Flood of new lawyers preps to enter ranks – Charlotte Business Journal:

He's anxious to receive his test which should be back in the nextfew weeks, and to begib his new job at in Raleigh, where he will work on litigationj involving land use. "I'm ready to get says Essick. "I'm ready to put what I've learner in law school to work ina real-life Essick is just one of hundreds of people in the statwe eager to begin new careers in the legal In July, more than 1,000 people jammed into the RBC Center for 12 hour s over two days to take the state bar exam.
In addition to all the preparatioj in their three years of law manyspent 10-hour-plus days studying on thei own or in review courses in the weekas leading up to the exam, which is given only twicre a year. About 70 percent are expectedx to pass the summer bar which would add roughly 700 lawyers statewide. Those numbers can vary widely however, as a record-lowa 40 percent passed the February exam, which testede more than 540 It's impossible to know how many of those who took the July exam will practicw locally until all the tests are Last year, 95 new attorneyzs were sworn in Wake County during September.
Therr were 5,375 active attorneys in Wake, Orange and Durham countiews inMarch 2006, up 13 percent from 4,75 3 five years ago. But the good news is that despite all thestress they've been under many of the new attorneyz have had job offers for abourt a year. "It makes the third year of law school a bit lesspressure packed," says Robb Leandro, a 27-year-old Raefor d native who recently graduated from 's law He soon will start work in the governmentg and public policy practice grouop at 's Raleigh office.
While most people interview for a job a few weekse before gettingan offer, law school students who want to work for largw firms usually operate on a differenr timetable. Firms often recruit them on campus to work as summer associates between their lawschool years. Those internshipsx give the would-be attorneyds a chance to show off their skillse toprospective employers, who make employmentf offers around the time students beginh their third year of law school.
"Wd get a chance to see how they interacr with usas professionals," says Henry the administrative partner in Parker Poe's Raleigh He says that the principal ingredient that his firm is lookinhg for is intellect, although criteria such as writing and interpersonap skills also are considered. Some firmws are searching for a specificskillk set. For instance, does a lot of so Managing Partner Dan Hartzotg says the firm tries to find individualds who have the oratoryt skills and enthusiasm to be successful intrialp work. Some of the new lawyers will benefit from highe r starting salaries comparedto 2005.
Around the beginningf of the year, several firmz with local offices announcesd they would increase starting salaries by15 , for instance, increased its starting salary for associates to $115,000 per year, up from According to Newtown Square, Pa.-based legak consulting firm , the average starting salarty for an associate in the Southb Atlantic region, which includes North Carolina, is $83,119. Lawyers fresh out of law school start out as associates at law They usually can attain partnership statuzs in aboutseven years.

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