Justice denied

14 November 2012 By Reynolds Holding Follow @holdingren

The legal industry is hurting, the good old days might not return and two big firms are merging. Yet deans lure students in with scholarships and hints of an upturn. Schools can’t be blamed for trying to survive. But denying the profession has changed does students a disservice.

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The financial performance of U.S. law firms will be even worse this year than in 2011, according to a Citi Private Bank survey published on Nov. 8. The confidential poll of 182 law firms revealed that demand for legal services declined, expenses outpaced revenue growth, lawyer productivity dropped and bill collections slowed dramatically in the third quarter of 2012. Furthermore, demand is not expected to improve in 2013.

Meanwhile, a Chicago judge on Nov. 12 threw out two lawsuits accusing U.S. law schools of misleading students about employment prospects in a deteriorating legal job market. The judge ruled that the schools could not be held responsible for a recession in the legal industry. Filed by recent graduates of John Marshall Law School and Chicago-Kent College of Law, the suits were among more than a dozen against schools across the country. The schools have won all five of the cases decided so far.

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