Friday, August 10, 2007 6:39 AM
Hat tip to Mohamad Mova Al 'Afghani, writing at Nanotechnology Law, who pointed out in his post Solo Practicioner Lawyer, a Trend?, a recent piece in Wired entitled Education 2.0: Prepare for a Career That Works.
The article, authored by Penelope Trunk, is a bit brief on details, but suggests that the occupation of Solo Practitioner Lawyer will be an emerging trend in legal.
According to Ms. Trunk:
The idea of working hard to pay your dues as a lawyer is outdated. The Wall Street Journal says the latest law firm trend is "de-equitization," which is a fancy word for kicking a partner in the pants and throwing him or her out the door. Since there is no longer a safe ladder to climb in big law firms, people will stop climbing and set up shop on their own.
Warning: Lawyers are the most unhappy of all professionals, according to the Colorado Law Journal. But people who work for themselves are among the most satisfied workers, according to Dartmouth economist Daniel Blanchflower (.pdf). Add the two together for a more balanced work life.
Preparation: Success as a lawyer is increasingly about client relations rather than providing Alan Dershowitz-style genius legal representation. Take some marketing courses in college since that's what you'll be spending time on once you hang out your shingle.
I don't know. I increasingly find drawing any hard and fast conclusions about 'trends' in legal to be difficult.
Still, the legal marketplace is part of the larger employment picture and trends in employment, in general, will likely have an impact on legal employment as well. Take, for example, Ms. Trunk's suggestion that [p]eople in college today will have more than eight jobs, on average, before they are 32. If true, might we not see increasing churn among associates? Actually, accordingly many reports, we already are.
The other trends in jobs Ms. Trunk outlines in her article are moves toward occupations such as Entrepreneur and, yes, Blogger.
For all its brevity and quick conclusions, Education 2.0: Prepare for a Career That Works, gives one food for thought.
Good stuff for Friday morning.