Boulevard of broken dreams

With such dim prospects for law students these days, even The New York Times is weighing in, however lamely, on “the bizarre new reality” and its effect on law schools, the recruitment process and the BigLaw model, chronicling the fading dreams of 1Ls and 2Ls who’d counted on “a lucrative law firm job” to provide them with “this green pasture of stability“. Alas, “For students now, the promise of the big law firm career—and its paychecks—is slipping through their fingers…”

Instability and anxiety are the mots du jour, especially as law firms continue to scale back on recruitment and hiring. According to ATL’s Elie Mystal, “[t]he ‘social compact’ between firms and students has completely broken down. We’ve been living in a Hobbesian state of nature for almost a year now.” In this lawless state, students are being urged to disregard the NALP recruiting guidelines and snap up any and all offers that come their way.

Further evidence of the breakdown of the social order: longer waits for permanent offers to the 2009 class of summer associates. Presumably, most will learn within the next few weeks whether they’ll have a job after graduation, but some Dechert summers will reportedly remain on pins and needles until January 2010.

- posted by vera