...further goal of changing big law firms

PALO ALTO, Calif. — A decimated job market has turned the tables on top law graduates who not long ago were in high demand at big law firms. But a group of students from some of the best schools in the country sees power in numbers. Gathering at Stanford Law School over the weekend, about 50 students from premier law schools were part of Building a Better Legal Profession's National Conference of Student Leaders.

A decimated job market has turned the tables on top law graduates who not long ago were in high demand at big law firms. But a group of students from some of the best schools in the country sees power in numbers.

Gathering at Stanford Law School over the weekend, about 50 students from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford and other premier law schools were part of Building a Better Legal Profession's National Conference of Student Leaders. The two-day event focused on changing what were often painted as the evil ways of big law firms and included presentations and discussion from well-known practitioners and professors.

The goal of Building a Better Legal Profession (BBLP) is to create collective action among students and associates from top schools to prod large law firms to implement what it says are significant changes needed in billable hour requirements, diversity and the commitment to pro bono work. Their hope is that students and associates from the best schools will not accept jobs at firms that do not change their ways.

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