Metrics on prevalence among law departments of refusal to pay for newbies out of law school

A piece in Met. Corp. Counsel, June 2012 at 16, cites a survey published in December of 2011 by the New Jersey Law Journal. The sentence with the citation says that “54% of law firms have clients who will not pay for the work of first-and second-year associates.” The partner at Gibbons PC who wrote this then goes on to explain the firm’s Apprenticeship Program.

This blog has noted several times the distaste of some general counsel for first-year associates, but not the extension to second years (See my post of May 30, 2005: hiring only partners; Nov. 8, 2005: minimum experience levels for associates; Nov. 19, 2005: USF&G uses only partners; Feb. 8, 2006: no charge by first years; April 30, 2006: no payments for first-year associates; May 11, 2007: such policies re associates; and Nov. 19, 2007: dilemma if law departments ban billing by junior associates.).