Recession worries

[Remedies]

To practising lawyers, has the potential recession affected your workload at all? Should law students be worried about decreased openings for articling and associate positions or even the risk of firms dropping current summer and articling students?

[Zarathustra]

Depends on the area you practice. Employment lawyers will get more work during a recession. 

[Remedies]

I'm interested in corporate law, securities, and commercial litigation. I'm also wondering if there's a chance big law firms will drop their summer and articling students if the economy further declines

[Kimura]

I don't think firms will drop their summer and articling students with a recession. Will it affect how many students they hire or hire back? Potentially. I know some firms pushed back the start time for articling students when the pandemic first hit, and I know of at least one firm that hired back less students as first year associates. 

Regardless of this, you have zero control over what firms will do in terms of hiring and retaining students, if and when a recession hits. Just focus on getting good grades and experience. That's all you can do for now. 

[Lawstudents20202020]

FWIW, I do personally know people who had their articles pulled by large firms when covid first hit. That being said, most large firms have been through a major economic downturn before so knee jerk reactions are less likely. I believe a couple regular contributors here (or maybe it was the old forum) were looking for articles during the 08 crash. 

[QueensDenning]

17 minutes ago, Lawstudents20202020 said:

FWIW, I do personally know people who had their articles pulled by large firms when covid first hit. That being said, most large firms have been through a major economic downturn before so knee jerk reactions are less likely. I believe a couple regular contributors here (or maybe it was the old forum) were looking for articles during the 08 crash. 

Articles pulled or delayed? During Covid I heard of firms delaying starts and pulling 2L offers (though in those cases the students were given an articling offer for after 3L). I'd be surprised to hear that any big firm straight up rescinded articling offers because of Covid, but you're saying that happened? 

[Lawstudents20202020]

Rescinded, although to be very clear, these were not offers given during the formal recruit. It was a bit of an odd Situation to begin with 

[AllWellAndGood]

10 minutes ago, QueensDenning said:

Articles pulled or delayed? During Covid I heard of firms delaying starts and pulling 2L offers (though in those cases the students were given an articling offer for after 3L). I'd be surprised to hear that any big firm straight up rescinded articling offers because of Covid, but you're saying that happened? 

I know of a few people that had their 2L offers rescinded but did not receive an articling position, but nobody that had their articling/1Y position canceled, just postponed, at big firms. Although I do know a few that lost their articling at small firms.