With a new crop of Wisconsin attorneys about to enter the legal profession, some may find the job market to be the most competitive it has been in a decade.

While large law firms in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have laid off waves of attorneys in recent months, the epidemic has yet to hit Wisconsin, but employers are being more conservative in how they recruit and hire new associates.

Marquette University Law School’s assistant dean for career planning said he is seeing the tightest job market for new graduates in 10 years.

“No question there is a heightened sense of anxiety on the part of third-year students who are going to be graduating,” Paul D. Katzman said. “There is so much caution being exercised by employers.”

Seasonal Help

Katzman and Jane Heymann, assistant dean for career affairs at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said neither is aware of any larger firms in the state rescinding offers to graduates who were summer associates last year.

But they noted that many larger firms did not return last fall to recruit additional third-year students and neither expects much activity this year, either.

“In a booming economy when firms are busy, we find that they would recruit second- and third-years for permanent associate positions,” Heymann said. “That didn’t happen [last fall] because the recession was already underway and firms knew they were not going to need additional associates.”

That was the case for Milwaukee-based Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren S.C., which refrained from making fall hires from the law schools last year.

Attorney Albert S. Orr is chair of the Recruiting Committee at Reinhart. He said the firm does not annually hire associates beyond its summer program, but conceded that in a contracting economy, a number of practice areas are less likely to need additional attorneys.

He also noted that the firm extended offers to all 11 summer associates from six different law schools who will graduate this May. Ten of them accepted positions. Orr said about “eight or nine” second-year associates have been hired for this summer’s program.
“Like every other business, we are looking hard at things, but there has been no change with respect to pushing back start dates or rescinding offers for our summer associates,” Orr said.

The same is true for Godfrey & Kahn S.C., which has commitments to nine students who were summer associates last year, according to attorney Christine L. McLaughlin, co-chair of the firm’s recruiting committee.

“Whether you are [a student] in-state or out-of-state, all are feeling the pressure of getting that call from a firm that says, ‘You are starting in the fall,’” McLaughlin said. “You don’t want to be the one that hears, ‘You are not starting this fall.’”

Heymann said she has been in contact with several students who were notified that their start dates at Chicago- and New York-based firms would be delayed.

Godfrey & Kahn expects to hire 18 law students for this summer’s associate program, said McLaughlin, compared to 25 last year. The drop is due to fewer first-year students being courted, and McLaughlin said the firm will be reviewing its hiring needs in the fall.

“I think at that time all larger firms will be assessing things based on the success of summer programs, the economy and need,” McLaughlin said.

Trickle Down Effect

In addition to firms in Wisconsin evaluating their recruiting methods and hiring practices, new graduates may soon have to compete with unemployed associates from other states looking for work in cities like Milwaukee or Madison.

Katzman said a concern among staff at Marquette is whether mass layoffs of second-, third- and fourth-year associates in a neighboring metropolis like Chicago could over-saturate the job market for new attorneys in the state.

“I’m sure students are hopeful there is not a push up [from Chicago] with attorneys coming in and asking, ‘What does Milwaukee have to offer?’” Katzman said.

But McLaughlin said resumes from relatively new attorneys who were casualties in other cities are already coming in to Godfrey & Kahn.

Though she said the firm has a commitment to new attorneys who start their careers in the summer program, McLaughlin suggested that the competition will increase between new graduates and recent fires from other states at a time when jobs are already scarce.

“No question the talent pool amongst all levels of associates heightens as a result of larger firms letting go some talented individuals,” McLaughlin said. “It’s difficult for me to say whether one will displace the other right now.”