Occasionally, we’re asked about appropriate OCIP interview attire.  We think our colleagues at the Yale Law School offer some good advice, which we’ve excerpted below.  Keep in mind that dressing appropriately is art, not science.  You should look at these simply as guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules.    

Your attire should contribute to your professionalism.  Although employers may have different dress codes, err on the conservative side when interviewing.

Women

• Skirt suits are still considered the most conservative, although women wear pants suits as well.
• Black, navy and gray are the most conservative colors, but tans and other subtle shades are also acceptable.  Solids are preferable to patterns.
• The skirt should be no more than two inches above the knee.
• Wear a white or cream blouse (sometimes called a “shell”) with either short or long sleeves. Tank tops and camisoles are too casual. The blouse should either have a collar or a round neck. Avoid low-cut shirts.
• Wear a white or cream blouse (sometimes called a “shell”) with either short or long sleeves. Tank tops and camisoles are too casual. The blouse should either have a collar or a round neck. Avoid low-cut shirts.

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The National Law Journal recently released its 2010 list of 20 midsize firms (i.e., firms with between 50 and 150 lawyers) that ”have thrived amid the downturn … [and]  experienced a string of successes and that showed innovative ways to run their operations despite the economy.” 

UPDATE:  The article apparently can only be accessed by NLJ “premium subscribers.”  We have a hard copy of the 7/12/10 National Law Journal in the CDO, which you can review.  Also, the online publication JD Journal has a page with a series of links to the websites of the 20 law firm on the list from which you can piece together the substance of the NLJ article.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

The well-known legal business consulting firm Hildebrandt Baker Robbins just published a report of its Peer Monitor Index, which includes information about key law firm business metrics for April - June of 2010.

You can read a summary of the report here.  You can read the whole thing here.   

Among other things, the report concludes that there has been “no meaningful growth” in the legal marketplace so far this year.  Accordingly, firms are continuing their aggressive cost cutting.

Moreover, a slowdown in the rate of productivity [hours per attorney] growth may “suggest[] that the legal industry may be facing a prolonged period of slow growth.”  The report continues: “If so, firms will face increasing pressure to balance hiring decisions against the shifting patterns of demand.”

We’ve blogged about the Peer Monitor system before, but to refresh you , it is a service that allows law firms to access their peers’ financial data (in the aggregate) in exchange for supplying their own data to the system for others to access (on a normalized and aggregated basis).  There are 35 Am Law 100 firms, 35 Am Law 200 firms and 30 NLJ 250 firms in the system.  You can find more information about the Peer Monitor system here.

The well-known legal business consulting firm Hildebrandt Baker Robbins just published a report of its Peer Monitor Index, which includes information about key law firm business metrics for January - March of 2010.

You can read a summary of the report here.  You can read the whole thing here.   

Among other things, the report concludes that, on average, demand for legal services (measured by billable hours) for the first quarter of 2010 was flat.  Also, while demand in the Silicon Valley market increased by 1%, it decreased by 5% in SF and LA. 

We’ve blogged about the Peer Monitor system before, but to refresh you , it is a service that allows law firms to access their peers’ financial data (in the aggregate) in exchange for supplying their own data to the system for others to access (on a normalized and aggregated basis).  There are 35 Am Law 100 firms, 35 Am Law 200 firms and 30 NLJ 250 firms in the system.  You can find more information about the Peer Monitor system here.

The Recorder recently did a story about the 2009 financial results of the firms on their list of the state’s 25 largest law firms.  You can check the story out here.

For the Recorder 25 list, click here.

Thought you might be interested in this short (about 6 min.) interview with the person who runs the Peer Monitor. 

You can access the podcast at Thomson Reuter’s Legal Current blog here.  (Hat tip: legal industry consultant Hildebrandt’s blog).    

FYI — We’ve blogged about the extremely helpful Peer Monitor Index before here and here.  The Peer Monitor system is essentially a service that allows law firms to access their peers’ financial data (in the aggregate) in exchange for supplying their own data to the system for others to access (on a normalized and aggregated basis).  There are 35 Am Law 100 firms, 35 Am Law 200 firms and 30 NLJ 250 firms in the system.

Last Thursday’s New York Times has an interesting article about how firms are developing new ways to hire, train, promote and compensate associates in light of “recessionary pricing pressures.”

In addition, a recent e-newsletter article (consisting of comments from a senior advisor with Blaqwell, a prominent legal industry consulting firm) in the Practicing Law Institute (PLI) expressed consistent themes.   

The AmLaw Daily published two recent articles here (focussing on California firms) and here (providing the national picture) about how large law firms finished the year financially.   

The upshot is that most firms were either flat or up or down by a few percentage points, which is better than many experts predicted earlier in 2009.  The result is attributed mainly to firm cost-cutting measures (the lay-offs; starting associate salary reductions, etc.)  Read both pieces to get the full perspective.

We’ve written about this before (here), but a recent article in the National Law Journal (via law.com) makes the point that more regional firms in cities whose economies were not so tied to capital markets are faring better during the current economic crisis.  Some are even taking advantage of the crisis to take on new talent and expand into other regions. 

The Recorder, one of Norhtern CA’s legal dailies, published its annual associate salary and bonus survey in its October 5th edition.  We could not locate an online link, but the Library and the CDO both subscribe to the Recorder if you are interested in looking at the whole article. 

In reading the article, it becomes obvious that large law firms are still trying to figure out what to do in this area. There seems to be a consensus that each law firm is likely to respond differently, but that the status quo (annual, lock-step increases) will likely not hold.

It notes that only a few firms have officially announced that they are stepping back from the $160,000 first year BIGLAW starting salary, but that none have affirmatively announced a definite intention to stick to it going forward.  The suggestion was that firms will quickly conform to what they perceive their competition to be doing.

The author interviewed a legal business consultant who noted that firms were realizing savings in other ways — layoffs, salary freezed, deferrals — and most notably by simply hiring alot fewer new associates.  He speculated that large law firm hiring is down by one-third to one-half. 

The article has an accompanying chart that makes it easy to compare compensation figures for 20 large CA firms.