New Lawyer Training Program: Helping Lawyers Through the Great Recession
| Publication year | 2011 |
| Pages | 36 |
| Citation | Vol. 24 No. 1 Pg. 36 |
Vol. 24, No. 1, 36. New Lawyer Training Program: Helping Lawyers through The Great Recession
Volume 24 No. 1
Jan/Feb 2011
After my swearing-in ceremony at the Salt Palace, I received congratulations from some of the older members of the Bar. We spoke about the difficult economic times and pro bono opportunities for new lawyers. The conversation then turned to thoughts on the New Lawyer Training Program ("NLTP"). Although I did not have much to say, I specifically remember their enthusiasm about the program; they were anxious to see it implemented. Initially, I was eager to finish the requirements and move on with being a lawyer. However, the NLTP has been a fantastic learning experience and aided me in setting up my own law practice.
In many ways, my experience, both as a new lawyer and as a participant in the NLTP is typical of new lawyers throughout the state. Like other lawyers, I have seen major changes in the profession during 2009 and 2010. New attorneys should be glad to have a program like the NLTP during this difficult economic time to help them in their practice.
I was fortunate to select as my mentor Jim Backman, an accomplished professor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University and one of the authors of the NLTP program.
The business of law is changing, and I believe the change is here to stay. Few law firms are hiring and cash-strapped state and municipal budgets have reduced the number of opportunities for attorneys to work in government. As a result, many new attorneys are starting their own firms and trying to make a living as solo practitioners.
I graduated from The George Washington University School of Law in 2009 during the worst legal market since the Great Depression. I was lucky to have an offer at a small firm in Lehi. I took the job, but, because of slow work, the firm could not afford to keep me on salary. For several months, I looked for a job and had some interviews but no offers. As I was looking, a good friend and mentor referred a small business owner to me to write a letter of intent for a contract. This small business owner gave me more work and I gradually picked up a few more clients. In May, I stopped sending out resumes, and set up my firm, Foxhall Legal, LC.
Working on my own has been a great learning experience...
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