I was going through the papers tonight and this piece in the New York Times made me very sad; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/business/26lawyers.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&em, even big schools like Harvard, NYU, Penn and Yale are suffering.
These are JD students, I wonder how bad it is for LL.M. students :-(. For the good of the whole global legal profession, we better hope and pray for the quick recovery of the U.S. economy and that some responsibility will now dictate how business is done to avoid future crisis.
On a bright note though, for all of you who believe in social justice, this is the best time to join the cause for a better world. Since I graduated, very many of my bright law friends shunned social justice and human rights law for corporate law, you know, banking, tax and where all the money is. I hope that with this crisis, we will see more smart lawyers pursue public interest jobs. Especially with the current crisis, maybe law as we were taught in law school, should go back to basics, as a calling, a vocation, very similar to priesthood with the goal of serving humanity.
On an even better note, I also read that new home sales are up 9.4% in the US, so there is still hope. Hopefully the LL.M. Class of 2011 will have better prospects upon graduation. :-)

thanks for the link! Just a bit of trivia from Berkeley: Last week I attended a presentation from the law school's career office on the job situation for LL.M.s. It lasted about 90 minutes and the bottom line was: There are no jobs for LL.M.s in the USA (at the moment). Or at least, no readily available and easily accessible jobs. Of last year's LL.M. class, only 5 stayed in the US to work.

thanks for the link! Just a bit of trivia from Berkeley: Last week I attended a presentation from the law school's career office on the job situation for LL.M.s. It lasted about 90 minutes and the bottom line was: There are no jobs for LL.M.s in the USA (at the moment). Or at least, no readily available and easily accessible jobs. Of last year's LL.M. class, only 5 stayed in the US to work.

I think they were - like this year - a class of 100. And of those five, most either found a position at Boalt as Research Assistants and another went to work for the World Bank (or something similar). So it seems that the kind of regular job in a law firm that most LL.M.s would look for are very scarce for LL.M.s. the presenter also mentioned that you basically only have a good chance if the lawfirm is looking for someone with your very specific profile, for example if they want to provide services to companies from your country and therefore would like to have a native on board.

"Worst season for big law jobs in over 50 years"

Top law firms like Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; DLA Piper; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Baker & McKenzie; Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, & McCloy; and White & Case have postponed or entirely canceled its recruiting this year.

http://www.lawyrs.net/news/show/2289/worst-season-for-big-law-jobs-in-over-50-years

I think they were - like this year - a class of 100. And of those five, most either found a position at Boalt as Research Assistants and another went to work for the World Bank (or something similar). So it seems that the kind of regular job in a law firm that most LL.M.s would look for are very scarce for LL.M.s. the presenter also mentioned that you basically only have a good chance if the lawfirm is looking for someone with your very specific profile, for example if they want to provide services to companies from your country and therefore would like to have a native on board.

I am sorry for posting an irrelevant message here:

But really, I haven't figured out how can a new thread be posted? Please tell me!

Many thanks! :-)

Not good at all. But I believe things will get better. @ sascha_away, you graduated from Boalt this year?

Not good at all. But I believe things will get better. @ sascha_away, you graduated from Boalt this year?

Econ rights: No, I am a current LL.M. (class of 2010), but one or two of the '09 LL.M.s are still around and told us. I too hope the situation will become better next year. I am not "desperately" looking for a job in the US, but I was keeping my eyes open for interesting opportunities, and they are just all too scarcer this year.