Jobs for new law school graduates are somewhat scarce here, but relatively strong regionally. The latter should be encouraging for the growing number of students who are entering the study of law.


At the Gonzaga University School of Law, most students leave Spokane after finishing their degrees, says Joni Driskell, director of career services there.


Most of the people in our school are placed regionally, a lot of them finding jobs in either Spokane, Seattle, Oregon, or Idaho, she says. The reason a lot of people leave Spokane, though, is that they feel like the market is flooded.


Nine months after completing law school at Gonzaga, the students who graduated in 2002 reported earning an average salary of about $43,300, Driskell says. Of the 2002 class, 78 percent were employed and 9 percent were studying for an advanced degree, she says.


The University of Idaho College of Law is another Inland Northwest school that has a substantial number of graduates practicing here. More than 23 percent of its 2002 graduates took jobs in either North Idaho or the Spokane area, says Eric Larson, director of admissions and student services for the College of Law.


Applications at U of I were up to their second-highest level this year, with the most competitive year being 1991, he says. Six months after its 2002 graduation, about 91 percent of its former students were employed in the field of law. The average salary of that class, whether they worked in law or not, was $42,300 at that time, Larson says.


Daniel Morrissey, dean of Gonzagas School of Law, says that schools graduates are increasingly dispersing to other parts of the western U.S., especially to Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.


I was at a gathering in Las Vegas recently, talking to an alum, Morrissey says. He said to me, Youd have to be a meathead, Dean, to not make money in this market.


Attorney Matt Ries, who graduated from Gonzagas program in 1999, says the experience he obtained as a student helped him land right out of law school a job in Spokane County, where there are 1,600 attorneys. Ries is the immediate past president of the Spokane County Bar Associations Young Lawyers Division and an attorney with Spokane-based Stamper, Rubens, Stocker & Smith PS, although his first job was with another medium-sized firm here.


I fully expected to go where the job took me, to Seattle, or Boise, or back to Montana, says Ries, a Kalispell, Mont., native. I was fortunate to get a job here in Spokane.


Ries adds, though, that his rank in the top 30 of his class and the work experience he had gained through internships improved his chances of finding work here.


Driskell says that experienceobtained before entering law school, during it, and afterwardsis an important way that students can make themselves more marketable.


The firms find valuable the extra things you can offer, like actual work experience, she says.


A nurse who obtains a law degree, for example, might pique the interest of a firm that specializes in health-care law. A student who completes internships and public service, the latter of which is required at Gonzaga, increases his or her chances of nabbing a job, she says. Ries adds that the familiar paradox of employmentthat you need experience to get experienceapplies to lawyers.


Once youre employed, youre marketable, he says. The biggest threshold is to get your foot in the door.


Interest in law school is up throughout the state and country, according to an article published recently by the Puget Sound Business Journal and reprinted in this issue of the Journal of Business. The number of students taking the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT, nationwide is up 42 percent over five years ago, the article said.


Admission at Gonzagas law school is at its heaviest in 15 years.


Morrissey, the dean, says that only about 40 percent of the schools new students hail from Washington state, which is unusually low. More students from neighboring states are enrolling, including students from Utah, who make up 17 percent of this years entering class.


Most students consider their hometown as an option when looking for work after the three-year program, Driskell says.


The first job for about 75 percent of Gonzagas law graduates is in a law firm, she says. The majority of them take jobs with medium-sized firms, employing 15 to 50 attorneys, Driskell says.


About 13 percent of the schools graduates go to work for the U.S., state, and local governments, including its military branches. Those jobs include working for the Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) Corps, or as deputy prosecutors and assistant public defenders.


Another 10 percent of the graduates go into judicial clerkships, where theyre lawyer assistants to judges, Driskell says.


The remainder take jobs in academia, as legal counsel for corporations, and in other fields, she says.


At the University of Idaho, Larson says 38.4 percent of 2002 graduates employed in the field of law were working in private law firms, 32.9 percent were working as judicial clerks, and 24.7 were working in government positions. The remainder were employed in the business sector or by public-interest organizations, he says.


Driskell says that the sluggish economy has impacted law-graduate hiring here, as well as in other parts of the country.


I know a lot of (law) firms are holding on hiring, she says. Its always hard to tell, but Ive had some indications from employers that things are looking up.


She says she encourages the graduates to stay positive, and contends that any new lawyer willing to work hard enough to find a job will land one.


Terry Whitten, managing partner of Spokane-based Lukins & Annis PS, says his firm looks for job applicants with established ties to the Spokane area.


We have experience hiring young associates with no Spokane connection, and we find that, on occasion, they leave Spokane, and we lose them, he says. If we look very carefully at people who have some community connection, theyre more likely to stay with us. We hire thinking and hoping that they will one day be partners in our firm.


About 20 percent of Lukins & Anniss 50 lawyers are three years or less out of school, Whitten says.


The firm hires two or three early-career lawyers a year, many of them coming through a summer-internship program Lukins & Annis operates for law students going into their third year of school, he says.


Whitten has watched an increasing number of people enter the field of law in recent years, while many big firms in other parts of the country, especially those that depended on work from the dot-com industry, are having to lay off employees.


While those attorneys occasionally show up in Spokane looking for a job, Whitten says he doesnt think those issues have or will impact this market a great deal.


Theres talk of more work coming back, but I think Spokanes pretty steady overall, he says. We dont have any big firms in this town that had all of their business on dot-com work. I suspect that the lawyer market in Spokane will stay pretty steady, which would be a slight increase (in employment) every year.