Representatives from all corners of the legal world are coming together in New York to try to solve the riddle of the worst legal job market in 20 years.
The New York City Bar Association has conscripted law-school deans, legal aid directors, in-house counsel and law-firm partners into a search for a solution to a job market in which only 55% of the class of 2011 had found full-time positions requiring a law degree nine months after graduating.
Carey R. Dunne, the new president of the bar association, said the group will convene for the first time in September. He has charged the group with isolating the causes of the job shortage and making recommendations, which he expects in about a year.
“This isn’t just a hand-wringing exercise,” said Mr. Dunne, chairman of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP’s litigation practice.
Law School Deans and Leaders
Michelle J. Anderson – Dean, CUNY School of Law
Matthew Diller – Dean, Cardozo Law School
David Schizer – Dean, Columbia Law School
William Treanor – Dean, Georgetown Law School
David B. Wilkins – Director, Program on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School
Government Attorneys
Michael Cardozo – Corporation Counsel of the City of New York
Charles J. Hynes – District Attorney of Kings County
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. – District Attorney of New York County
Large Law Firm Leaders
Richard I. Beattie – Chairman, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Eric J. Friedman – Executive Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Brad S. Karp – Chairman, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Julian Pritchard – U.S. Managing Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Kathleen M. Sullivan – Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
Solo, Small and Medium Sized Law Firms
Laurie Berke-Weiss – Partner, Berke-Weiss & Pechman LLP
Andrew G. Celli, Jr. – Founding Partner, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP
Carmelyn P. Malalis – Partner, Outten & Golden LLP
Alla Roytberg – Founder, Law Firm and Mediation Practice of Alla Roytberg, P.C.
Eric Seiler – Partner, Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP
Charles A. Stillman – Founding Member, Stillman & Friedman, P.C.
Legal Services Organizations
Steven Banks – Attorney-in-Chief, The Legal Aid Society
Raun J. Rasmussen – Executive Director, Legal Services NYC
Chief In-House Counsel
Eric Grossman – Chief Legal Officer, Morgan Stanley
Don H. Liu – General Counsel, Xerox
Elizabeth D. Moore – General Counsel, Consolidated Edison, Inc.
Amy W. Schulman – General Counsel, Pfizer Inc.
Jane C. Sherburne – General Counsel, The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
Wanji J. Walcott – Managing Counsel, American Express Company
Career Services and Recruiting Professionals
Camille Chin-Kee-Fatt – Director of Career Services, Brooklyn Law School
Sharon Crane – Director of Legal Recruiting, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP