In response to my earlier post entitled “So . . . You Think You Want a Business Law Job . . . .,” a reader commented as follows:

I have also seen the shift of students in my college going from other areas of law into corporate law. . . . What advice in general would you offer up? Is it a good, secure job market to want to get into in this economy?

My initial response was that, ” . . . in general I would not suggest that anyone become a lawyer of any kind merely because it is a good job in this or any other economy. You should want to be a lawyer before venturing off to law school.”  

Bottom line: the market for business law or any other legal jobs is not a uniformly good, secure job market.  Law school is not and never has been a “job ticket” in any case.  But those who have a desire to be business lawyers and work intelligently and diligently at finding a job in business law typically will be business lawyers.  I undertook to post further this week.

So, what else shall I say to pre-law students and law students interested in business law?  I will be relatively brief here and in my posts for a number of weeks since I am typing with one hand (my left, non-dominant hand) due to a broken right wrist–an extra-articular distal radius, or Colles’, fracture.  But I invite further observations in the comments.

We all know that private law firm jobs for entry-level folks are more scarce generally, and that has affected business law jobs in that setting.  That was the route I took out of law school–on-campus interviews that led to a private firm practice in Big Law.  To get that job, I worked during law school in a corporate finance group in a private firm 20 hours a week, had a prestigious summer associate position in Big Law my 2L summer, and did decently well grade-wise in school.  I probably wouldn’t be hired today.  Having said that, however, a number of students–generally those with strong academic, co-curricular, and extra-curricular credentials–still will find entry-level business law employment in private firms in desired locations.

But what about other options?

There are some usual suspects, but none is a sure or likely or even consistent winning bet.  We hear a lot about the need for lawyers in business compliance.  So far, unlocking the door to those positions for students has proven to be hit-or-miss, from my vantage point.  Same with entry-level in-house positions, contract positions in private industry, and business law positions in government. Most of the students I work with who are interested in business law positions find employment in business law positions.  But it takes a while and a lot of individualized effort.

Is there a magic bullet I am missing?  Let me know!  These students are bright (book-smart and applied-smart), work hard (and intelligently), and have solid document-management and time-management skills.  I see the personal effort they have to put in to find jobs.  Just watching them makes me exhausted some days.  I would love to know how I can make their lives easier . . . .  Let me know if you have ideas.