Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Lawyers

Damn, it's tougher out there than I thought.

I went into my other office today ( not the Starbucks ).

My associate had a friend there. She was an attractive Ukrainian girl who had been an attorney in the Ukraine. Like many immigrants she really works hard.

She's been here about 7 years and is already a citizen. She then got a para-legal certification at Rice U. I didn't even know they taught that but I went there many years ago. She wants to take the Texas bar exam but is not quite ready. And she recently got laid off as a para legal.

Since she's a Rice girl I thought I might try to help her. She's fluent in 3 languages ( Ukrainian, Russian, and English ) and speaks passable Arabic. She's worked in both PI and Immigration Law Firms and knows both specialties well. And finally, she practiced Law in the Ukraine and has international oil and gas experience.

I was astounded that she is really having problems finding any employment. I called friends at an oil and gas consulting firm and at a major Houston Law Firm that does a lot of business with Russia. They said they would try to help but there were no guarantees. If she can't find anything in Houston, Texas then I see a lot of trouble on the horizon.

Is it that tough out there? Where people that are tri-lingual with para-legal degrees ( as well as a Law degree in her own country ) and other great experience can't find anything?

I hope it changes!

It's that tough out there. The problem is that there are just no jobs available. Even for great candidates there are no open positions to be filled.

Maybe Waylon was wrong. Maybe we should all pick guitars and drive them old trucks.

Is she single?

Originally Posted by Unbreakable

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Is she single?
Seriously though, it sucks out there. I have yet to find steady employment and I've been hustling the want ads / internet job sites / personal contacts for months.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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Seriously though, it sucks out there. I have yet to find steady employment and I've been hustling the want ads / internet job sites / personal contacts for months.

I agree 100% its rough now a days. I went almost a year and a half with out a job. Hell I couldnt even get a job as a waiter

Originally Posted by MrG

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It's that tough out there. The problem is that there are just no jobs available. Even for great candidates there are no open positions to be filled.

Maybe Waylon was wrong. Maybe we should all pick guitars and drive them old trucks.

Yeah it used to be like this. Now tri-lingual attorneys that are young and good looking can't find work. What about hope and change?

Doesn't bother me but what about you young guys?

Originally Posted by Unbreakable

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Is she single?

Single, tall, thin and extremely attractive.

I even thought of calling Ron J. in Hollywood. But that would have been insulting to her and I wouldn't have felt good about it. She was definitely not an "assistant" or "trainer" type.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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Seriously though, it sucks out there. I have yet to find steady employment and I've been hustling the want ads / internet job sites / personal contacts for months.

What's really scary is that like many immigrants, I sensed she was willing to work much harder than typical Americans. She showed me ( on the net ) her hometown in the Ukraine of Chernovtsy ( not Chernobyl ) and was proud that she had worked since she was 12 and had worked her way through college. Apparently, the University in Chernovtsy is something like 600 years old!

And this is in Houston, Tx. which is doing relatively well. I can only imagine places like the rust belt, let alone some foreign countries.

Originally Posted by rnoldh

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Single, tall, thin and extremely attractive.

I even thought of calling Ron J. in Hollywood. But that would have been insulting to her and I wouldn't have felt good about it. She was definitely not an "assistant" or "trainer" type.


This thread is absolutely pointless without pics/facebook link.

MODS: Please move this **** to DT

Originally Posted by Davidko19

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This thread is absolutely pointless without pics/facebook link.

MODS: Please move this **** to DT

Here's a couple of pics:



Ron wouldn't mind.

F..ck KSM!

And I'm not about to post her pic or facebook link.

Originally Posted by rnoldh

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Yeah it used to be like this. Now tri-lingual attorneys that are young and good looking can't find work. What about hope and change?

Doesn't bother me but what about you young guys?

It's scary to me. I'm right at the top end of the age group that's been hit hardest. I don't know if it's still the case, but I know at one point they were saying people under 30 were at 25% unemployment. My wife and I are very fortunate: She's had a job since before the recession started, and I managed to find a good one over the summer (after finishing grad school in May). We're still impacted, though, as my wife has been trying to change job for months, and there's just nothing out there. We're very grateful she has a job, but it's been tough for her to be trapped in a job she doesn't like.

We're much better off than many people we know. I've had friends with master's degrees from excellent programs go unemployed for long stretches. I have one friend who finished in August 2008 and still isn't employed. A good friend of my wife's was laid off and spent 10 months searching for a job. She went on something like 30 interviews before landing a position.

It's really bad out there, and, at least in the job market, it doesn't look like it's going to get a whole lot better any time in the near future.

Yes, it's a blood bath. The worst legal market . . . probably ever. It's because of a large list of structural changes wrenching the legal market that: (1) all the law-types here already know and (2) would bore everyone else to death (and make young lawyers sound like entitlement crybabies).

Originally Posted by crazyquik

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Yes, it's a blood bath. The worst legal market . . . probably ever. It's because of a large list of structural changes wrenching the legal market that: (1) all the law-types here already know and (2) would bore everyone else to death (and make young lawyers sound like entitlement crybabies).

+1.

That said, your friend has a set of unique...umm...assets. She shouldn't have much trouble finding a job -- if she's looking at the right places. I've no idea where she should look, but she's in such a niche that if, and when, she gets an offer, she's gonna make serious dough.

Apparently the early 80s was worse, or so I am told, around here. Even in 30 years since, the big offices in Vancouver have not reached their former size before the contraction that occurred back then. As of now, there is no real contraction, just no growth, which will lead to contraction because there will be no one to succeed as people leave. Still I would say a minimal downsizing. I have about an 80+% chance of being hired back after my articling term, although that is not in Vancouver but in probably the most stable market in the country, in Vancouver or Toronto it would be somewhat less.

It's bad... but it's not AS bad in Canada.

Yeah it's pretty bad, but it isn't AS bad out in the Silicon Valley, even if you're not IP...at least for many of my classmates. Me on the other hand...

+1 on pics of female

yeah pics, im just curious. make a small thumbnail.

In Australia atm pay freezes are in the process of being lifted in the large law firms, so fingers crossed we are coming out of $hit storm.
The worst thing about it was people with jobs complaining - "Ohhh they have cut back on the finger foods at Friday drinks!" No perspective.

Hope she can find a decent job - but often you have to take something in a whole different industry to get through it.