In a recent article, UCLA Law Professor Richard Sander argues to little controversy that the legal industry is drastically different from the 1950’s; considerable consolidation has led to declining real income among solo practitioners. But he also argues that the marked increase in the number of law students graduating each year coupled with a decline in the overall population of lawyers indicates that many lawyers are exiting the profession in their prime.

While I agree that this dichotomy indicates a problem, I don’t believe the apparent exodus from the law can be attributed to lawyers in their prime. The actual culprit is more troublesome. Seasoned lawyers may indeed be leaving, but far more aren’t even making it out of the gates. Sadly, I’m fairly convinced (though statistics would be helpful to confirm) that this has less to do with an overabundance of attorneys than considerable slack in the system. Neither existing recruiting channels to smaller firms and solos nor the practical skills sets of recent graduates are sufficiently robust to address this challenge.

Nevertheless, I am optimistic; it seems the tide is turning. Seasoned partners and young attorneys alike have been starting smaller shops; much ink has been spilt online to educate and inspire new lawyers to start their own practices. The contract attorney market, birthed as a method of handling document review work, is maturing, moving into higher value added areas and even gaining some acceptance within stodgy big firms.

I am optimistic, as well, because part of the NextLex vision has been crafted to embody this change. We believe that by matching up recent graduates and law students with smaller firms and solo attorneys we can remove some of the slack in the system, providing meaningful formative employment experiences for recent graduates while meeting the recruiting needs of solos and small firms.

As always, if you would like more information about NextLex, or have comments on this post, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at jgoodwin@nextlex.net.