Law school graduates eager to charge full-speed ahead into their careers are running into yield signs and detours.

In Connecticut, as is the case across the country, starting dates for many incoming associates have been pushed back several months -- in some instances, until the fall of 2010. Other new associates are being diverted, temporarily, into public service or nonprofit legal work.

The culprit is the ailing economy. It's already caused layoffs in attorney ranks across the state. Now it's making a misnomer out of the term "fall associate class." Why bring in new hires when there's not enough work for existing attorneys?

"They're all concerned," David Sturgess, president of Hartford-based Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, said of rookie associates. "Anyone who has a job is thrilled and they're trying to hold on to it. [New associates] are worried about everything."

Updike, Kelly & Spellacy will bring in one associate this fall -- instead of the usual three -- and the start date has been moved back a month to Oct. 1. Earlier this year, the firm trimmed two associates from its ranks. "We're all affected [by the economy] and trying to make predictions about what's going to happen is very challenging," Sturgess said.

New Haven-based Wiggin and Dana will have an average size incoming class, but the new associates won't start working until February. They're being given a stipend -- Wiggin and Dana won't say how much -- to tide them over.

Day Pitney's 13-associate fall class is "moderately smaller" than previous years' classes, firm officials stated. The lawyers -- including six joining the firm's Hartford and Stamford offices -- won't start until January.

"We have asked our incoming associates to contact us should they need assistance in finding public interest opportunities" during their deferment, officials said in a prepared statement. "We are passing along opportunities to those who have asked for assistance."

NON-PROFIT WORK

Nationally, some law firms are striking deals with non-profit organizations in which incoming associates will work at the nonprofit and the law firm will pay a stipend or partial salary. While some understaffed agencies welcome the added help, others say they are ill-equipped to train and supervise new attorneys.

"There are some informal conversations going on, but there's nothing in place" at Connecticut Legal Services, said Steven Eppler-Epstein, CLS's executive director. "It's hard for law firms to make plans because their financial situation is in flux."

Five law school students are coming to assist the New Haven Legal Assistance Association as part of the agency's regular summer internship program. But Christy Fisher, the agency's deputy director, said there are no plans to accept deferred associates. "It would be a blessing [to have more people], but it's also a challenge," Fisher said. "Our staff is so decimated that to supervise an influx of volunteers would be a lot harder to do."

Shipman & Goodwin is making alternative plans for a group of deferred associates, said Stephen Gellman, chair of the Hartford-based firm's hiring committee. Eight associates were scheduled to start this fall, but three of them slated for the Hartford office have had starting dates delayed until the fall of 2010.

"We are very close to finalizing a process to align them with placement opportunities for next year" said Gellman. He said the placements will be in both the private and public sectors, but declined to provide further details.

"We have a stipend that will go to those folks while they're spending that year in placement," Gellman said. "We know we've disappointed people, but it's a good feeling to know we're able to find them other opportunities."

Stalled first-year associates are now joining the mix of unemployed seasoned attorneys looking for jobs. "We are certainly getting a lot of unsolicited resumes from a lot of qualified people out there looking for positions," said Kristin Connors, the partner in charge of recruiting at Carmody & Torrance. Her firm is bringing in two associates this fall, down from the five-member classes of each of the past two years.

Several national firms with local offices also are delaying their incoming fall classes. Dechert reportedly has various deferral options in play. Some new associates will start this fall, others a year later. Stipends range from $17,500 to $75,000, depending on how long associates hold out.

Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge will defer its incoming class until March; that includes one each in the firm's Stamford and Hartford offices.

VETERAN ATTORNEYS PREFERRED

Bingham McCutchen, which has nearly 50 lawyers in Hartford, is bringing two associates into that office's finance practice, but neither will start until late January.

The firm is paying all incoming associates with deferred starting dates a $10,000 stipend and providing a $10,000 salary advance. The firm also is providing health and dental insurance starting Oct. 5.

"No law firm is immune from this," said Jonathan Alter, hiring partner in Bingham McCutchen's Hartford office. "Everyone is taking some measures to deal with the economic onslaught."

In some cases, there's no incoming class to delay. Virginia-based LeClairRyan opened a New Haven office last fall, but no new associates are scheduled to join it this year, said firm chairman Gary LeClair.

LeClair said his firm probably will wait until 2010 to bring in new associates. Before that, the firm will secure office space in Hartford for two senior-level lateral hires that signed on late last year and then hire other veteran attorneys for that office.

"There's a tremendous supply of lawyers in the marketplace right now," LeClair said. "There's more effort to hire directly from the marketplace," rather than adding new associates.

There are also no fledgling lawyers scheduled to arrive at the 28-lawyer Farmington firm of Levy & Droney, said managing partner Daniel Kleinman. "With the economy the way that it is, it's more important to bring in attorneys with a book of business," said Kleinman, whose firm has added lawyers with environmental and creditors' rights practices over the past year.

Pullman & Comley's fall class for this year will consist of three associates. They will come on board in September, as planned. But that doesn't mean that it's business as usual. Hiring partner Lee Hoffman said that as recently as last year, he would hold on to resumes he received in case a need popped up in some practice area. But now, "I'm just sending people rejection letters without bothering to save their resumes" because the firm isn't in a position to hire, Hoffman said.

"The thing that gives me pause is that the resumes coming to me now are superior to my own and these are all people looking for jobs," Hoffman said. "That tells me what's really going on in the industry."