PHILADELPHIA – Last year, Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott CEO Timothy P. Ryan seemed well ahead of the curve when clients started pushing back on paying for the inexperience of first- and second-year associates on their matters, and law firms, in turn, started hiring fewer, if any, young attorneys.
Ryan had made the decision more than five years ago to stop hiring first-year associates and instead just recruit third- and fourth-year lawyers from other law firms once they were already trained. The economics of paying the younger attorneys $130,000 a year or more just didn’t make sense to him. But true to his caveat last year, Ryan now says he is focused on hiring first-year associates in the next three years after salaries have dropped in certain markets, because even if he can’t yet charge their time to clients, the firm isn’t taking on as much of a cost. The other factor is that there are more talented first-years out there because the larger firms are hiring significantly fewer first-years.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
