We reported earlier that several law firms are slashing starting associate pay and instead placing new grads on an apprenticeship track that will provide supplemental skills training that law schools, at least according to these employers, are not offering. Some law firms that reject the "apprenticeship" model have expressed their views to the online ABA Journal. Here's one comment:
Carter Phillips, managing partner of Sidley Austin's Washington, D.C., office, tells the National Law Journal that law students interviewing for jobs may be unwilling to give up the money. "If you're a top-flight law student and you talk to one firm offering $80,000 or $100,000 to take extra classes and then you talk to another firm offering $160,000 to do work you can bill to a client, I don't see that as much of a choice," he said.
In response, the managing partner of Washington D.C.'s Howrey, which is the largest firm to date to adopt the apprenticeship approach, says "the old model is broken." The new model will provide grads with the training they need while saving clients from otherwise having to pay for the learning curve of these grads.
Interestingly, although an informal poll conducted by Above the Law showed that its readers overwhelmingly support the apprenticeship model, comments left in connection with this story indicate that many think the apprenticeship model is a pretext for lowering salaries while keeping the firm's reputation intact.
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