Based on many sources of information, a generation of lawyers face the toughest job market in decades. Since 2008, some 15,000 attorney and legal-staff jobs at large firms have vanished, according to a Northwestern Law study. Associates have been laid off, partners nudged out the door and recruitment programs have been scaled back or eliminated.

And with corporations scrutinizing their legal expenses as never before, more entry-level legal work is now outsourced to contract temporary employees, both in the United States and in countries like India. It’s common to hear lawyers fret about the sort of tectonic shift that crushed the domestic steel industry decades ago. Read the full story.


The Wall Street Journal reported that a survey found that nearly 25% of employed graduates said their work was temporary. And almost 22% said they were still looking for work even though they were employed, up from 16% in 2008.