Keep your head above water
Graduating law students are entering a legal job market that in many parts of the country is the toughest it’s been in years. Here’s what you need to know about the new legal economy, how to get the job you need, and how to keep yourself afloat until the tide comes in.
By Pablo Fuchs
Sean Whittaker is living every law student’s nightmare. Despite strong marks and a degree from the University of British Columbia Law School, he had the misfortune of graduating into one of the worst job markets for new lawyers Vancouver has ever seen. Since the fall of 2002, he’s been looking for an articling position – so far, without any luck.
"I’m a little disconcerted," admits Whittaker, 29, who has an interest in environmental law. "But at the same time, I’ve developed a better feeling of what’s happening out there. I know in Vancouver, hirebacks are way down and firms are not adhering to past outlines."
He’s right. "In the good times, nearly all of Vancouver’s law firms hired back their articling students," says Dal Bhathal of legal recruiter The Counsel Network in Vancouver. "Now, the rate has fallen to approximately 50%. I’ve even noticed that some firms in the city had no hirebacks whatsoever this year."
And it’s not just in Vancouver. The job market for new lawyers in most of the country has been affected by the same economic malaise that sent the larger legal economy into the tank. New lawyers finishing their articling year aren’t being hired back at the same rate as their predecessors, which means they need to become proficient job searchers in a market that’s being called the tightest in 30 years in some places.
Or in some cases, like Whittaker’s, they can’t even find the articling position from which to launch their careers. "I’ve taken a much more aggressive approach than I did at the beginning of the search process," he says. "I’ve made a much better effort to get out there, network and meet people, make cold calls to lawyers and firms, and I’ve revised my approach to cover letters and résumés."
According to legal recruiters with whom National spoke, that’s the right approach. New lawyers must now be willing to market themselves, volunteer, take on contracts with smaller firms, and even take jobs outside the legal profession altogether in order to break into the job market. The days of automatic hirebacks are ending – and law graduates need to learn everything they can about the market they’re about to enter.
Bad timing
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What’s hot, what’s not?
According to an informal survey of recruiters and educators, these are the areas where finding work is currently fruitful and where it’s futile. But everyone agrees: new lawyers should always enter the fields that interest them personally, rather than the ones that are popular at the moment.
HOT
• Litigation
• Intellectual Property (especially biotechnology)
• Oil and Gas (in Calgary)
• Electricity (in provinces with deregulated markets)
• Insolvency
• Labour & Employment
• Family
• Commercial Real Estate
• In-House Counsel
NOT
• Technology
• Securities
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Corporate/Commercial
• Public Sector |
Many graduating law students must be cursing their luck. Only a few years back, when they were either entering law school or in the early parts of their law degree, the Canadian legal job market was red-hot. Upper-year law students were landing summertime jobs in law firms that led to guaranteed articling positions with guaranteed hirebacks, and unprecedented salaries to boot.
The late 1990s tech boom in the stock market did wonders for the profession, creating more opportunities than there were lawyers to fill them. A huge demand for legal talent in Silicon Valley and New York led to similar demands in major Canadian centres, and firms fought among themselves to recruit new lawyers. Things were as good as they were going to get.
Then the tech bubble burst, and companies that had been in business for more than half a century were revising their profit statements or even closing up shop. The legal profession, which crested the wave of success, now experienced the sharp decline as well.
Suddenly, new lawyers who were guaranteed jobs after finishing their articling year were being let go, simply because there was no work for them to do. Even senior associates and partners were at risk because the billable tasks just weren’t there. Now, the same students who just two years ago were hoping to cash in at the biggest law firms in Canada are facing the dire prospect of not being hired back or even not getting their required articling experience.
Legal recruiters across the country say the situation is tougher now for law students than in the recent past – but there are still jobs out there once they finish their articling year, albeit far fewer of them.
"Everyone in the market is currently on edge, but I’m not seeing a lot of firms not choosing to hire back their articling students," says Carol Fitzwilliam, a partner with Montreal’s Shore & Fitzwilliam Recruitment. "Most firms here in Montreal have made commitments to at least some of their articling students, because they don’t want a repeat of the early 1990s."
Back then, says Fitzwilliam, Montreal law firms weren’t hiring back any of their articling students because of the long recession that plagued the North American economy for the first part of that decade. But the firms learned the hard way that failing to hire back students created many more long-term problems, producing gaps and vacancies in their legal personnel for many years afterwards.
But despite this knowledge, Montreal firms still aren’t hiring back a high percentage of their students. "At this moment, I really don’t know how many of the city’s articling students haven’t been hired back," says Fitzwilliam, "but I definitely feel the jitters. Each firm is handling things differently, but each one is hiring back as many young lawyers as they can absorb."
In the end, although firms are hiring back articling students, they’re doing so at half the rate they did just a few short years ago, and not just in Montreal. "We were blessed between 1997 and 2001 with unbelievably high hireback rates, spanning between 75 and 100%," says Warren Bongard, the Toronto-based vice-president of ZSA Legal Recruitment.
Those days are gone. "The current hireback rate has dropped to 45 to 50% in this city," Bongard says. "There have definitely been better times." And according to Jonathan Marsden, a partner with Marsden Nagata Legal Search Ltd., an overflow of new lawyers has created "the worst market in 30 years in Toronto."
The double call
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Your Job Search Checklist
New lawyers are entering a more difficult marketplace than their colleagues did just a few years ago. Here are some suggestions from experts on how to stay ahead of the pack:
Do...
• Determine who you want to be and what you want to do, and have a plan to get there.
• Join an organization and attend its events; it will help you network and help you become a better lawyer.
• Make sure you do lots of networking.
• Treat a job search like a full-time job – it is, and it should be treated as such.
• Take a contract if it becomes available.
• Think innovatively – take a job as a paralegal or clerk with a firm if nothing else is available.
• Make sure to highlight all your skills; firms look for a well-rounded individual.
• Volunteer, to help distinguish yourself from the competition.
• Consider the possibility of hanging out your own shingle. It’s challenging, but it might be the right path for you.
Don’t...
• Focus solely on the big firms. There’s great experience to be had working for a smaller practice.
• Concentrate on the "hot" areas if you don’t like those areas of law.
• Hesitate to get advice from mentors, recruiters, firms or your law school.
• Take an opportunity you’ll hate just to be employed. Figure out how this job would fit into your long-term plan; if it doesn’t, don’t go there.
• Give up hope. This is just a temporary downturn, and things will improve again. |
Where did this overflow come from? Many observers pinpoint Ontario’s double call to the Bar in 2002, which resulted from changes to the Bar admission course. Three large groups of graduates were called to the Bar in just 18 months, creating a surfeit of new lawyers entering the profession at a time when the market couldn’t handle the capacity.
Traditionally in Ontario, lawyers are called to the Bar throughout the year, but there was always a main call held in February. In 2002, however, there were two main calls, one in February and one in September, thanks to changes to the Bar program implemented that year. The program changed from a 17-month requirement to a 14-month requirement, where articling was reduced from 12 months to 10 months and classroom time was cut from five months to four.
The transition is now complete, however, and the main call will be held every July from now on. "Feedback has been positive about this change," says Diana Miles, director of professional development and competence for the Law Society of Upper Canada. "Students appreciate the opportunity to get out into the job market sooner."
Does the law society think the double call created an overflow of new lawyers into the job market? "This is not the cause of the high unemployment rates in Toronto and across Ontario," says Malcolm Heins, CEO of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
"During the double call, 55% of students reported having a full-time job, which is the same percentage we saw throughout the 1990s," he says. "Since the legal market has been very hot recently, everyone’s quick to point to the double call as a reason for the decline, but we must accept that this is just a result of the current economic times."
But in the nation’s capital, the double call has made the market very competitive in a much more difficult environment than three or four years ago, according to John Ohnjec, a recruiting manager for The Affiliates’ Ottawa branch.
"There is still work there, but a couple of things have really hurt the market in Ottawa," he says. "The first is that the federal government is on a hiring freeze, and the second is that the tech collapse forced many companies in Ottawa to let go of their general legal counsels."
During the heyday of the high-tech economy, Ottawa was the fastest-growing market in Canada. As soon as the tech market collapsed, however, investors flocked to old economy stocks such as oil and gas. This, of course, created an upswing in the fortunes of lawyers in Calgary, Canada’s energy capital.
Western progress
"I’m very pleased to say the market in Calgary has stayed buoyant in the face of all the problems we’ve seen over the past few years," says Sameera Sereda, a senior recruitment consultant with The Counsel Network in Calgary.
"The hireback rate has fallen from the 75 to 100% range to the 65 to 75% range, so there is still a need for entry-level lawyers here, especially in the in-house market," says Sereda, adding that the deregulation of the power and electricity market in Alberta has helped the economy stay strong and created a big demand for lawyers in Calgary.
"The local economy is definitely on its way back," she says. "It’s still not as strong as it was two or three years ago, but it’s been on the upturn throughout 2003. This, of course, is helped by the strong energy sector and the fact that Calgary has the second-highest number of head offices in Canada, next to Toronto."
In Vancouver, although the skies are still cloudy, help is on the way for beleaguered new graduates. The careers services directors at UBC Law and the University of Victoria Law School set up meetings with the CBA, the Vancouver Bar Association, and the Law Society of British Columbia to discuss the situation.
"We told all of them that we were very concerned about articling placements for students and we asked for their help," explains Danielle Raymond, UBC’s director of career services. "I’m very happy to report that they all were very helpful. The CBA published a note in its newsletter, the law society sent out letters to its members, and the VBA made an announcement at its annual general meeting.
"Thankfully, many small firms who’ve never housed articling students stepped up and hired our students for the first time," she reports. "Our placement rate for 2003 graduates is about 95%, only a small drop from the traditional levels of 98 to 99%." Raymond adds that had it not been for smaller firms saying they’d like to hire someone, that rate could have been 30 to 40% less than where it stands today.
Eastern stability
Meanwhile, in the Atlantic Provinces, the legal profession has been largely unaffected by the downward trends elsewhere in Canada. In fact, according to Kevin Burke, a partner and Chair of the articling committee at Halifax-based Cox Hanson, it’s been smooth sailing for the last year.
"Comparatively speaking, it’s been quite positive here," he says. "We’re lucky, because the east coast is quite insulated from what’s happening in the rest of the country. True, corporate and commercial law, as well as mergers and acquisitions and securities law, are down, like in all of Canada. But we haven’t been hit as hard."
Burke observes that in large urban centres, the economy is either very strong or very weak, whereas on the east coast, there are few big ups or downs – and that’s reflected in the legal business. "The economy is still relatively good," he says. "We’re continuing to plan for down the road by hiring articling students and junior lawyers.
"This year alone, we have 16 students working with us this summer," Burke adds. "That’s the most we’ve ever had."
The eastern Canadian economy has held its own partly because, like Calgary, there’s been a lot of activity in the oil and gas sector, which led to plenty of work for regional firms dealing with commercial and corporate law. But an important factor is that most Atlantic firms tend to provide all kinds of services, not just one.
Cox Hanson, for instance, is a full-service firm that offers expertise in tax law, corporate/commercial law, civil litigation, and pretty much all other types of law except family and criminal. "Except for the smaller boutique firms, law firms in Nova Scotia are far much more diversified," he explains. "The entire staff supports each other, and when one area is suffering, we find work for our other lawyers in areas with increased demand."
In the result, new lawyers in Atlantic Canada won’t face as dire a crunch as will their counterparts in other parts of the country – there will still be work that needs to be done at these full-service firms.
"From our firm’s perspective, things are as good as they’ve ever been for young lawyers entering the profession," says Michelle Awad, the regional recruitment chair for full-service firm McInnes Cooper in Halifax.
"In terms of hirebacks, the numbers are very high over our six offices – some even had 100% rates," she says. "However, our hireback rates are not a reflection of the economic times. The hireback process is very candidate-specific, and we look at each situation individually to determine whether a person returns with a full-time job."
Irene Muzychka, director of articling for St. John’s-based Curtis Dawe, reports similar good news in Newfoundland. Although the firm recently reduced the number of hired-back articling students from two to one, that was a reflection of a lack of post-growth space at the firm and a decline in the number of applicants for the positions.
"I have the general sense that the legal profession is holding its own here in Newfoundland," she says. "People who are admitted to the Bar seem to find work, and I have yet to hear of any layoffs."
What to do next?
So if you’re a new lawyer struggling to find an articling or associate position, or a law student eyeing the upcoming job market with unease, what steps should you take? Legal recruiters and career services officers have seen these market swings before, and they have a lot of good advice.
"The key for new lawyers is to distinguish themselves from the competition," says Fitzwilliam, "to recognize their own unique talents and seek opportunities that play to their strengths. At the same time, they must be prepared to volunteer and get involved as much as they can by joining organizations like the CBA and network at every opportunity they can get."
Incoming lawyers should also be ready to step outside their comfort zones and think differently to land the positions they really want. "Young lawyers are now in the process of learning that if there are no opportunities out there, they must be willing to create them," says recruiter Adam Lepofsky, president of Toronto-based The Rainmaker Group.
"I would advise the students to call everyone they know in law – whether it be firms, former colleagues and classmates, and professors," he says. "But my biggest piece of advice is to have a plan and be aggressive and ambitious – not desperate – to land the job you want. Put yourself in a position that when the market turns around, you’ll be in a place to do very well."
Lepofsky adds that students should always consider further education, such as an MBA or an LL.M., to enhance their credentials, a view shared by many other recruiters. New lawyers should also be prepared to do things their predecessors never needed to do, such as venture into paralegal work, accept short-term contracts, seek out mentors while articling, and constantly market themselves and the work they do to firms where they would like to work.
ZSA’s Bongard thinks that young lawyers who haven’t been hired back by their articling firm should develop their own practice and client base in association with a bigger firm. "Young lawyers must be versatile about hanging up their own shingles," he says. "Being called to the Bar gives you the right to do so."
However, many new lawyers still feel lost or in limbo. They no longer belong to the law school and they don’t have enough experience and connections to find work. So law schools’ career services departments have stepped up to help out their alumni.
"We tell our students to keep in contact with us and let us know if they have been hired back by their articling firms," says UBC’s Raymond. "If they’re not hired back, we invite them to come in for a meeting where we counsel them and help them come up with a strategy to find work."
Offering career services to alumni is also in the works for at least two Ontario law schools. Michele Martin, director of career services at the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law, says her school will be adding an alumni division to the department this fall, due to tremendous demand.
"We will have an employer database, associate postings, and an alumni board on the Internet," she reports. "[We’ll also] make ourselves available to meet with our former students and provide them with résumé, cover letter, interview, and general marketing skills."
Osgoode Hall Law School’s director of career services, Wendy Griesdorf, has an ambitious two-stage plan for her department: developing an external recruitment wing to go out to firms and inform them of the value of hiring Osgoode’s students; and creating an office to help out alumni three to five years after their graduation.
"When times were good, the articling process was the beginning of our students’ career," explains Griesdorf. "But now, they must take the approach that articling is the end of their education. With the way the market is, we have to do all we can to help our students and former students."
A cyclical process
As the legal job market across Canada continues to struggle, unemployed new lawyers should take comfort in the fact they are not alone. In addition to many young lawyers without jobs, numerous higher-level associates and even partners have lost their jobs during this recent economic slowdown because their firms could no longer afford their services.
In the meantime, recruiters say young lawyers should fully immerse themselves in the job-hunting experience – they’ll learn skills that will serve them well throughout the rest of their careers, whether in law or in any other profession. Turn the negative of job-hunting into as much of a positive as possible.
But above all, they should keep looking for work and developing themselves professionally, regardless of what anyone says. "My key advice for new lawyers is this: don’t give up hope," says Marsden. "This is just another down cycle. Lawyers will be in high demand once again."
Pablo Fuchs is a Toronto-based freelance journalist.
Illustration: Nicholas Vitacco
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english
Que faire dans un marché au ralenti?
Les cohortes de diplômés des facultés de droit font face au pire marché de l’emploi depuis des années. Voici ce que vous devez savoir au sujet de la nouvelle économie, sur la façon d’obtenir l’emploi que vous recherchez et de vous maintenir à flot.
Pour Sean Whittaker, c’est le cauchemar. Malgré de bonnes notes et un diplôme de la faculté de droit de l’Université de Colombie-Britannique, il se cherche un stage depuis l’automne 2002... sans succès. « C’est un peu déconcertant », admet M. Whittaker, âgé de 29 ans, et qui voudrait faire carrière en droit environnemental. « Mais en même temps je comprends mieux ce qui se passe dans le marché. Je sais qu’à Vancouver les réembauches sont fortement à la baisse et que les cabinets n’adhèrent pas aux modèles antérieurs. »
Il a raison. « Aux meilleures époques, presque tous les cabinets juridiques de Vancouver réembauchaient leurs stagiaires », affirme Dal Phathal, recruteur juridique pour The Counsel Network. « Maintenant, la proportion est tombée à 50 pour cent environ. J’ai même noté que certains cabinets de le ville n’avaient réembauché aucun stagiaire. »
Cette situation ne touche pas seulement la région de Vancouver. Le marché de l’emploi juridique au Canada se ressent du même malaise. Il s’agirait, aux dires de certains spécialistes, du pire marché de l’emploi depuis 30 ans. Dans certains cas, comme celui de M. Whittaker, on ne réussit même pas à dénicher le stage qui pourrait lancer sa carrière juridique.
Il y a à peine quelques années, le marché juridique était chauffé à blanc. Les étudiants en droit décrochaient des emplois d’été qui menaient tout droit à des stages et à des réembauches garanties, avec, en prime, des salaires sans précédent. Le boum technologique de la fin des années 90 a créé tellement d’occasions que les candidats ont manqué. La demande insatiable à Silicon Valley et à New York a entraîné une demande semblable dans les grands centres canadiens et une surenchère de recrutement.
Puis la bulle a éclaté, les États-Unis ont vécu les événements du 11 septembre et sans préavis, de grandes entreprises plus que cinquantenaires ont fermé leurs portes. La profession juridique a été emportée dans le tourbillon. Soudainement, de nouveaux avocats étaient mis à pied, faute de travail à leur offrir. Même des salariés d’expérience et des associés risquaient le couperet devant la diminution des tâches facturables. La situation actuelle est difficile, sans aucun doute. Il y a des emplois, mais en moins grande quantité.
« Tout le monde est nerveux, mais je ne vois pas beaucoup de cabinets qui choisissent de ne pas réembaucher de stagiaires », déclare Carol Fitzwilliam, associé du cabinet de recrutement Shore & Fitzwilliam, à Montréal. « La plupart des cabinets de la métropole ont promis des emplois à certains de leurs stagiaires parce qu’ils ne veulent pas une répétition du début des années 90. » À cette époque, dit-il, les cabinets montréalais ne réembauchaient pas leurs stagiaires en raison de la récession qui avait frappé l’ensemble de l’Amérique du Nord. Des problèmes de personnel à long terme en avaient résulté.
À Toronto, explique Warren Bongard, de la société ZLA Legal Recruitment, le taux de réembauche est passé d’entre 75 et 100 pour cent (1997 à 2001) à moins de 50 pour cent en 2003. En Ontario, plusieurs observateurs pointent du doigt la double cohorte au Barreau en 2002, résultant de changements aux cours d’admission au barreau. Trois groupes importants de diplômés ont donc été admis au Barreau du Haut-Canada au cours des derniers 18 mois, créant un bouchon à l’entrée de la profession au moment où le marché vivait un ralentissement. Dans la capitale, plus que la double cohorte, le marché juridique a subi les contrecoups d’un gel de l’embauche dans la Fonction publique fédérale et de l’effondrement dans le secteur technologique. Par ailleurs, il semble que les marchés de l’Alberta et des provinces de l’Atlantique aient été peu touchés par les tendances à la baisse dans le reste du pays.
Alors, que doit faire un nouvel avocat qui a de la difficulté à trouver un stage ou un emploi salarié? Que doit faire un étudiant en droit préoccupé par la perspective d’un marché de l’emploi peu accueillant? « La clé, c’est de se démarquer des concurrents, dit M. Fitzwilliam, de reconnaître son propre talent et de rechercher des possibilites qui correspondent à ses forces. Ou même, on doit être prêt à faire du bénévolat et à s’engager autant qu’on le peut dans des organisations comme l’ABC, et faire du réseautage à la moindre occasion. »
« Les jeunes avocats sont en train d’apprendre que s’il n’y a pas d’offres, ils doivent avoir la volonté de les créer », dit le recruteur Adam Lepofsky, président du Rainmaker Group, un cabinet de Toronto. En plus de téléphoner à toutes leurs connaissances, ils doivent « avoir un plan d’emploi agressif et ambitieux. Mettez-vous en position de réussir si le marché change. » |
