Hot Practice Areas for 2012

According to our last poll, NYCLA readers reveal that the hot practice area in 2012 is mortgage and consumer issues. Sixty-five percent of those polled chose mortgage and consumer issues. The FTC, whose activities have been heightens and highlighted in the media in recent months, would probably agree with these results.

White collar litigation (always active in New York), IP and technology transactions also received some votes.

And none of our pollsters believe that international arbitration or privacy regulation will be talked about much in 2012.

On a different note, I changed jobs at the beginning of the year which has kept me busy, busy, busy. I will be updating my profile, so stay tuned.

Feeling Unprepared

The results of the latest survey demonstrate that 85% of our respondents feel as though their law school education did not prepare them for private practice.

Navigating office politics, understanding the relevance of the billable hour, learning the cost and value of legal services -- none of these essential issues involved in private practice success were ever addressed in my law school education. Were they in yours?

Beyond practice skills, taught in clinics and legal writing, practical private practice skills need to be addressed in law schools. We can't pretend that the law is a purely academic endeavor.


On an unrelated note, we have been experiencing an uptick in readers and survey takers. (Take a look at the bottom left hand column, we are at nearly 13,000 page views!) I want to thank you all for taking the time to read and cast your votes. You can follow this blog and receive post updates by email by signing up on the NEW FEATURES in the bottom right column.

1/2 Mentored 1/2 Not

Our last poll surveyed NYCLA members to find out if they had a mentor who assisted them in their legal career. The results were curious: 50%  of respondents were lucky enough to have mentors guide their careers, while 50% were not so lucky and wished that they did have a mentor. 

Beyond the scarcity of mentoring, the poll doesn't say much.  It would be interesting to hear from both groups to compare where they are in their careers and development. Success is subjective.  I would be curious to know how those with mentors view their success in terms of the mentoring they received. Likewise, I would like to hear from those who wish they had mentors to know how they feel they would have advanced if mentored.


At least we hope to raise the statistics with NYCLA's mentoring program, now in its third year!

NYCLA thinking like a Techie

Our latest poll asked NYCLA members to think about the future of legal services and the extent that those services will become systematized in the future.  Surprisingly for a group of lawyers (since lawyers are notorious for resistance to technological changes) 87 percent of those surveyed said that more comprehensive legal services will be available online within the next 5 years.  The small minority disagreed saying that legal services need to be tailored, are too specialized and too complicated to be made available online.

I would love to hear more from those of you who predict more legal services will be available online in the future. What do you see: Skype consultations? form complaints? mutually agreed upon automated dispute resolution?

NYCLA Tweeters Unite!

I am impressed by the tech savvy NYCLA members--33% of you use Twitter in your business development. I bet that is higher than the national average for lawyers, in fact, an ABA article from 2009, remarked that "Only 6 percent of lawyers in private practice and 4 percent of in-house lawyers use Twitter."  Who knew that NYCLA was on the cutting edge?

Rounding out the poll results 46%  of pollsters did not use Twitter; 13% use it, but not for business development; and a mere 6% never heard of it or thought it was a waste of time.

 

To see the ABA article, click here:

http://www.americanbar.org/publications/young_lawyer_home/young_lawyer_archive/yld_tyl_dec09_digital.html

Survey results: Should lawyers be less business minded?

That is the question I asked myself after tallying the latest blog poll. It appears that 63% of respondents believe that lawyers today are too business-minded. I find that striking, especially in today’s economy when people are struggling to make a living. Is it unprofessional for lawyers to be concerned about your business objectives? I would think not, but I would love to hear from some of the respondents who think otherwise.

Rounding out the poll, 18% of respondents think that lawyers today are too academic with the remaining 18% responding that lawyers have a achieved a good balance of both business and academic concerns.

Take the time to vote on the latest poll too (on the left of the screen). Thanks.

Where we see the legal market moving

In our last poll we asked readers to vote on "How long it will take for attorney demand to return to a comfortable level?" Your responses were split evenly among two extremes with a small percentage voting for the middle ground. Specifically, 41% of voters predicted that within a year or two attorney demand will return to "the good old days" and on the flip side, 41% of voters lament that the legal market will never recover, and that an abundance of unemployed lawyers in the new norm. The remaining voters (16%) expect a full recovery in five years (presumably they are expecting many of those treading water to bail out of the profession by then). Which leaves no one having voted that the legal market has returned to a healthy, stable state. An unsurprising consensus in that regard.


About a year ago, we asked our readers to vote on a similar survey "How long will the drop in attorney demand and association salaries/ billing rates last," you can jump to that post here: http://taskforceonprofessionalism.blogspot.com/2010/02/our-collective-crystal-ball-is-not.html
Interestingly, at that time, voters were split evenly among three choices: recovery in a year, 5 years, and never again.  Comparing that with this year's results, it appears that many who were middle of the road last year have become extremists at both ends of the spectrum. (And last year too, not surprisingly, no one voted for the most sunny of poll choices:  their rates increased and were earning more than ever.)

We are looking back into our collective crystal ball

71% of you love being lawyers.  The rest don't, split 50-50 between those who don't love being a lawyer generally, and those who didn't love being a lawyer on the day they voted. Take the time to vote on the latest poll too, more about that below. Thanks.


Last year, we polled our readers on their predictions regarding the economy and the legal employment market specifically.  Today, we are asking our readers to vote on a very similar poll .  When it is all over, we will compare the results and share with you.

New Year's Resolutions

No this post is not delayed because of technical difficulties and I know it is March and I know that my Valentine's Day themed survey has only a few days to expire. It so happens that I only now realized that I forgot to post the results of our January Survey--Readers New Year's Resolutions.  I know you are dying to hear the results, so here goes:

• 70% have resolved to find a new job! That is a whopping percentage and surprised me too.
• 40% have resolved to get new clients-- go get 'em.
• 20% have resolved to get out of debt.  A fine resolution.
• 40% have resolved to be more active in NYCLA.  An even finer resolution! I hope that means more hits on my blog too.
• No one has resolved to change professions. We do love being lawyers (don't forget to vote on the current survey)
• No one has resolved to make an investment (not even buy a new suit! the 70% looking for a new job, might want to rethink this one.)

These responses inform me that (1) we love being lawyers, but not necessarily our jobs; (2) we need to be more fashion savvy, especially since we practice in the fashion capital of the world; (3) maybe we will make some investments (maybe even in a new suit) after we find new clients and/or get out of debt.

What keeps you up at night?

Everyone who responded to our survey was concerned about unemployed lawyers. Whether you are unemployed or not, the vast pool of unemployed lawyers is a concern to us all.  The next nightmare that kept people awake was offshore outsourcing--indeed, related to unemployed lawyers--below is a link to an ABA article by Debra Cassens Weiss about one law firm management member who is not kept awake at night by outsourcing. I wonder why not.....  http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/kl_gates_chairman_sees_outsourcing_as_gnat_in_an_elephants_ear/
Finally, readers are kept awake at night by civility (or lack thereof, one would assume).  Surprisingly, no one was losing any sleep over mandatory retirement and judicial independence. I wonder why.....

I have been remiss in my blogging duties this end of the year. Apologies for that, my New Years resolution is to step up my blogging and to enlist guest bloggers to share this platform, anyone interested? send an email to nyclablogger@gmail.com if you are.  For everyone else, check out the latest survey and let us know YOUR New Years' resolutions.

A committee that blogs together ...

All of the respondents in our last survey wished their committees had blogs of their own. It is a great communication tool that the Task Force on Professionalism is lucky to have, but what makes it most interesting is involvement from our readers so before you leave, make sure to cast your votes on the survey to the left, then I will know I am not alone.

NYCLA members using networking sites

The majority of respondents to our poll use social networking sites to market their legal skills--Eighty percent of those who responded!

Our collective crystal ball is not working

Our last poll asked "How long will the drop in attorney demand and association salaries/ billing rates last?"

Your answers were an even split among three of the four choices: 33.33% of voters think that within a year or two we will return to 2006 levels; 33.33% of voters don't expect to see a full recovery for at least five years; and 33.33% of voters think the drop in salaries and billing rates is the new norm and will not change EVER

only time will tell who is right in their prediction.

There is one telling piece of information from this latest survey, however--no one voted that their rates have increased and are earning more than ever.

Make sure to cast your vote on the new poll, on the right of the screen.

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?

Grab bag of a post

I won't go as far as to say that I lost all control and discipline (blame summer), but I can't deny a noticeable lag in posts. I hope to rectify that short-lived lapse with this mixed bag of a post and more regular follow-ups.

First, Congratulations Justice (as of tomorrow's swearing in) SOTOMAYOR.

Second, unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of voters in our Red Flags survey did not welcome the government regulation of their firms. For a fuller discussion of the issue follow this link: http://www.nycla.org/siteFiles/Publications/Publications1269_0.pdf

Third, (trend watch) as more and more firms trim or eliminate their summer classes, I am wondering if this represents a seismic change in law firm practice to a more intimate, a pre-1980s, type of firm, or is this a short-lived, belt-tightening regimen just waiting to revert back to the gut-busting excess of 2000 (oh, those lunches of summer '00).

Before you go, vote on the new survey; it's a premonition of sorts.

The Fall of the Billable Hour Paradigm?

You have voted on the future of the billable hour: most of you want to do away with the billable hour by focussing on alternatives (62%); many of you continue believe in the utility of the billable hour and want the profession to stick with it (25%); and only a small minority despise the billable hour enough to want to "kill it" (12%).

Don't forget to vote on our new survey on the right side of the screen -- has your firm's summer lunch policy changed?

Cutting the Cost of Discovery with Off-Site Document Review

Our readers are not comfortable with the idea of off-site discovery, even though it is sanctioned by the ABA. An overwhelming majority of voters discourage the use of off-site reviewers -- 91%! This group voted against outsourcing for various reasons: most, 50% voted to "discourage it" because they did not trust the accuracy of off-shore reviewers; the other 41% voted to "discourage it" because they have confidentiality, document security concerns.

The remaining 9% of those surveyed said "encourage it" because it is a great way to save money on costly discovery.

I was surprised by the high number of people that voted against this (inevitable?) phenomenon. I am one of the believers that the practice of law is changing; we will have to wait and see if off-shore, off-site and other cost-efficient ways to alleviate discovery burdens (and beyond) become more prevalent in the days to come.

Are we moving to a flat-fee system?

Our latest survey results correspond to the latest trends concerning the way we lawyers charge our clients. Forty-six percent of those surveyed bill clients in ways other than the billable hour. Other lawyers who charge some flat, contingent or success fees comprise another 5% of those surveyed. But hourly billables are not dead for our survey-takes. Thirty-four percent of those surveyed are still charging an hourly billable rate 100% of the time.

Job (in)security

When surveyed whether they feared that they may lose their job during the recession, our readers responded somewhat anxious with 50% of our lawyer-voters worried that they may lose their jobs in this recession economy.  But, that percentage is probably much lower than the national average (if anyone knows those numbers, I would love to know), 49% of you are feeling pretty confident in the stability of your positions--I call that keeping a stiff upper  lip. And of course, there will always be a small percentage of error for those who head is in the clouds and continue to ask the question: what recession?

How your firm feels about bar associations

The results are a surprising 50/50 in our latest survey. 50% of our readers work for law firms that encourage partcipation in bar associations -- all of those work for firm that allow time for bar meetings and encourage leadership roles; the other 50% work for law firms that don't -- within that group 17% of those surveyed said their firm impliedly discourages participation. That's an unfortuate statistic.