LawCrossing Announces a General Slowdown in the Hiring Demand for Attorneys Across Most of the U.S.

17 March 2006

LawCrossing, the website with the largest collection of legal jobs in the world, released its monthly statistical report on changes in the demand for attorneys and legal staff across the U.S. The newly released figures, which reflect changes in the number of created jobs from February 15, 2006, to March 15, 2006, point to a significant slowdown in the legal hiring market. Overall data suggests that with the exception of the Western region of the country, the demand for attorneys at law firms, in-house legal departments, and government organizations has either decreased or exhibited minimal signs of growth. The demand for legal staff has also been tempered, with only few areas continuing a healthy expansion.

LawCrossing's team of more than 200 researchers monitors the hiring needs of more than 1.2 million legal employers throughout the country, updating the 100,000-job-strong database on an hourly basis. LawCrossing counts tens of thousands of attorneys, law students, and legal staff among its members, providing them with up-to-date information on legal vacancies. The current data points to the post-New Year slump in the hiring demand exhibited by law firms, in-house legal departments, and government agencies. The only bright spot in the attorney-hiring market at this time of year could be seen in the West, where hiring has slowed down compared to the previous months, but continues to be strong. The increase by employer type in this region averaged more than 26 percent, while the other five regions showed decreased demand. "The hiring tendency in the West is an anomaly," commented LawCrossing's CEO A. Harrison Barnes. "This time of year, hiring at most legal employers tends to slow down quite a bit. The market cannot sustain the growth of late January, early February, and demand for attorneys tapers off."

When the demand for lawyers according to the employer type is assessed, in-house legal departments have cut down on hiring, while law firms and government agencies have maintained a modest growth. Especially significant is the slowdown in hiring by government agencies, which have exhibited more than 30 percent growth in the beginning of the year. Now, the hiring demand by government organizations is statistically indistinguishable from that of law firms, and is 5.91 percent. "Attorneys rushed to be hired by various government agencies in the last two months," said Barnes, "and now it is time for a cool off."

Hiring demand for legal staff continued the last month's trend of mixed results. While the largest specializations, paralegals and legal secretaries, showed minimal change, the demand for human resource, IT, and marketing professionals continues to be very strong. Legal organizations maintain a need for these legal staff professionals, with practically no signs pointing to a slowdown anytime in the near future.

Contact: Shalva Alexander for LawCrossing, +1-626-243-1851

Regions: Increase/Decrease in Number of Attorney Jobs

by Employer-Type from 2/15/06 to 3/15/06

Law Firms In-house Government Overall Change

Northeast +1.1% -10.15% +24.57% -0.91%

Mid-Atlantic +1.38% -10.51% -2.24% -2.86%

South -4.92% -17.7% +0.48% -7.68%

Midwest +5.44% -6.13% -7.03% -0.60%

Southwest no change -15.61% -3.17% -6.53%

West +26.63% +26.49% +28.95% +26.85%

Overall Change +5.65% -4.86% +5.91%

Legal Staff Practice Areas Increase/Decrease in Number of Jobs