Since my readership tends to overlap with Half Sigma’s, and Half Sigma writes a lot about the lawyer glut and poor employment prospects for lawyers, I thought I wuld pass along this NPR article on rural lawyers:
The American Bar Association has not collected data on rural law firms in more than a decade. But as younger professionals gravitate toward urban life, Garland says, many older, small-town lawyers are nearing retirement with no one to fill their shoes. Some areas have just a few attorneys for an entire county.
About three hours south in Albia, Iowa, John Pabst works out of an old Victorian house. He doesn’t have anyone waiting in the wings, so he has also taken on a law student this summer who will have to adapt to the small town.
“If you’re a single person, Monroe County, Iowa, unless you have local connections, is not what I would call a hot spot for social activity,” Pabst admits.
But many recent law grads cannot afford to be quite so picky. A report from the National Association for Law Placement last year called the market for entry-level lawyers the worst in 30 years. Fewer than half found jobs in private firms.
The social opportunities part shouldn’t be underplayed. If you’re just getting out of law school and are looking for someone to settle down with, it’s not unimportant to be able to find a partner. The relationship market in smaller towns is considerably less efficient than that of cities. This means that the opportunities are such that you see a lot more disparate couples. That of course means you could luck out and get someone hotter than you otherwise might, but it also means that you could have to settle. Mostly, though, it means you’re less likely to find someone that you’re compatible with. Particularly if you are an urban-type. There also appears to be a gender disparity, so if you’re a guy, the odds may be additionally stacked against you.
Chuck Klosterman wrote about the gender disparity in his novel, Downtown Owl. One of the characters is a Wisconsinite teacher who needs to bide some time in small-town North Dakota before returning to Wisconsin to teach. She finds herself in the middle of an astonishingly good relationship market for a young woman. The same would likely be true of a female lawyer, if she is hip to the fact that her career status is likely to outstrip her future husband’s. A male lawyer would probably find himself on the losing end of that equation.
In any event, I don’t think this is a case of NPR describing something that doesn’t exist. I remember when I was looking at law schools, there was one in the midwest that would waive out-of-state tuition if you promised to stay in the state and practice law there after you graduated.
Dunno … the relationship market for young women in big cities (especially NYC and DC) is much better than it is for men in those cities, so a woman would have nothing to gain by moving to a rural area. On the other hand, non-Alpha men might face less discrimination in rural areas.
Comment by Peter — September 19, 2012 @ 8:42 am
The relationship market in places like NYC and DC is going to be better in general. Capella moved to NYC and her whole romantic situation seemed to change (or at least majorly pick up). I know a couple guys who moved to DC and the same thing happened.
None of this is mutually exclusive with ruralia being particularly hard on dudes. Remember this map? This isn’t entirely an east-west thing since there are western cities and eastern rural places, but I think there is the whole “frontier” thing that attract men more than women. The numbers on the East Coast may not be as advantageous as they seem for men, but at least there you have a whole lot of people to sort through and find your match.
Comment by trumwill — September 19, 2012 @ 10:02 pm
I’ve heard folks from my local law firm discussing the issue. We’re not exactly hardcore rural, but they have a hard time attracting associates. The good candidates really want to be in NYC or Boston, and the local, small firms cannot compete. They have so far been unwilling to compromise and accept lower quality (however one defines that), but they people they want are unwilling to live here. The problem for them seems to be getting worse: This is a good place for families, but entry level lawyers don’t have those yet, so that is no longer an attraction. Sharp young people moving away reduces the chances of partner-finding locally. I suppose that is also true for that wanton sexual behavior that I keep reading about in the popular press - more difficult here than a more populated, growing area.
In another field, I have female friends of a professional persuasion whose job keeps them in more rural areas, like in the North Dakota story. In one sense, the relationship market works in their favor, as described - locally they are quite a catch. However, they are careful about who can catch them. Local men seem to like them because they are paid very well, have secure jobs and health insurance, which lets the men spend lots of time and money on snowmobiling and hunting. It’s like winning a lottery for the guys.
Comment by A4 — September 20, 2012 @ 9:37 pm
For men to work in rural areas, it makes more sense for them to have SAHM/wives since that arrangement works better in small towns. However, since professionals generally marry other professionals, it becomes much harder to live in small towns where both the husband and the wife can find jobs.
Comment by superdestroyer — September 21, 2012 @ 3:44 am
That’s true, SuperD. On the other when, when one is single to begin with, that’s less of an issue. A lawyer marries a local cop, it’s taken care of. Of course, as the post discusses, the ability to find a partner is itself hindered.
If you have a partner, and you have enough of an income that you can support a household on a single income, male or female, it’s not that big of an issue. Obviously, this is going to be easier for docs than lawyers.
Comment by trumwill — September 21, 2012 @ 4:49 pm
A4, thanks for the testimonial. That makes a lot of sense.
Comment by trumwill — September 21, 2012 @ 4:51 pm
Obviously, this is going to be easier for docs than lawyers.
I think health care reform is going to make that a thing of the past. The situation probably won’t be as bad as for non-elite law grads, but it will still be bad. And don’t forget that residency and fellowship grads are older than new law grads and have less time to accumulate retirement savings.
Indeed it is not ideal for a young(ish) unmarried professional to start his career in podunk. The situation is even worse if one is an ethno-religous outlier in an ethnically and religiously uniform place. And where I live, the men definitely get the short end of the stick if they are actually still interested in finding partners. There might be a few local women over 30 who weigh less than 200 pounds and don’t already have kids by some low-class loser(s), but I certainly haven’t ecnountered them. It looks like my siblings’ kids will inherit a little bit of extra money in a few years.
Comment by Ω — September 22, 2012 @ 8:24 am
This is only a problem because there are now single attorneys. Once upon a time a prospective lawyer was snatched up before he finished law school. The wife would work a secretarial or teaching job while the husband went to law school. Tuition was low enough where they could get by. Once his law career got underway, the wife could be a SAHM.
As Trummom could tell you, this scenario doesn’t always end well, but most of the time it did.
Comment by ScarletKnight — September 26, 2012 @ 6:44 pm
No comment on my comment? I mean come on, I was talking about your mom…
Comment by ScarletKnight — October 1, 2012 @ 11:41 pm
I didn’t have much to add. I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about the mixed bag that comes with delaying marriages. Not that I am averse to repeating myself, of course!
Comment by trumwill — October 1, 2012 @ 11:51 pm