One would hope that the surviving firms will come out of this thing with an eye toward more effective recruitment techniques. In the past, larger firms had mountains of money to train new associates. Thus, the skill and ability of a first year attorney out of the gate has traditionally been of secondary concern. 99.9% of recruitment has focused on school name and grades, allowing the firm to proudly tout to clients that it recruits only "top talent," but not necessarily resulting in the hire of people who were most prepared to make money for the firm. Recruitment based solely upon 1L grades has traditionally ignored not only the academic achievements of students in their 2L and 3L years, but also a range of non-academic achievements, such as moot court performance, internship and clinic experience, and law review publication. It has also generally ignored other intangibles, such as prior career experience, or particular non-legal skill, all of which may be indicative of a student who is more prepared for immediate professional success. For most large firms, the pool of potential post-grad hires is limited in the fall of the 2L year, before any true metric other than first year grades is available.
What we should expect to see down the road is a new crop of highly successful law firms rising from the ashes. These firms will likely seek to recruit hungry law students falling outside of the top 10%, whom big law firms have traditionally ignored. Such firms could find success in a market of shrinking billable rates, by recruiting students who may not have been at the very top of their class, but who have set themselves apart in ways other than being the best at taking a 3 hour final. These firms can recruit from the rather large pool of above the curve students, who have spent their law school career doing everything they can to soak up experience and build skills, but do not come with the entitlement complex to feel that 80k directly out of school is an insult. I would hazard that young attorneys of this background would produce on a level at or above that of their top 10% peers, but with a fraction of the cost and attitude.
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