Observations from the ABA Annual Meeting

I’m out in Chicago attending the American Bar Association Annual Meeting.  Chicago is similar to Philadelphia in many ways.  There’s a Fado Irish Pub, a Devon Seafood Grill, steakhouses like Smith & Wollensky, and even a Jose Garces restaurant (Mercat a la Planxa – the food is as tasty as the others and is most similar to Tinto).  Other than that, it’s a bigger city, there’s more tourists and visitors walking around, buildings like the new 92 story Trump International Hotel and Tower are much taller and even the famed Chicago breeze makes the summer weather more bearable than the current humid conditions in Philly.

If you’ve never been to an ABA Mid-Year or Annual Meeting, it’s quite a sight.  There’s 1,600 events, over 200 CLE sessions and too many lawyers to count.  There’s young lawyers, old lawyers and law students.  Folks used to billing 60 hour weeks relaxing and socializing.  At the after-hours party for the young lawyers division and others at The Underground last night, it was almost surreal to see people in suits dancing, or at least trying to, in a night club

The law students I’ve spoken with all have the issues and questions you’d expect: What type of classes should they take during their second and third year? Are there going to be jobs out there when they graduate?  How do you break into certain fields?  What led me to practice in my field?  You can tell them the right answers and encourage them to have hope, but they’re justifiably concerned.

Meanwhile, the lawyers, particularly the young lawyers, also have voiced plenty of worries.  People have faced layoffs, reduced salaries, frustration at employers who still have high profits per partner statistics, and so forth.  Even a good deal of the programs here feature an angle or slant related to the economy.    

The point is that from what I’ve seen so far here is that the issues we face in the Philadelphia area are by no means unique to our region and market.  Nationally, we’re all in the same boat.  There’s a guarded optimism that things (the market, job prospects, etc.) will get better, but no one seems to want to predict when that will be.  Till then, we, as young lawyers, have to keep working hard and take advantage of opportunities that are presented to us.

Reasons to Avoid Law School; Reasons to Still Go

Here’s a list compiled by an individual of the Top 8 Reasons to Avoid Law School.  Among the reasons are the obvious ones:

“1. FINANCIAL SUICIDE -

Law school is unjustifiably expensive!! If you have a house – sell it . . . The money spent on law school loans is ridiculous. . .

4. THE BAR EXAM IS BRUTAL -

This exam is 2 to 3 days long, and you are asked “Analytical Reasoning Questions” which is a fancy way of saying “You will never be asked these nonsensical nonsense questions again for the rest of your life” questions. . . Plus, if you fail (nearly 50% of us will – well, actually around 43% overall will fail, but that’s a lot!!) you have the option of torturing yourself for the next 6 months to take the exam again. . .

5. TOP JOBS ARE HARD TO COME BY-

Working at the top law firms is one of the most competitive jobs in the entire country . . .  Don’t forget, you need to be in the top 20 LAW SCHOOLS and score in the top 5% for these big-wig top law firms to even look at you.

6. INSANE HOURS -

Practicing law is usually a 70 hour work week for budding lawyers fresh out of school. Prepare to spend all your nights in the office – weekends and holidays as well. Primarily, you’ll be doing EVERYTHING and handing off huge case files for the “real” lawyers at the firm (that’s right, all the work – none of the glory.) Average time spent before becoming managing partner? Approximately 22 years from your start date. OUCH!!”

So, of course, some of these things are slightly inaccurate and exaggerated.  Bar passage rate in Pennsylvania these days is pretty reasonable (83 percent for July 2008’s exam).  Many folks from non-Top 20 schools (and who are not in the Top 5 percent) work for the city’s best big firms.  And it’s really only 65 hour work weeks for first years. . .

Regardless though, the flip side of the coin are that there are still plenty of good reasons to GO to law school:

1. THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST STILL GET GOOD JOBS

if you go to a premier law school and/or if you do very well, you’ll have good, well-paying job offers waiting for you.  Sure, some large firms are either deferring first year start dates or even cancelling summer associate programs.  Still, if you’re at the top, you will get good job offers.

2. THE INEVITABLE UPSWING

The market goes in cycles.  Things go up, things go down, and vice versa.  If you start law school this fall or next fall, by the time you are looking for summer associate or full time jobs, the economy could have turned all the way around. 

3. THE NOBILITY OF LAW SCHOOL

Call me a fool, but there is still a noble element to going to law school and learning to help the poor, unfortunate and victims navigate through the legal world.  “Good” law jobs are not simply limited to associate positions at big firms.  Working in the District Attorney’s Office, as a public defender, in public interest positions, or even as a solo practitioner can all be considered “successful.”

Changing the Formula of Hiring Summers Associates to Become First Years

For as long as most can remember, Morgan Lewis has been one of the city’s most prestigious firms.  It was essentially Philadelphia’s first truly national law firm (considered a megafirm even in the 1980s along with the Skaddens, Jones Days, and Sidley Austins of the world) and has long served as a trendsetter for other large firms in the city.  In fact, over a full decade ago, Morgan was one of the first handful of firms that started the first year associate pay scale ”wars:” when first years’ salaries in some firms escalated from around $75,000 to $90,000 to $100,000 to $115,000 in a span of maybe only a year or two.  The main purpose of the raises was to compete with pay scales in New York and Washington, D.C.,  rather than reflect true profitability.  Yet, a good number of larger firms still followed or at least stayed close enough to compete for those first years. 

The question is now that Morgan Lewis has announced that it is not having a summer associate program in 2010, what will that mean for other large firms in the city.  Already, of course, things have changed dramatically, with many firms reducing their summer associate program size and others deferring first year start dates for a year.  But what if firms take a look at what Morgan is doing, assess their finances and figuratively say, “You know, having a summer associate program is just not cost effective.  The expenses in the summer are high, the production of first years is low, and many of them leave after a year or two anyay.  Let’s spend our resources on lateral hiring instead.” 

That, of course, would mean trouble to a lot of law students out there and those thinking about going to law school.   Still, perhaps more large firms should evaluate whether having the traditional summer associate program from which to hire first years is worth it.  Maybe, the economic realities just don’t justify them, and law school graduates will instead go into clerkships, small firms, public interest and other avenues before “qualifying” for the big firms.

Needless to say, there could be more drastic changes up ahead.

The Right to Swim in a Private Club?

Like many others, I like going to golf and swim clubs in the summer time.  Many of my lawyer friends do belong to private golf clubs, and some others belong to swim clubs.  I’m even looking to possibly join a swim club. 

So, I’ve been paying particular attention to the “Whitewater Scandal” – the decision of The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley to rescind the contract for Creative Steps day campers to use the pool on Monday afternoons during the summer.  The conflict set up is relatively juicy: a predominantly white and older membership of a private swim club in the suburbs on one side and 65 black and Hispanic children day campers from the city on the other side. 

Obviously, you have to feel for the children.  Given the city budget cuts, they are looking for a place to swim in a nice outdoor pool setting.  The President of The Valley Club was sympathetic to their plight and agreed to the contract for the pool’s use on Monday afternoons from 3:30-5:00 for a few weeks in the summer.  It was on the first of these afternoons that the trouble arose, with allegations that the members pulled their (presumably non-minority) children out of the water and complained out loud about why there were black children in the pool.  Supposedly, The Valley Club’s President was overruled by the membership and had to rescind the contract and refund the money.

On the other hand, however, it’s not a simple clear cut case of definitive discrimination based on race.  Another day camp of 25 children had an arrangement with The Valley Club, and its director noted that on its first visit, the noise level was louder than expected.  On its website, The Valley Club posted a message explaining its actions.  It states that the club originally agreed to invite the camps to use the facility with full knowledge of the multi-ethnic backgrounds of the campers.  The decision, the website explains, to refund the membership funds was based upon the realization that the facilities could not accommodate the number of children from these camps.  The Valley Club does have minority members (although its claim that it has a multi-ethnic and diverse membership may go a bit overboard).  

Should the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission really examine whether the club violated laws in their actions?  I think it’s worth looking into so long as there’s no inclination to presuppose that the club did so.  Should Senator Arlen Specter really be sending a letter to the club to suggest that it let the campers back in?  That’s a different story.  When it all boils down to it, isn’t The Valley Club still a private swim club? It can allow certain people to become members, but it does not have to allow everyone to become members.  Those members who do not like the club’s membership makeup can certainly either go through the process to change them or leave the membership.  For instance, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor left her membership in a private women’s club to distance herself from an organization that supposedly was discriminatory in its membership makeup.  Also, why would the campers really want to be around at least some folks who are not tolerant of the “complexion” (as the word that was unfortunately used by the club president) they would bring? 

Still, it’s a fascinating issue, and it remains to be seen what the end result will be.  At least the children did find alternate accommodations for their swimming, so all is mostly well.

Safety in the City?

Happy Independence Day Weekend to all! I remember ten long years ago using the holiday weekend as the midway point to bar review studies – and the point where you actually have to batten down and study for real.

This past week, there have been a couple of criminal violence incidents in the heart of the city: a double homicide in a new apartment complex in Northern Liberties last Saturday and a knife attack on police officers right by City Hall today. Even with all the violent crimes that take place in the city, these incidents were notable both in location (Northern Liberties and City Hall) and the nature of them (an orchestrated setup of a woman in the new apartment building and an attack on police officers).

From folks who don’t live in or near the city, they may think that these type of incidents are commonplace. Not so, at least not in Center City. It is true that the homicide rate in the city is still way too high, but it is down from the last year. For better or worse, most violent crimes seem to happen outside of Center City. While you still have to be mindful of walking around at night, you do get a sense of safety while living and walking in town. These incidents are certainly aberrations; then again, perhaps we should take them as a wake-up call.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and stay safe!