Bad Economy & Law Jobs in 2008

I'm noting a couple items here for personal reference. So when the economy has righted itself once again, I can reflect back on some of the legal industry reaction.

As we reach the tail end of 2008, the economy has been all over the news. Between law firm layoffs, mergers, and dissolutions, there's been no shortage of commentary, especially as it relates to the legal job market.

Items that seem to capture some of that fallout:

• The ABA Journal is surveying lawyers about the legal job market in the state of today's troubled economy. This was just announced and the results will be published in their January 2009 edition. You can take the survey here.
  
• Legal OnRamp, the invitation-only online community for lawyers, is offering help to associates who lost their jobs in the recent spate of layoffs. See Patrick Lamb's post for more details on what support is being offered. To date, LOR has been very popular amongst corporate counsel, but is now opening its doors to lawyers who were in private practice. Saying they're optimistic that the current situation "will give those lawyers an opportunity to adapt to the world that's emerging."
• Lastly, since it's a topic mired in speculation, I'm also going to plug JD Supra's growing collection of legal analysis on the global financial crisis. They've created a special analysis page on the site that groups contributors' articles and resources into sub-topics such as implementation of bailout plans and programs, environment & energy, mortgages, taxes, executive compensation, etc.

All things being cyclical, what goes around... it's worth remembering. Also interesting that blogs may be (over) documenting a financial downturn for the first time.