since the legal
market was starting
to unravel. Even if the
market is robust, as a
third-year law student,
you should always keep
your options open because you never know
what will happen.
at the top of his law
school class, to boot!), his
spot was safe.
direction as soon as it becomes apparent that the
tide has changed for the
worse so that you can maximize your time and think
through your options.
The Rankings
The saga continues:
Around the beginning
of January 2009, K.
Frink-Hamlett became
aware of rumors about
the stability of his prospective employer. The
rumors included news
about stealth layoffs,
partner defections and
staff reductions.
K. Frink-Hamlett knew
the legal market was
shaky and by this time
was acutely aware of
the massive reductions
that were occurring at
other law firms. But,
he figured that as a third-year law student (and
Rule No. 2:
Read the Writing
on the Wall
Don’t wait for the ship
to sink before you begin
to take action. Given the
overall instability of the
legal job market, K. Frink-Hamlett should have immediately started to implement a game plan to
identify additional opportunities.
Frequently, risk-ad-verse law students embrace delusional thinking
that somehow they will
remain unscathed despite
clear indications that
danger is lurking ahead.
Start to consider a new
The turning point:
In early February 2009,
K. Frink-Hamlett’s offer
for permanent employment was rescinded. Just
like that: gone.
His initial reaction was
one of complete shock.
How could he be rendered unemployed when he
had never even begun
working? Soon an overwhelming sense of betrayal began to settle in which
was quickly replaced by
the slow creep of bitterness.
Rule No. 3:
It’s Not
About You
Don’t take a rescinded
offer personally. Much
of what is occurring
is the result of a market
meltdown that has
absolutely nothing to
do with you, and which
is completely out of your
control. It’s natural to
be upset about losing
employment, but bitterness will only lead to
negative energy that
will ultimately undermine
your ability to move
forward.
When an offer is rescinded, express your
disappointment but then
go the next step by making yourself available in
the event circumstances
change. Let the firm know
that you would be willing
to work on a temporary,
part-time or consulting
basis in the interim. For K.
Frink-Hamlett in particular this proposition makes
sense because he is currently working with the
firm on a part-time basis
as a third-year student.
out to a few recruiters to
find out if there were any
firms hiring.
He also forwarded his
résumé to approximately
40 law firms, ranging from
small to large. Of these,
he had personal contacts
with four. Notably, he
received responses only
from those firms with
which he had contacts.
What Frims Want
Consider a new direction as soon as it’s
clear the tide has changed, to maximize
your time and think through your options.
Moving forward:
Realizing that he needed to seek new opportunities, K. Frink-Hamlett
decided to move forward
with a renewed sense of
urgency. Also in early
February he contacted
everyone he knew to let
them know that he was
actively seeking employment. He even reached
Rule No. 4:
Conduct
Targeted Searches
Sending your résumé to
every law firm under the
sun will yield absolutely
nothing and is a colossal
waste of time. This is especially the case with the
large New York firms. Just
think: You and zillions of
other law students
