Law School Graduates May Be Facing Worst Job Market in a Decade : Employment: Salaries have leveled off and campus interviews have dropped substantially, placement directors say.

This year’s crop of 38,000 new law school graduates--a class that entered school at the tail end of an expanding job market--is finding severely reduced job opportunities today as its members prepare for final exams.

Law school placement directors around the country are shaking their heads and saying this may be the worst employment picture for lawyers in a decade.

“The phrase I’ve heard is ‘not since the early ‘80s,’ ” USC placement director Lauri Nelson said.

UCLA recently canceled reciprocal agreements with other law schools across the nation and made its job listings exclusive to UC students.

“Options, once rich and varied, have diminished in variety and number,” said Bill McGeary, UCLA director of law placement. “Some students are feeling a little disappointment.” It’s the worst I’ve seen in my 7 1/2 years here.”

“It’s not that students aren’t finding jobs, says Andrea Redding of Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law in Portland, Ore. “They will find them. But it will take longer. It may not be their dream job to start. And they may have to travel to get them.”

Carol Ross-Burnett, assistant dean for career services at Loyola School of Law in Los Angeles, says that, although exact figures are not yet in, job opportunities for third-year students appear to be down by an estimated 50% from last year.

As a reflection of the change in the job market, many law schools around the country have changed the name of their job placement centers to “career services,” where overall job search skills are taught.

Law placement officers say once-escalating starting salaries in the range of $65,000 to $70,000 in Chicago or $75,000 in Los Angeles have leveled off. And, according to a recent issue of the National Law Journal, associate salaries in New York have fallen for the first time in decades. “It is very much a buyer’s market,” said Paul Woo, director of placement at the University of Chicago School of Law.

One of the first visible cracks in the Los Angeles employment picture came last August when the Los Angeles-based firm Latham & Watkins laid off 43 associates. Big firms in major metropolitan centers like Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco and St. Louis also have reported layoffs.

The number of law firms conducting interviews on campuses has dropped markedly. “We have seen a steady decline,” said Earl Young, director of placement at the University of Washington School of Law. In the fall of 1988, 173 law firms visited the school to interview for the next year’s job placement, Young said. In 1989, the number dropped to 163, in 1990 to 132 and last fall to 94. Only 50 firms have signed up for 1992 so far.

“I know of no one who is willing to suggest there will be a turnaround anytime soon,” Young said.

Woo of the University of Chicago said he has witnessed a 20% drop in job interviews on campus.

Another bitter surprise for this year’s law graduates came when many firms that were to interview canceled at the last minute.

“It shows firms are having problems planning far in advance,” Nelson said. She said 29 firms decided not to interview job candidates at the last minute last fall. “I had to post a note for third-year students saying their interviews had been canceled. That scared a lot of students.”

Nelson also said she has recently noticed that laid-off graduates are returning to the employment bulletin board, adding to the competition facing spring graduates.

Judith Saunders, executive director of the National Assn. of Law Placement, said she heard similar grim news at a recent meeting in New York.

“This is a white-collar financial recession,” she said. “All the merger-acquisitions have disappeared. Real estate is down. The question I’m hearing now is: ‘Will it return to the job employment levels of the ‘80s?’ A tremendous number of people in the field doubt that it will. The wild growth of the ‘80s came at a cost. Downturn causes morale and staff problems at the firms. Some firms let go not just associates, but partners too. Law firms are not sure they want to go through that kind of growth again.”

Placement officers say most students will eventually find jobs. According to statistics compiled by UCLA, 90% of graduating students found jobs before graduation three years ago. In 1990 the number was 88%, and last year it dropped to 83%. It may be lower still this year, McGeary said. “We won’t know for a few weeks.”

The market is just as tight in the public sector, with cutbacks in city and county budgets, the experts say.

Some placement officers voiced concern for those students whose student loans come due soon after graduation. Loan amounts can reach the $50,000 level.

If the trend in employment continues, some observers expect to see a large drop in law school applications. According to the Law School Admission Council, applications dropped 1 1/2% this year. It was the first decline in six years.

Saunders said not all of the news is bad, however. She is hearing of areas of Minnesota and Indiana where the job opportunities remain steady.

And placement officers, some in jest, point out that certain areas of the law are expanding. “Bankruptcy for one,” said Martha Spence, an associate dean of student services at Lewis & Clark. “There’s work there if the students want to pursue that.”