When Kyle Tence graduated from the University of Kentucky’s College of Law in 2011, he expected there to be a tight job market. But the Elizabethtown, Ky., resident didn’t anticipate finding so many closed doors at law firms.
“The prevailing feeling is frustration,” Tence said. “It’s easy to be disappointed in yourself or think you failed, but I don’t see it that way. You know that nobody is hiring.”
Tence wants to practice law in one of the region’s major cities — Lexington, Louisville or Cincinnati. In the meantime, Tence returned home to handle legal work for his family’s small contracting business.
Studies show that a remarkably high number of recent graduates of the nation’s law schools failed to land jobs that require a J.D. (juris doctor).
At the same time, the debts these law school grads are accumulating are staggering. In 2010, 85 percent of law graduates from ABA-accredited schools carried an average debt load of $98,500, according to U.S. News & World Report.
“If you don’t gain admission to a good law school, if you are going into a lower-tier law school, I have deep concerns about your ability to find employment unless you graduate in the top 10 percent of your class,” said Lynette Noblett, director of paralegal programs at Eastern Kentucky University. EKU also offers pre-law advising.
Noblett tries to gauge the seriousness of law school students. She doesn’t want them “hiding out” because they don’t know what to do with their college degree or aren’t ready to enter the work force.
“Law school is a huge commitment. You can incur the same kind of debt as someone with a mortgage, but you have nowhere to live and it is unsecured debt,” Noblett said. She added that a student could face financial ruin if he or she is not careful.
While she encourages 18-year-olds to go off to college to find themselves, Noblett said that’s not what law school is for.
“You need to know what you’re doing, have a plan and be ready to study as hard and rank as high in your class as you can,” Noblett said.
There’s an old college saying: the last person who graduates in a medical school class is still called ‘doctor.’ That’s not necessarily true for lawyers. Top law firms are able to pluck the top talent from the top law schools. The rest of the law grads must scramble for the jobs that remain, and there are fewer of them.
The UK and University of Louisville law schools and Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University are each graduating about 120 law students per year. That means more than 300 freshly minted attorneys are unleashed into the local, regional and national legal job market.
Some law schools have started to limit the number of students they admit.
Lindsey Ingram, personnel committee chair at the Kentucky law firm Stoll Keenon Ogden, said some law grads who want to remain in Kentucky to practice will find it challenging.
“On the private law firm side, there’s always a need for new attorneys, whether because of attrition or for other reasons. If we identify someone in law school who has worked for us during a summer and whom we think will be a great firm citizen and a great lawyer and who did well in school, then we’ll make an offer. That’s a philosophy shared by all firms,” Ingram said.
Ingram doesn’t believe being ranked in the middle or lower third of your class means a student has wasted his or her time. Law school does more than just prepare a person to become a lawyer.
“Law school teaches you to think a little differently, in an organized and logical way. I believe this way of thinking can be applied to all areas of life,” Ingram said. “When I decided to go to law school, I wasn’t convinced I wanted to become a lawyer.”
Yes, law school isn’t just for future lawyers — at least not immediately. Take for example, Jason Morgan, an attorney at the Lexington firm of McBrayer, McGinnis, Leslie and Kirkland.
“I couldn’t find a job. Then Hurricane Katrina hit. I had an opportunity through a family connection to go to the Gulf Coast to work,” said Morgan.
He gained insurance claims and litigation experience working with insurance service provider Pilot Catastrophe Services, handling property damage claims associated with Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Frances, Charlie and Jean.
Morgan and his twin brother and family are in the building restoration business. He went to law school to be able to help represent his family in its business dealings.
“There was a need. It would help my career and my family as well,” Morgan said.
Along the way, Morgan also earned an MBA.
“My real estate, small business and insurance experience is all non-law-firm-based, but fully utilizes my law school skill set in solving problems in the most efficient and effective way,” said Morgan, who added that he wouldn’t tell law grads not to pursue law firms, because they have acquired “a certain skill set most appropriate for law firms.”
But that skill set also extends far beyond law practices, he said.
“They (law students) are trained to be more organized than in almost any other career. It also teaches them to write and research. All of corporate America and small business owners need people to solve problems,” Morgan said.
Morgan’s variety of skills and non-legal experience are now being poured into construction of the Jefferson Davis Inn on South Broadway in Lexington. He and his brother are developing a three-story, three-bar, full-service restaurant with 20 townhomes adjacent to the site.
A partner at another prominent Lexington firm, Dinsmore & Shohl, said he hires one or two new law graduates per year, often because of attrition. John Rhorer, Jr. said some lawyers decide they want to do something totally different — go to another firm, perhaps a smaller one, or go on their own or work in government.
“We continue to be able to hire good, qualified graduates,” he said.
His advice to students is time-tested.
“I’d say if you’re considering law school, there’s no substitute for a good record. Buckle down and apply yourself. Try to branch out and participate in as many extracurricular activities as possible to show you are ready to enter the workforce,” said Rhorer.
If you’re a recent grad, Rhorer suggested you keep plugging away, covering every base in your résumé.
“Find ways to demonstrate other good qualities to potential employers beyond the usual résumé items,” he recommended.
Tence said he has done that, and more. He hopes to practice commercial real estate transactional law, including contract negotiations.
“My experience in the family business was built for that,” he said.
Tence and his law school classmates talk about their struggles gaining employment, but in the end, no one regrets attending law school, although the payoff is obviously delayed.
“The education was excellent,” Tence said. “I feel I’m ten times smarter than when I started law school because of the way I now analyze things. I think I’m a better businessman because of law school.”