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Texas Is The #2 Legal Job Market In America
The National Jurist recently published its analysis of the best legal job markets in the\par
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Booming oil production and a strong mining industry have made Texas one of the strongest economies in the nation, and that is driving legal employment. In addition to energy law, financial transactions and intellectual property are needed practice areas in the state. Houston leads the state in terms of number of jobs, followed by Dallas.\par \par “There has been a real surge in mid-sized law firms [in Dallas],” (Charles, of Robert Half Legal) Volkert said. “They are leveraging against the higher price points of bigger firms. There is a demand in litigation, lease administration, financial and banking.”\par That pretty well tracks with what I’ve been seeing and hearing from the employers I talk to. The market seems to be loosening up a little bit with each month that goes by, and we have reason to be cautiously optimistic.\par \par However, we’re still nowhere near pre-recession hiring levels, and don’t expect to be anytime soon (if ever). So by optimistic, I simply (and only) want to convey that things appear to be getting better and not worse. The improvement is slow and muted, but it is there. \par \par So is there bad news in this report? Potentially. Notice the reference to the growth in mid-sized law firms in Dallas. Many of these are off-shoots of big law firms, and are partner/experienced associate heavy. They tend (at least at their early stages) to not be interested in hiring new lawyers for a variety of reasons, and prefer to acquire talent in the lateral market. You can get into an employer like this, but it usually takes a very strong reference from someone they really respect. \par \par I want to specifically highlight a combination of the practice areas mentioned in the summary, Intellectual Property Litigation. While IP is a hot field, few law students have the hard science background required from most employers (usually a B.S. in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science) to do patent prosecution (i.e. filing patents). However, that requirement is much more relaxed in the area of IP litigation. The Eastern District of Texas has long been a home for IP litigation nationwide. Companies from all over usually represented by out-of-state / “big city” counsel, file their claims here and often need local counsel to step in and represent them at trial. The District also recently filled a judicial seat which had been vacant for nearly three years, and that is expected to increase the work in that court, and hopefully, the need for attorneys.\par \par The legal market in Texas is without question in better shape than most areas of the country. We will do all we can to help you take advantage of the opportunities that exist. As always please let us know how we can help you.\par \par Connect with Daniel at Daniel_Hare@Baylor.edu and/or @BaylorLawDaniel on Twitter.\par \par Job of the Week: Each week I highlight a job in Symplicity you might be interested in but may have missed. This week's job is: (2) Associate positions with Carnahan Thomas (Southlake, 3L/Alumni) Log in to Symplicity to view this job and apply. \par ]]>\par