Comments on: How To Gain Experience As A Young Lawyer

By: D

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:01:17 +0000

Agree with you J. I have been barred just over 5 years and never could get a job practicing law as I have no lawyer experience. Did doc review for a year..sat on unemployment for over a year and now I am a paralegal with 6 digit law school debt I will never be able to repay..so glad I busted my ass for nothing!

By: j

Wed, 02 May 2012 05:24:21 +0000

There are so many unemployed or underemployed people willing to work for free to gain experience and are getting turned down due to the lack of demand. Even legal aid offices are resorting to just advising people how to handle their own cases.

It’s really ugly out here for people that cannot get jobs. I feel we could be losing a generation of lawyers due to the lack of hiring to replace older lawyers. Even the older boomer lawyers are losing a nice chunk of change going into retirement due to the lack of money circulating. You have people that graduated 4 or 5 years ago that have simply given up on practicing law.

By: Megan

Megan — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:54:27 +0000

Law students need to be thinking about gaining experience while they’re still in law school. Clinics, externships, clerkships, and pro bono programs all help with this. Too many law students don’t hold a legal job of any kind until they’ve graduated and been sworn in. Then, when they can’t find a job, they’re left with the options of doing contract work or hanging a shingle (with NO experience). Some is better than none, and some is appreciated by potential employers too. Overall, getting experience while in law school is a win-win.

By: Jeff Fabian

Jeff Fabian — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:26:03 +0000

If you’re thinking about going solo (out of necessity or otherwise), working for a small firm during the summers can be another good way to start learning the nuts and bolts of managing a legal practice. I worked for the same small firm during both of my summers (and part-time during the school year), and I felt like it gave me a good jump-start on building toward the transition into solo practice. As far as how long to wait (if possible) before launching on your own, I was in full-time practice for 21 months before taking the leap–and looking back I still think this was a reasonable amount of time. That said, it will largely depend on what you are doing to prepare in the meantime. If all you’re doing is drafting discovery requests and performing document review for 2 years, you’re still not going to know how to handle clients and manage a solo practice. Take advantage of the opportunity to study and learn everything you can, and see what lessons you can apply and what things you can do differently (read: better) to start running your own business.