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S2 | MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014 | Law Schools
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Law Firms

Finding ‘Success’: A New Equilibrium

In the BigLaw Marketplace

BY ROBERT N. FREEDMAN,
DANIEL H.R. LAGUARDIA,
DOREEN E. LILIENFELD
AND LINDA E. RAPPAPORT
W
hether the cause was the credit cri-
sis, the lingering effects of the “Great
Recession,” or just a natural shift
in the market for legal services from sell-

ers to buyers, law students and law irms
have seen a long-standing equilibrium for
achieving success disrupted, and the two
sides are still looking for ways to restore
it. For many years before 2008, the equi-
librium was well settled and based on the
institutionalized—and constrained—path
to success that law irms presented. Now,
however, that path diverges. And law irms

are seeking new and innovative ways to
sell their product (what is still a very
meaningful and fulilling career path) to
a marketplace made up of top students
who have many different options at many
different stages of their careers. So, how
will this balance be restored? Perhaps it
will be as simple as both sides recogniz-

ing that success for either a student or a
irm is not deined as a single concept but
rather the ability to take advantage of the
signiicant shifts in the legal marketplace
and an openness to doing so. In deining
success, lawyers would do well to remem- CK
ber the best answer to most law school TO
questions: It depends.
BIGS
In hindsight (and with the rose-colored GE:
MA
glasses of nostalgia) it all seemed so simple
ER I
COV

|
ROBERT N. FREEDMAN and DOREEN E. LIL- OCK
IENFELD are the former hiring partners, and ST
LINDA E. RAPPAPORT and DANIEL H.R. LAGUARDIA are BIG
the current hiring partners, for Shearman & Sterling.

Contents

INTERVIEWS
EDUCATION
RELATIONSHIPS
POST-GRAD
S4 BasicRulesforOCIandSummer S6 Reap the Beneits S7 A Distinguished Career S8 I Did Everything Right .
Associate Programs
Of a Bar Association Starts with Networking Where’s My Job?
BY LARRY CUNNINGHAM
BY GLENN LAU-KEE
BY JACK KILLION
BY JILL BACKER
AND ANDREA M. ALONSO

LAW SCHOOLS, New York Law Journal Special Report: KRIS FISCHER, Editor-In-Chief
• ANGELA TURTURRO, Sections Editor • MICHELLE GRUTMAN, Design
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