December 17, 2013
THE DAILY TRANSCRIPT
By Doug Sherwin
It’s still a tight job market for recent law school graduates, but there are signs of better times ahead, according to local industry analysts.
“I think legal hiring tends to trail economic indicators,” said California Western School of Law professor Tim Casey. “We saw firms continue to hire in 2008 even though the economy was slowing down, and you see the reverse going on now. There’s a slow but progressive recovery, but legal hiring hasn’t really kicked in.
“The future looks good. Hiring will continue to increase, but it’s still a tough market for new graduates.”
Of the law firms that are hiring, most are small and midsize firms, which are gaining market share as clients leave the high-priced model of global and national firms.
“You see in San Diego where big, national firms have a set rate, and they’re unwilling to compromise (for local companies),” Casey said. “So clients are finding equal or better service from mid and small, local firms. “The practice areas that are in the most demand involve litigation, with an emphasis on personal injury, labor and employment, and business litigation, according to Julie Remer, assistant director of career and professional development at the University of San Diego School of Law.
“In recent years, San Diego businesses have hired a growing number of USD law graduates with backgrounds and/or specific training in intellectual property law and patent law,” Remer wrote in an email.
Remer said she also noticed an uptick in corporate transactional and advising and regulatory law hiring, especially among companies looking for in-house counsel.
Law firms are looking for more practice-ready attorneys, which could explain the difficulties of some new attorneys finding work.
Law schools are beginning to recognize the need to add practical skills to their curriculum.
California Western is among the early adopters. The school has been offering a practice-ready program — Skills Training for Ethical and Preventative Practice and career Satisfaction — for several years now.
The STEPPS program features approximately 20 attorneys who work with students on the practical side of the business.
“Legal education has shifted toward preparing students for the actual practice of law,” California Western’s Casey said. “Historically, a lot of firms were taking on the whole enterprise of training students in practical skills on their own. And what’s been happening in the legal market is that clients no longer are willing to subsidize that.
“The economics of the situation is driving this whole change.”
USD School of Law offers clinical programs that give students a taste of real-world experience.
“USD’s strong IP program concentration, Technology Entrepreneurship Clinic, Intellectual Property Law Clinic, and Center for Intellectual Property Law & Markets have increased the number and quality of practice-ready graduates to the San Diego legal market,” USD’s Remer said.
Thomas Jefferson School of Law also has several clinical programs, including Veterans Legal Assistance Clinic, Small Business Law Center, Tax Clinic and Employee Rights Self-Help Clinic.
While the market for recent graduates isn’t that strong, experienced lateral partners with large books of clients are still in demand.
“2013 was one of busier years that I’ve seen in probably the last decade,” said Larry Watanabe, a legal recruiter for the search firm Watanabe Nason. “I think a lot of it is due to pent up demand after the recession. Firms were much more conservative in hiring during the course of the recession.”
Watanabe’s firm typically places 35 to 50 partners a year. In 2013, that number is 61. He helped open two new law offices in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles this year.
“The San Diego market in 2013 was reasonably quiet,” however, Watanabe said.
“Most of the lateral activity has come from Northern California: Silicon Valley and San Francisco. And practices like corporate, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and securities.”
San Diego has been hurt by the fact that some companies have merged and relocated their headquarters outside the city.
“A lot of activity driven through the recession is the tech sector,” Watanabe said. “In San Diego, technology is centered around the life sciences, and there hasn’t been a major infiltration of life sciences companies into San Diego. A lot of life sciences companies in San Diego have merged or been acquired, and there’s not a lot of business here.”