Where Did All the Jobs Go?

These days it seems like every lawyer has been touched by this economic downturn. Either you’ve been laid off from your law job or someone you know has been laid off from their law firm. And the layoffs have now finally reached the Texas market. Well, you’re not alone. It’s been reported that in 2008, around 1800 legal jobs were lost (including lawyers and legal staff). It’s also been reported that in just January and so far in February around 3000 legal jobs have been lost nationally, a number of those jobs here in the Texas market. Those numbers don’t include unreported layoffs or secret layoffs from big law firms that so many of you have been telling us about. Faced with losing a job, the obvious question is what do I do next.

Nationally, lawyers are retooling themselves. They’re retooling their legal resumes to show a broader depth of law practice experience, which is particularly a great idea for the transactional lawyers out there with corporate, finance and real estate experience. While litigation and bankruptcy practices are busy, it’s best to show that you have some legal experience in these busier practices. Lawyers are considering law jobs that pay less, and in some instances a lot less than their previous law firm job. They are thinking about geographic moves to locations with no connection other than a good legal job. And they’re even thinking about non-legal jobs until the economy improves. In these times, it pays to be creative and think outside the box about how to best market your legal skills and distinguish yourself from every other lawyer or candidate out there.