the market is this bad for lawyers, "said David P. Landau Klein, Landau & Romm, one of the oldest continuously operating legal research companies in the United States.

"We'll get out of this, we always do," said Landau, who has been recruiting lawyers for more than two decades. This recession, he said, "is a little deeper. It May take more time."