I left Austin last month after attending the annual conference of NALP (formerly the National Association for Law Placement). I left with a feeling of hope, especially after hearing Jim Jones, senior fellow at the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center, deliver the closing plenary address. Although Jones, who has served as both a general counsel and managing partner for an AmLaw 100 firm, acknowledged the legal industry’s fragile economic climate, he highlighted that, demographically speaking, it is a great time to be entering the profession.
With a reported 80 million Baby Boomers, who make up half of all lawyers, close to retirement, and only 46 million Gen-Xers, who account for only 20 percent of practicing attorneys, available to assume their roles, “the long-term prospects for lawyers are encouraging,” he said.
