Is the Practice of Law Losing its Appeal? What the Statistics Say

As many of today’s best and brightest choose other careers, lawyers struggle to hire skilled talent

Blame it on the 2008 recession that wreaked havoc on the legal industry, or the refusal of many Millennials to put in the gruelingly-long hours required for the partnership track. But the concept of lawyer as a coveted career path has taken a public beating in recent years.

Law school applications to top universities plummeted a staggering 44.9 percent between 2008 and 2017 – and overall enrollment is at its lowest point in 42 years. At the same time, the number of applicants with unimpressive LSAT scores is soaring. Applicants with an LSAT score below 150 rose a whopping 146 percent between 2010 and 2017, while those with a score of 160 or better fell 35 percent over the same period.

Perhaps Erica Moeser, former head of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, summed up the state of affairs best when she asserted in a memo to law school deans that today’s graduates are “less able” to pass the bar exam. That’s after mean scores on the July 2014 Multistate Bar Exam sunk to their lowest level in 10 years.

Such dismal prospects – combined with today’s historically low unemployment rate – is making it harder than ever for lawyers to fill open roles. Eighty-five percent of lawyers say their law firm or corporate legal department struggles to find skilled professionals to fill positions, according to the Robert Half 2019 Legal Salary Guide.

Making matters worse, attrition in the legal industry is reaching alarming heights. Nearly 45 percent of associates leave their firms after three years, according to Attorney at Work. Their top reasons: intense time demands, a toxic culture, or a lack of a work-life balance. After 13 years, less than a quarter of any incoming class of lawyers is still practicing at an Am Law 100 firm.

Why the market changed

But what exactly dulled the shine of the profession that so recently had what The Washington Post called “a golden age of prosperity unmatched by any other industry?”

It started with the recession. The 2008 market crash hit the legal industry hard – forcing struggling law firms to lay off thousands of lawyers, de-equitize partners, and slash budgets. Automation and contract lawyers displaced young associates. Full-time employment for recent law school grads sank, bottoming out at less than 54 percent in 2011, the Post reports.

Even today, when the Class of 2017 law school graduates celebrated the best employment rate since the recession with 16,390 hires, the number of available jobs was still flat or went down in almost every sector. New technology continues to be a significant factor, making law firms more productive and cutting the need for a team of entry-level lawyers tasked with grunt work-like research. Online startups like LegalZoom and LawDingo also play a role, automating other low-level tasks like wills and contracts for lower costs.

A closer look reveals that employment gains in 2017’s entry-level market were actually because fewer graduates were vying for jobs: the number of law school grads was 34,922, a more than 25 percent drop since 46,776 new lawyers crowded the market in 2013. The Class of 2017 secured 1,200 fewer jobs than the previous year.

Those are tough hiring odds to swallow when a new attorney is racking up an average law school student loan debt of $122,000. The average starting salary – $70,500 at a law firm and $91,750 for in-house counsel at a corporation, according to the Robert Half Salary Guide – doesn’t make the student loan burden much easier, keeping many college grads from buying into the overall value of law school.

Many potential students are getting the message that law school is no longer a sure path to employment security and financial prosperity. In fact, some grads even filed class-action lawsuits against nearly 30 law schools in 2011 and 2012, claiming that the schools dangled deceptive post-grad employment numbers to bolster their rankings and attract more students.

Hope on the horizon

Lifestyle is another reason many of today’s best and brightest are eschewing law school for greener pastures. Millennials value work-life balance, flexibility, and happiness in the workplace, and many of them are rebelling against the legal industry’s high-pressure, 24/7 work culture.

Even many young people who invest the time and money into choosing law school are finding the hourly toll of being a lawyer isn’t worth it. Instead, they are embracing the gig economy and choosing careers that align with their personal ethics, offer flexible work hours, and the ability to pick and choose projects that keep them from getting bored.

There is some hope on the horizon. 2018 saw 60,401 people applying to law school, compared to 55,580 applicants in 2017, reports ABA Journal. There also was a 60 percent increase in LSAT scores that hit the highest tier of 175 to 180, which seems to indicate a higher caliber of students applying. The number of LSAT takers for June and July also rose 30 percent over 2017, a good sign that higher enrollment will continue in 2019.

It’s too early to call the renewed interest a trend, but there are many factors that could be propelling it forward. The economy is doing well, and some law schools are offering tuition discounts to attract students. The entry-level market for lawyers is far from rosy, but there are jobs available.

Interestingly, many industry sources are also calling the surge a “Trump Bump.” The Post reports that a third of pre-law students surveyed by Kaplan Test Prep said President Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton impacted their decision to become lawyers. Their reasons spanned both sides of the political aisle, from concerns over the administration’s crackdown on immigration to Trump himself inspiring them to want to pursue political office, the Post said.

But if the job market doesn’t grow with the number of applicants, it’s unlikely that the 2018 boost will last. So at least for now, that leaves us in a legal market where competition for a shrinking pool of top talent is fierce, and law firms and legal departments need to find ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors to trigger interest from the industry’s best and brightest.

Top candidates are almost always courted by multiple employers at once, and they are rarely desperate. At the end of the day, you don’t choose them for your open roles – they choose you. A skilled legal search firm can help you overcome the challenges of today’s hiring market. Together, you can build a recruitment strategy that brands your firm or company as a coveted place to work and lands the kind of talent you need to thrive.

Carrington Legal Search is devoted to finding the ideal candidates for our clients’ recruitment needs. We have experience in all industries, but expertise in the Financial Services (banking, insurance, investment management, etc.) and Technology verticals. To make our nationwide network work for you, get in touch at 512-627-7467 or email carrie@carringtonlegal.com