Taylor Moore has an unlikely student job.
The third-year Paul M. Hebert Law School student is serving as “housemother” for his former fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon, while finishing law school and looking for a job after graduation in May.
Moore and his wife lost the New Orleans house they bought in July because of Hurricane Katrina. But his wife, also a lawyer, is living in New Orleans because her law firm was able to bounce back from the storm.
Moore’s problem is that competition for jobs and clerkships – a law student internship with a judge – has risen dramatically since the hurricane.
Lawyers displaced by the hurricane are partnering with existing firms in Baton Rouge and other unaffected areas, leaving recent law school graduates scrambling for jobs.
Moore worked in New Orleans for two firms during the past two summers, but he said he did not get a job offer from either because of the hurricane.
“It’s back to the drawing board,” Moore said of his and his wife’s situation. “We’re in a weird position. I may not be able to find a job in New Orleans, but we don’t want to give up her job.”
Moore said many firms are hesitant to hire young lawyers because they lose money investing in training for the first three years.
“They don’t want to have to lay off employees. And partners [in law firms] get paid last, so they’re tightening their belts,” Moore said.
Gwen Ferrell, associate director of career services at the Law School, said she advises law students who are nearing graduation to be patient, watch the market and broaden their scopes of interest.
“Give the city a year,” Ferrell said. “Establish a network of contacts.”
Ferrell said more students are pulling away from traditional law firms and going to work in government positions – not necessarily as lawyers.
“Some decided they are not ready to practice law,” Ferrell said. “[The hurricanes] have pushed them a little harder.”
Maurice Ruffin, a lawyer and Loyola Law School graduate, worked at a small law firm until Katrina displaced it and forced layoffs.
“The problem [for small law firms] is it’s very different to maintain a staff that almost works hand-to-mouth,” said Ruffin, who moved to Adams and Reese, a 300-lawyer multi-state firm. “The courts are closed, and that means there’s no business.”
But Ruffin said his job change actually boosted his career.
“I came [to Adams and Reese] with intentions of moving forward,” Ruffin said. “Larger firms have the ability to handle hurricanes. The law firm didn’t let any of its lawyers go, and that speaks a lot for the firm. A lot of firms who had to shut down – it looks bad, and their clients went elsewhere.”
Some unemployed professionals are looking outside Louisiana for work because of the strained economy.
But Ruffin said Louisiana lawyers may be less likely to move out-of-state because they practice a different kind of law from other states.
“We’re really tied to the Louisiana civil code – the Napoleonic code,” Ruffin said. “Licensing in Louisiana is only good in this state, and it takes months for lawyers to pass bar exams to practice law in other states and be sworn in.”
Ruffin said it may be difficult to change locations but that firms will flourish again in New Orleans and Louisiana because he said “lawyers are like walking stores.”
“They generate clients everywhere,” Ruffin said. “People have a need for lawyers.”
Jeff Coreil, president of Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Society and business administration senior, said he sees a positive future in New Orleans for young lawyers.
“Last week at our weekly chapter meeting, we had third-year law students from both Tulane and Loyola,” Coreil said in an e-mail. “They both were extremely positive about the rebuilding of New Orleans but more excited about the numerous opportunities for ‘young’ lawyers.”
Coreil said he is encouraging members of his organization to go to school in New Orleans.
“I feel that they may get great job experience while in school and may be able to be a part of a new and better New Orleans,” Coreil said.
Ruffin said he did not hesitate when deciding whether to stay in New Orleans.
“I have to go back,” he said. “That’s my city.”
Moore said he hopes a large firm will hire him and the situation will get better for young lawyers when business bounces back in New Orleans.
“New Orleans was a ghost town a month ago,” Moore said. “Now there are a lot of people there. In another month, who knows?”
 
Contact Leslie Ziober at [email protected]