Some Good News Is Right

Link from Sean Paul:

The ratio of lawyers in California per thousand people in the state now nearly approximates the national average following a decade in which California clearly had an oversupply of attorneys.

That finding — a major conclusion drawn by RAND in an assessment of future workforce needs for California lawyers through the year 2015 — bodes well for employment of California attorneys following a turbulent few decades when the U.S. experienced an unprecedented explosion in the number of lawyers per capita, with California leading the way.

First, the labor market appears to have adapted to changing demand in the recent past through adjustments in wages and number of hours worked. Lawyers also are more able and willing to move in and out of the profession in response to changing demand, a fact evident at the bar as lawyers move from active to inactive status.

Second, law schools currently do not expect to increase their enrollments in the coming decade, and third, law firms certainly are not expanding their hiring as rapidly as in the booming ’80s. These trends, along with an expected expansion in California’s economy that opens other alternatives to graduate school and/or law school, are expected, according to researchers, to maintain equilibrium between supply and demand.