With BigLaw Jobs Drying Up, Help Us Help Julia

by WSJ.com Law Blog



To followers of this and other law-centered blogs, the NYT article out today on the struggles of job-seeking law students isn’t going to raise a bunch of eyebrows.

The gist of the article: Firms aren’t hiring as much as they used to. Students at fancy and expensive law students are sad and frustrated and having to look outside BigLaw for jobs. Meanwhile, the big firms are rethinking their hiring and recruiting strategies.

The article is a good one — deftly covering a good amount of terrain in a reasonably short amount of space. But for our purposes, let’s focus in on one of the firm’s characters, Julia Figurelli, a 2L at Penn.

Figurelli, who says she will have around $200,000 in debt when she graduates, says the following about her decision: “Had I seen where the market was going, I would’ve gone to a lower-ranked but less expensive public school,” she said. “I’m questioning whether law school was the right choice at all.”

Continues the NYT:

Once aiming to work in Philadelphia, Ms. Figurelli is now hunting for jobs in lower-paying markets, like Pittsburgh and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “I’m looking anywhere my competition isn’t looking,” she added.

Our question to you, LBers, is a two-parter. First, if you were Figurelli and had the chance to turn back the clock to, say, 2006, would you do as she suggests and go somewhere lower-ranked and cheaper? Or would you have done something else entirely?

Secondly, what about her current strategy? Should Figurelli make a beeline to Pittsburgh or Fort Lauderdale or, if Philly is where she wants to be, should she try to cool her heels there for a while until the market rebounds? Any thoughts for Julia?

Photo: iStockPhoto