Southwest Missouri law offices dodge hiring pressures hitting big cities

Nearly 1,100 aspiring attorneys sat for the Missouri Bar Exam in 2009, but national hiring trends suggest that the 945 people who passed the test may still be waiting to get to work - depending on where they're looking for jobs.

Linda Oligschlaeger, member services director at Jefferson City-based The Missouri Bar, said she has received more inquiries from out-of-work attorneys recently.

"They're having a difficult time finding a job," Oligschlaeger said. "A lot of firms are not hiring. There are some that are even laying off, or if they have hired new associates, they're not even bringing them on board right away."

For example, in February, St. Louis-based Bryan Cave LLP announced its plans to lay off 58 attorneys and 76 staff members across its network of 1,200 attorneys in 19 offices.

Oligschlaeger said some larger firms now are paying a percentage of new hires' salaries until they can be brought on full-time, and others are keeping first-year associates busy with pro bono or legal services work until they can be assigned to clients.

"This is just going to be the larger law firms that are going to be able to afford to do this," she added.

Representatives of the Springfield legal community have heard the rumors of delayed start dates for new associates, but primarily those in larger cities. And while local firms are cognizant of what's happening outside southwest Missouri, several attorneys give the overall impression that hiring practices here haven't changed.

"The economy has really affected the business departments of firms more than the litigation side. And Springfield probably doesn't have, with the exception of a few firms, a large concentration of business attorneys," said Thomas J. O'Neal, managing shareholder at the Springfield office of Polsinelli Shughart PC.

Big-city issues

While the Ozarks seems somewhat insulated, a look at several larger markets sheds light on hiring pressures elsewhere.

The New York City Bar launched a Deferred Associate Law Extern Support Project, which links public interest groups with law school graduates willing to work at government agencies and nonprofits while they wait for their delayed start dates to arrive.

Washington, D.C.-based Public Law Service Network offers a similar service for deferred associates, and an Oct. 27 article in Texas Lawyer noted some of the largest firms in Texas hadn't even decided on starting salaries for first-year associates because those firms had delayed start dates as much as a year.

Gary Cunningham, partner in charge of Kansas City-based Lathrop & Gage LLP's Springfield office, said there haven't been any delayed start dates in his office, although he noted that the Springfield contingent hasn't hired any new associates in the past year and isn't looking to add to its roster of 19 attorneys.

But the picture's a little different at Lathrop & Gage's Kansas City headquarters, where CEO Joel Voran said three associates' start dates have been pushed back. The length of those deferments varies on the new hire's practice area and the firm's caseload.

"It's been fluctuating, because I think we had some deferred, and then we asked some to come back early because of (our) needs," he said, noting that new hires whose start dates were deferred were paid a stipend.

Holding the line

Polsinelli hasn't had any recent hires in Springfield, either, and O'Neal said at this point, he's not anticipating adding to the office's nine local attorneys.

"We tend to hire on an as-needed basis. It just depends on the demands for services," O'Neal said.

Springfield-based Ellis, Ellis, Hammons and Johnson PC hasn't hired a new attorney in roughly two years, but that decision wasn't based on industry pressures.

"We've always been a small firm, and we don't want to grow bigger," said President Ransom Ellis III, noting that the firm has eight attorneys on board.

Springfield-based Lowther Johnson Attorneys at Law LLC, is doing some minimal hiring, according to Managing Member Gregory Groves.

"We just hired one and are waiting on another one to finish up his third year of law school and we'll offer him a position," Groves said.

Lowther Johnson, which has 17 attorneys on staff, has no additional hiring plans.

And, Ellis noted, local firms don't seem to be cutting staff loose, either.

"I haven't heard of anybody saying they would have to cut staff," he said. "People are probably out there making decisions not to hire additional people, but they're going along with what they have."