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Bar News - October 4, 2002 Prospecting for Prospects By: Dan Wise WELL-SCRUBBED, in obligatory dark suits and equally necessary upbeat expressions, the "twenty-something" men and women exchange pleasantries with fellow legal job seekers outside the Highlander Conference Center in Manchester. Inside, several meeting rooms, hemmed in by rows of blue-curtained booths, emit the steady murmuring of dozens of get-acquainted, first-impression interviews occurring simultaneously. In 20 to 30-minute sessions, on seats still warm from prior occupants, the candidates - second and third-year law students - present their emerging professional personas. After offering firm, earnest handshakes, they speak confidently of their accomplishments, experiences and aspirations; the canny ones remain alert to the opportunity to make a memorable as well as positive first impression. On the other side of the table, the members of this year's law firm hiring committees - volunteers or conscripts - try to keep their postures straight and their ties or collars from turning askew as they converse and smile through their list of invitees. For some hot prospects, the hiring attorneys crank up the charm, while at other times, minds inevitably wander, as they try not to think about the work that awaits them back at the office. That was the scene at the annual New Hampshire Legal Jobs Fair on Sept. 19, 2002, sponsored by the Franklin Pierce Law Center Career Services department. Annually, the school sends out invitations to more than 50 law schools nationwide, offering their students the opportunity to meet with New Hampshire law firms. This year, 13 private law firms, the NH Attorney General's Office and NH Public Defender interviewed students from 53 law schools. Mary Sheffer, Pierce Law's assistant dean for career services, does not know how many law students are typically interviewed at the event - the law firms make the invitations and schedule the rapid-fire interview sessions themselves - but she estimates that, based on 36 interview booths and the number of interview slots available during the day, as many as 300 interviews could have been conducted this year. Participation by law firms and perspectives from law students provide a glimpse of what the larger law firms in the state envision for the legal economy. The verdict, based on admittedly slim evidence: tight hiring times, but not drastically so. Law firm spokespersons are justifiably evasive about their hiring plans for next year, but their participation at the job fair provides some indication of their outlook. "We have about the same number of law firms participating as in past years," said Sheffer, "but the firms that are here appear to be doing fewer interviews." For example, one large private law firm this year was down to six interview booths from eight two years ago. Another was down from four to two. There was no shortage of firms participating, however - Nelson, Kinder, Mosseau & Saturley and the Portland-based Preti, Flaherty firm, which opened a Concord office last year, were newcomers to the job fair this year. While many attending the fair are typically second-year law students seeking an influential summer clerkship at a prominent firm, there are also third-year students looking for that first "real" law job. Prospects for those jobs look "tight," acknowledged Claire Howard, a Pierce Law student who had three interviews this year. Last year, she participated in a nine-interview marathon at the job fair to obtain a summer clerkship. "It's not as open as last year; they are mostly looking for summer clerks," she said, a view echoed by Julie Barth, a third-year law student from Boston University, who hopes to settle in New Hampshire. Andrea Johnstone, chair of the hiring committee at Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell in Concord, cautioned against trying to make forecasts based on what law firms are projecting at this point in the year. For her firm, this event represents only the first effort at hiring for the year, she said. No matter what trends can be gleaned from the event, the job fair offers law firms a valuable and convenient opportunity to interview new legal talent. More firms may be able to take part next year, Sheffer said, as Pierce Law is considering a Concord location that will offer more space. Law firms interested in participating in next year's job fair should contact Sheffer at msheffer@piercelaw.edu. NATIONAL FIGURES: HIRING OF FIRST-YEARS ECLIPSED BY INTEREST IN LATERALS Slow growth in hires of new associates is the expectation nationally, according to surveys by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), which forecast a nine percent increase for the Northeast region in the past year, compared to 15 percent nationally. However, there is a greater emphasis upon experience, the NALP found. According to a press release issued by the NALP last spring, "Lateral hiring increased dramatically (30.5 percent) between 1999 and 2000, resulting in firms hiring in aggregate 36 percent more laterals than entry-level attorneys in 2000, compared with a nearly one-to-one ratio in 1999, although the trend was most pronounced among larger firms.
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