Thinking about Law School? Know the Law Fields that are Growing
Legal candidates are beginning to see some positive changes after years of a tight legal job market and years of layoffs. 2012 showed that finally, hiring activity in law firms and corporate legal departments is picking up. This is encouraging for the legal job market, but there are some practice areas that will generate the most hiring.
Specialized skills will be key to job demand. But, corporate legal departments are hiring in the demand practice areas of health care and intellectual property. Analysis of hiring shows that big firms are not yet hiring significantly and that most of the hiring activity is in the small and mid-sized firms.
A new study from Robert Half legal found that business, healthcare and litigation will the areas that offer the most jobs this year. 200 law firms and corporate attorneys were surveyed. 19% predicted that business and commercial law are the practice areas that will offer the most job opportunities, second to litigation which was 22%. Healthcare also came in at 19%. No other practice area, including labor and employment, bankruptcy and intellectual property law, came in above 8%. See the full survey at https://legal.rhi.mediaroom.com/2013-01-10-WHERE-THE-LEGAL-JOBS-ARE-Litigation-to-Offer-Greatest-Opportunities-in-2013-Challenges-Finding-Top-Talent-Reported
In-demand practice areas are, in no particular order, listed below:
Healthcare:
Analysts agree that Health Care will continue to be a hot area of practice. As the healthcare industry grows, so will the demand for healthcare lawyers. With Obamacare going into effect on January 2014, major questions about certain issues and federal and state healthcare regulations require attorneys specializing in healthcare compliance. Major issues for employers, most states, and even the federal government are the setting up of health care exchanges and whether some employers will stop providing health insurance to their employees.
Many of the nation’s biggest law firms have thriving health law practices that will continue to grow as the demand increases. In house healthcare lawyers, especially in insurance and biotech and pharmaceutical companies will also be in demand.
Intellectual Property:
Infringement filings in the last two years are higher than ever and predictions are that this will continue. Additionally, a patent lawyer who can speak multiple languages, will be in high demand. Many companies are dealing with intellectual property matters outside of the United States and that is increasing the demand for foreign language reviewers.
Intellectual property attorneys typically have training in engineering or the sciences as well as law. The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, which went into effect March 15, is part of the reason for this increased demand. This act changes the US Patent system from a “first to invent” to a “first inventor to file” system. In this recovering economy, companies must protect their product lines and processes . . . and they are willing to hire patent counsel to help them with this endeavor. Because trademark, copyright and patent infringement litigation is increasing, litigation attorneys who specialize in intellectual property are being sought after by both law firms and corporations.
Labor and Employment:
The National Labor Relations Board is “aggressive,” says Robert Denny, One niche area that is certain to create jobs is the social-media policies.
The labor and employment area has grown in recent years. Labor relations, collective bargaining, wage and hour actions and increasing EEO charges against employers require that this area will continue to grow. Some corporations are growing their in-house labor and employment attorneys while others are continuing to rely on outside law firms.
Transactional/Mergers and Acquisitions
As economic confidence increases, mergers and acquisitions will increase significantly. This increased activity will bring a growing demand for transactional lawyers in corporate, securities & finance in large and mid-sized law firms.
Compliance
Corporations are continuing to grow at the global level. There is a growing need for attorneys experienced in compliance. The Foreign Corrupt Practice Act creates a need in this area, as well as the need to understand the trade and customs regulations. Corporation legal departments need these experienced attorneys ready to handle daily operations as well as international transactions (especially relating to due diligence).
Banking:
The Dodd-Frank Act will bring plenty of work to lawyers, as will the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This will continue to be a busy practice area as not all laws that come from the Dodd-Frank Act have been implemented…There’s a long way to go, says Denney.
Litigation:
In high demand are litigators with three or more years of experience. This is across all areas of practice. Firms are looking the lawyer who can walk in and work without a lot of direction.
Energy
The oil-and-gas industry is booming which brings a high demand for lawyers with transactional, commercial contracts and regulatory energy experience . This demand is strong in Texas, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, New York and across the nation. Law firms of all sizes as well as energy exploration and productions companies and oilfield service and pipeline companies are adding attorneys to their staffs.
Online Gaming is big. Again, the federal government and some states (New Jersey) are moving towards legalizing internet gambling. This will affect casinos and bingo parlors.
Bankruptcy is a practice area that has been a bit cool, but this might change if the economy doesn’t begin to show more strength.
The legal job market seems to be on a rebound.
###
https://blog.specialcounsel.com/candidate/taking-stock-of-the-legal-job-market-practice-areas-on-the-rise/
Interesting information about geographic markets, law school trends, and other issues can be found at: advisorshttps://www.wisbar.org/newspublications/wisconsinlawyer/pages/article.aspx?Volume=86&Issue=1&ArticleID=10562
Tags: law school
