Grim job market awaits
law school graduates
By DAVE LUDWIG
Of the Emerald
Editor’s Note: This is the
eighth in a 10-part series exp
loring the problems of this
year’s college graduates as
they enter the job market.
Thursday’s story will concern
itself with the job outlook for
students in the School of
Community Service and Public
Affairs.
Forthe law school graduate, the
job market is grim.
Over 1,300 persons applied for
175 positions at the University’s
law school for next fall. Recent law
school graduates may wonder
why. There is basically a ratio of
two lawyers for every job. In 1973,
there were over 30,000 new ad
mittees to various state bars and
only 16,500 new attorney jobs es
timated for each year throughout
the 1970s by the U S. Department
of Labor.
The situation is even worse this
year because of the economy.
“In general, the economy has
slowed down the hiring process,”
said Marilynn Howard, placement
coordinator for the law school.
“Employers are cautious about
hiring a new associate."
She pointed out that though
they may be overworked, emp
loyers are afraid the economy
may take a dip and what work is
available may disappear.
In the March issue of Student
Lawyer, published monthly during
the school year, Frances Utley,
the American Bar Association's
lawyer placement information
service manager, said many firms
which normally take up to five stu
dents have cut back and now take
three.
Howard also said many firms do
not have the physical space to hire
a new associate though they may
need one. The economy has
forced employers to reconsider
expansion plans, she says.
Accordi ng to Utley, all these fac
tors make it extremely difficult,
since those competing in the job
market will be the brightest group
of law students in legal education
history.
Rand Dawson, a recent Univer
sity law school graduate, agreed.
Dawson said even salary offers
have come down. “If you can get
into one of the top Portland law
firms, you can get $1,000 a
month," he said. “But two years
ago, it was $1,200 a month.”
In addition, the number of avail
able jobs have fallen, continued
Dawson.
According to Utley, some work
areas have suffered more than
others. Pro bono work, work for
the public good, has definitely suf
fered. It is shocking to realize,
writes Utley, that throughout this
country there are only 4,000
lawyers employed in legal aid and
defender offices.
But Howard is optimistic. She
says, however, that she may not
feel that way in September after
the graduates have taken the bar
exam and have actively sought
jobs.
She said 20 to 25 per cent of this
year’s graduates already have
jobs but that these are students
who clerked for a law firm after
their second year in school. Utley
said clerkships in law firms are
becoming a recruiting device by
employers.
Howard said that though na
tional statistics show that two
graduates exist for every job, she
thinks these statistics reflect only
“straight legal employment.’’
They fail to consider non-legal
jobs such as OSPIRG or govern
ment research, she remarks, ad
ding that large numbers of per
sons are now entering govern
ment work.
Dawson said there isn’t a third
year law student who isn’t aware
of the depressing job market. In
The Orient
not important
back then
A Page 2 story in the Saturday
May 14, 1927, Oregon Daily
Emerald asked whether the
course "Asia and the Pacific" —
then, except for art history
courses, the major Asian studies
offering at the University — would
be dropped from the curriculum.
According to Walter Barnes, in
structor of the course, the history
department was considering
dropping the course because it
anticipated being "shorthanded'
tor the next school year. Barnes
was unhappy about this situation.
"It may be better to study the
Orient before a military crisis
arises out of Chinese confusion or
Japanese ambition,” he said. He
also complained that East Coast
Americans seemed to pay more
attention to the Orient than West
Coasters. Advocating a kind of
pan-Pacificism, he said, "One
would think that trans-Pacific rela
tions would be especially impor
tant to people on this coast. Think
of American technical skill com
bined with Chinese labor!"
That spring, 30 students were
enrolled in "Asia and the Pacific,”
which professor Barnes consi
dered "just normal” for an upper
division course. “But the oriental
culture course if far from the fields
in which we (the history depart
ment faculty) were trained, and if it
is not going to reach more stu
dents than any other upper
division course, there seems no
quite adequate reason for giving
it,” he concluded. It goes to show
that playing the numbers game
with course enrollments is nothing
new at the University.
Elsewhere on the same page,
an editorial lambasted Bernard
McFadden, the "leading Ameri
can exponent of the gutter press,”
for his recent attack on the
nation’s colleges. McFadden's
r
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New York Graphic, a tabloid
newspaper with an unsavory
reputation, had recently declared
that college students were getting
“an education in vice.”
But the Emerald editor attacked
McFadden for what he considered
hypocrisy. He charged that
McFadden ‘‘emptied the sewers
of the world in his own publica
tions,” and hinted that he might
find it more in his own self-interest
to encourage the tendencies the
Graphic discussed, than to op
pose them.
ME
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Drawing by Alfred Li
fact, he said, if graduates have
other opportunities, he or she
might be well advised to take
them.
Graduates should have a long
range viewpoint, he explained.
“The law graduate is not going to
have many geographical options,
the initial salary will be low and
graduates will be unable to bar
gain for pro bono work,” he con
tinued.
According to Utley, many stu
dents also fail to recognize that
the bulk of first job opportunities
come through law school alumni.
The job situation becomes even
grimmer having graduated from
an unknown law school, she said.
An employer who has attended
the law school the student has
graduated from knows about the
quality of education provided and
naturally looks with greater favor
upon a student from that school.
In addition, she said, the most
difficult areas to find jobs in are
San Francisco, Colorado, Arizona
and the smaller states. Job dif
ficulties also emerge she added,
where there is a heavy concentra
tion of law schools.
Howard noted that the graduate
with a business background is
easiest to place.
“People with a general B.S. de
gree who do not have a special
interest area in law school will be
hardest to place,” she com
mented.
In any case, according to Utley,
the greatest opportunities are for
those in general practice dealing
with individuals in small busines
ses and in general corporate law
dealing with the large corporate
plant.
There are two areas, she said,
however, where law graduates
can restrict their field. One area is
taxation where students should
have an accounting or business
-——V_J
background or even Certified Pub
lic Accountant rank.
The other area is patent law
where an engineering degree or a
scientific background is required.
For the average law school
graduate, both Howard and Daw
son agree that employers place
an overwhelming emphasis on
grades.
Howard says personality fac
tors in law school recruitment
have grown in importance as well.
As an example of this, Utley
noted that an employer from
downstate Illinois said: “You
know, if you have any student who
are farm-raised, that would be a
real asset, because most of my
clients are farmers, and if they’ve
lived on a farm and know some of
the economics of farming, they’d
be better able to talk to my
clients.”
For those graduates who have
found a job, Howard said, salaries
range between $500-$1,500 a
month for this year’s graduates,
the average being between $850
and $900 a month.
Dawson cautioned any indi
vidual entering law school who
might think inital salaries are high
upon graduation. The average ini
tial income, he said, and Utlev
concurred, is under $100,000 an
nually.
Utley said, however, that
“there’s no question but that the
market for graduates is going to
gradually expand over the years.”
She said, in fact, that if the mar
ket continues to expand, a reverse
situation may exist where two jobs
exist for every law school
graduate.
Nevertheless, the outlook for
the present law school graduate
getting a job remains grim.
“You can’t be optimistic,” said
Dawson. “Neither can you be
pessimistic. You just have to be
realistic.”
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