The nation's 200 accredited law schools will spit out about 43,000 graduates next month, with roughly half of those lawyer-hopefuls expecting to take jobs in private practice. They will be entering an employment market that already is swarming with thousands of laid-off associates who are in about as much demand as a five-year lease on a full-size Hummer. The upshot is a massive pile-up of attorneys looking for work in an environment that is pitting would-be attorneys against more experienced competitors.

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"Given that a lot of people who have been laid off were younger associates, there's a lot of uncertainty," said Shilpi Agarwal, a third-year student at Columbia Law School. "People are pretty nervous across the board."

Agarwal, who will start clerking in federal district court in Houston after graduation, has accepted a job following her clerkship at one of the nation's largest law firms. Like many others, it has deferred start dates for new associates until December. Agarwal was relieved that she chose to clerk for at least a year, given the circumstances, she said.

Among the 43,518 law students who graduated in 2008, about 21,000 took jobs at private law firms, according to the latest information available from the American Bar Association and the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). About the same number of people are expected to graduate this year.