Rural specialist firms tend to be smaller or regional, and therefore take on fewer
graduates than the larger firms in other markets and are less likely to have an official graduate scheme.
Not exact matches
You can argue, as would I, that a far
larger number of law school
graduates than the top handful from elite schools, can excel at
large firms and even perform better
than their more well - credentialed peers.
In today's market it almost seems like the lawyer
graduating from one of the more inexpensive schools (it's all relative) and offering competent legal services for less
than the
large law
firms may be able to pay off their debts, and create a profitable practice, before their peers who beeline directly to Big Law for their temporary stint there.
When I
graduated from law school, I found myself less prepared
than I expected to be for life in a
large litigation
firm in New York City.
In 2006, median salaries of new
graduates ranged from US$ 50,000 per year in small
firms (2 to 10 attorneys) to US$ 160,000 per year in very
large firms (more
than 501 attorneys).
And while no
large corporate law
firm would trust a new associate to prepare a corporate merger,
graduates today have far more practical training
than lawyers
graduating 40 years ago.
Having secured a job at a
large financial services
firm in London I feel that having done a 12 month internship abroad, my CV stood out a little more
than the average
graduate.
There are so many small to medium size
firms that can offer you just as much if not more
than a
large firm with a defined
graduate scheme.