Really? One third of you want to quit?

Our last poll--If you could do it all over again, would you go to law school, knowing what you know now?--produced disheartening results. At first, I was sort of pleased that the majority voted in the positive (62%), especially knowing that people with an ax to grind or a gripe to share are more apt to contribute in an anonymous forum. But, then I stood back and thought, that is over one third of people who bothered to vote (37%); they would rather not be doing what they are doing now.

The unfortunate poll result begs the question: what would you rather be doing?

What would you tell someone you know who is considering law school?

For those of you who want additional thoughts concerning the same topic as our latest poll, "if I could do it all over again ..." Karen Sloan has written an article in the latest edition of the National Law Journal, "Going to law school? Proceed with caution" that is worth a read. You can find the full article here: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202436271998

The Recession still Looms for Lawyers

According to the majority of poll takers in our latest poll, the recession is not over--fifty percent of respondents have lost their job and remain unemployed. An additional 33% of respondents have somewhat recovered: they have found employment, but their new job is not as good as their last job.

Unfortunately, the poll demonstrates, to a certain extent (at least in the NY legal market), many people have not recovered from the recession. The Am Law Daily confirms that the law profession continues to be financially rattled in a recent article entitled "Legal Sector Loses 5,800 Jobs in October" see the link below for the entire article.

http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2009/11/legal-sector-loses-5800-jobs-in-october.html

No Red Flags Rule for Lawyers

On October 29, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the FTC's Red Flags Rules cannot be enforced against lawyers, saying that the FTC's interpretation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act overreaches and its application to lawyers is unreasonable.

NYCLA organized a CLE Program on November 5 which discussed the decision and its significance for the independance of the legal profession.

Red Flags Rule Update

A bill to exclude some lawyers from the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and awaits action in the Senate.

On October 20, the House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 3763 to exclude from the meaning of “creditor” any health care practice, accounting practice, or legal practice with 20 or fewer employees. The bill would also excludes any other business which the FTC determines: (1) knows all its customers or clients individually; (2) only performs services in or around the residences of its customers; or (3) has not experienced incidents of identity theft, and identity theft is rare for businesses of that type.

With only three days left before November 1 -- the date the FTC will begin enforcement -- whether or not your firm will be affected is still an open question.

Red Flags Rule reprise

In case you have forgotten about theFTC's Red Flags Rule (we haven't). In the summer, the FTC delayed enforcement of the rule until 11/1/09. Mark your calendars, the date is coming up...

NYCLA's Ethics Hotline

I a volunteered to staff NYCLA's Ethics Hotline in August. I was surprised to have received several calls during my volunteer tenure. Many lawyers have serious professional practice questions that need answers so I applaud the Ethics Committee for the hotline resource. The first step for everyone facing an ethical dilemma is to review the rules; they are accessible on the web and deal (at least broadly) with most issues that came up in my volunteer weeks.



I wish I could tell you more, but the hotline q&a and the committee discussions are confidential. So, if you want to learn more, you will just have to volunteer yourself.