Law Careers: legal careers and career trends

Comeback! Opportunities in Manufacturing Law

2013-05-14T17:41:38Z

You probably won’t hear much about Manufacturing Law being a coming hot practice area from the standard legal community and legal market observers who pronounce about such things. But you will hear it here. My reasons for this bold assertion and my take on what manufacturing law involves follow.

How “BigLaw” Hurts Legal Hiring

2013-04-30T20:40:37Z

The Law Careers blog is not only a chronicle of promising practice areas and legal job and career opportunities. From time-to-time, we also need to chronicle some of the adverse circumstances that affect legal employment. One of these is the way some large law firms pad their client bills and the negative impact of this on legal hiring. The New York Times recently reported that DLA Piper, the self-styled “world’s largest law firm,” had been accused by a former client of a “sweeping practice of overbilling.” The client alleged that, in internal emails, firm lawyers boasted about the practice. The firm has denied the charge, asserting that the emails were poor attempts at humor. The Times reported that the dispute has been resolved via a confidential settlement.

Legal Geography Matters, Volume VI – A Law Practice Location Due Diligence Checklist

2013-04-22T19:44:48Z

Let’s get right to the heart of the matter. Consider the following checklist a rough template that you can use to scope out a geographic location where you would like to settle and practice law. You should modify it to fit your own personal and professional needs and aspirations. There may be other criteria than the ones mentioned below that are important to you, and others not particularly relevant to your circumstances.

Legal Geography Matters, Volume V – Comparative Living Costs

2013-04-13T11:57:26Z

This penultimate Law Careers blog in this series on where to locate is about how much it is going to cost you to be where you want to be, and conversely, how much money you need to earn in order to be there. You will find that geographic location can make a dramatic difference on both counts.

Legal Geography Matters, Volume IV – Where Business Congregates

2013-04-06T12:43:48Z

Historically, businesses tend to locate where they have access to the support services they require—transportation facilities, port facilities, human capital, suppliers, distribution channels, customers, a strong human capital pool, et al. Increasingly, however, as technology makes doing business easier, more and more businesses seek attractive communities where the cost of doing business and cost of living are affordable for their employees, where like enterprises can interact with each other, and where state and local governments provide enticements to locate, expand and stay.

Legal Geography Matters, Volume III – Where the Lawyers Aren’t

2013-03-31T15:09:17Z

The Internet can tell you a great deal about where the lawyers are in America. There is one website, however, that does that better than any other when it comes to entire states. But keep in mind when you examine it that the state situation does not tell you the whole story.

Legal Geography Matters, Volume II – Following the Boomers

2013-03-22T14:01:34Z

Seventy-eight (78) million Baby Boomers, the largest “age wave” in U.S. history, began reaching retirement age at a rate of 10,000 per day in 2008, a phenomenon that will continue through 2026. Moreover, this age group has retained a considerable portion of its wealth, much more than any other age segment, despite the attrition wrought by the Great Depression. The Boomers move into senior status will remake America in profound ways and will also force trailing generations to adjust their lives accordingly. Servicing the needs of Boomers and their concerned progeny opens up a rich and rewarding legal practice opportunity.

Legal Geography Matters, Volume I – Trailing the Technology

2013-03-14T14:33:14Z

Attorneys seeking stable and rewarding careers rarely do enough due diligence of their futures to arrive at sound, defensible decisions about what to do. In fact, if they do any due diligence at all (very few do), it has to do with either prospective employers or practice areas. The rare lawyer examines carefully the industry in which s/he aspires to work. What is missing almost 100 percent of time is any examination of where to do what you want to do. This Law Careers blog is the first in a short series about researching locations.

Representing Veterans

2013-02-20T16:22:36Z

For 150 years, legal representation of veterans who have been denied benefits by the Veterans Administration and its successor, the Department of Veterans Affairs, was virtually non-existent. That has changed dramatically in the last several years and has transformed what was a dormant paid practice area into one that is flourishing, growing and destined to be around for a long time to come.

What Else Is Out There? Legal Career Alternatives XXVIII – Law-Related Careers in Taxation

2013-02-07T15:16:13Z

This 28^th and last entry in my What Else Is Out There blog series examines law-related careers in taxation. While taxation is always a fertile field in which lawyers can ply their trade with the assurance that it will always be with us, at least until we revert to a Rousseau-ean state of nature, that does not mean that every single tax job/career is a promising one. The ebb and flow of politics, ideology and government desperation sees to that. Notwithstanding, there are some very exciting opportunities for rewarding, long-term careers in taxation outside of mainstream law.