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ST. LOUIS RECORD

Friday, March 29, 2024

Law school dean: No big drop in new lawyer hires despite recent layoffs

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ST. LOUIS – The dean of career services for the St. Louis University School of Law, one of the premiere law schools in the country, said the recent layoffs of attorneys by one of the largest firms in the Midwest does not mean fewer new attorneys out of law school are being hired.

“I think the media is making a bigger deal out of this, but attorneys do retire and that’s just normal,” Mary McInnis told the St. Louis Record. 

Husch Blackwell, which is based in Kansas City and has offices around the country, announced last month that it is eliminating 40 lawyer positions through layoffs and retirement. The firm’s CEO Greg Smith said despite the termination of positions, the law firm overall had an increase in 12 lawyers through October.


Greg Smith

“Given our firm’s size and scale, these attorney transitions are normal and expected,” Blackwell said on Nov. 17 in a prepared statement given to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

McInnis said the layoffs have the potential to give the false idea there is a recession in the hiring of new attorneys.

“It seems like a lot, but companies continue to hire our students (graduates) and Blackwell is one of the biggest,” she said.

In fact, McInnis said after the recession years of 2009 to 2013, the job market for law school graduates is looking much better.

“It’s a more vibrant employment picture and we’re doing better than five years ago,” she said.

McInnis said a newer trend is that more students are combining the study of dual curriculum, for example business administration and law. Also, more students are being hired by companies who use them to make certain their businesses comply with regulatory laws.

“More of our graduates are combining their studies and going into the fields of compliance law and privacy law,” she said. “You don’t have to necessarily pass the bar exam.”

The school graduates approximately 170 students per year with a student body of 550.

McInnis did say the numbers of attorneys retiring has increased as the Baby Boom generation ages.

“But that impacts all professions, not just lawyers,” she said.    

  

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