Legal Career Path in Louisiana

Louisiana Legal Job Market Overview

There is a steady demand for lawyers in Louisiana that has been stable for the past three years. Corporate counsel positions, particularly within renowned hospitality and gaming industries, have always had a significant concentration in Louisiana. There are many strong regional defense law firms in Louisiana as well. New Orleans alone has four AmLaw 200 law firms, with each office continually expanding to support a diverse range of practice areas, including maritime, corporate, litigation, and intellectual property. Private law firms are highly active and most continue looking for high-quality lateral hires to aid in meeting client demand and further develop their New Orleans offices. Additionally, the state bar has felt the effects of major corporations opening offices in Baton Rouge, thus creating an increased need for lawyers and staff in the surrounding communities. Many top law firms are hiring and struggling to find qualified candidates to fill new and existing vacancies , with this being particularly true in Baton Rouge.
A significant contributor to the legal market in New Orleans is the increase in D&T positions. Louisiana now has 15 major universities including Tulane and Louisiana State University which follow an annual calendar that allows a continuous influx of potential associates. With legal employers increasingly hiring the best and brightest, law schools in Louisiana have found ways to improve their hiring statistics through on-campus interviews, job fairs, pre-law society contracts, and coordination with the New Orleans Bar association. As an employer, the Louisiana Bar is continually broadening the scope in which they recruit top talent to ensure that they are filling open positions with the best possible candidates. In the private sector, more law firms are finding that due to the recent upturn in the economy, it is beneficial to expand their workforce through the recruitment of associates who possess the further sophistication that conforms with the growing complex mandates required by multinational corporations. The development of first and second year associate training programs has become even more critical in bridging the gap between academic instruction and the technical skills and experience needed in the workplace.

Legal Positions Available in Louisiana

There are several types of legal job opportunities in Louisiana for the aspiring attorney or current practitioner looking to make a lateral move. Law firms in Louisiana are the primary employers of lawyers in the state. Legal counsel is highly sought after with law firms, both by generalists and specialists. Generalists have been the most in-demand in recent years due to the recession. However, a firm’s ability to employ specialists may hinge on the practice area and the firm’s need. There is continually a need by firms in Louisiana for partners with portable business.
Corporate legal departments are another major source of legal jobs in Louisiana. Corporations with legal departments typically need attorneys to manage various aspects of their internal operations including litigation management, labor and employment issues, real estate matters, environmental claims, etc. Corporations can be both local and national, so attorneys often have the opportunity to move around the country without permanently relocating.
Government agencies in Louisiana hire attorneys to work in various capacities. This can include working in the District Attorney’s office, public defender’s office, legislative bill archives, and judiciary offices. There are also a few state attorney general positions in Louisiana.

Requirements for Legal Jobs in Louisiana

To become a legal professional, it is virtually always necessary to earn a qualifying law degree from an accredited institution. This is true for both attorneys and other positions like paralegals. Generally, prospective law students should apply to a law school that is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). However, some schools may still be well respected in the local area without ABA accreditation, so you should consider all options. In some cases, a school may offer Juris Doctor degree programs as well as a strict paralegal program or certificate track. In many cases, having a paralegal certificate at a minimum is required to obtain a paralegal job. This is because of the technical nature of the job. Law firms need highly organized employees with great attention to detail, and secondary education often proves this capability in prospective hires.
For attorneys in Louisiana, it is necessary to earn admittance to the state bar to practice law. The good news is that attaining membership is a fairly straightforward process. The State Bar Exam is only given on the computer in Louisiana. It is held twice a year (usually the last Tuesday and Wednesday in February and July) and administered at the Louisiana State Bar Center in Baton Rouge. The exam is divided into two separate tests, which are administered separately. Louisiana has added civil law sections to the tests, which sometimes makes them more difficult than other state bar exams. Most other Louisiana legal jobs will not require additional licensure, although it is recommended that every lawyer seek admission to at least one bar association. Bar associations are organizations that offer continuing education, networking and support to their members. As shown, there is a great need for qualified, passionate lawyers in Louisiana.

Leading Law Firms in Louisiana

Armstrong Lee & Baker LLP – Experienced, knowledgeable, and trustworthy, we have been representing the people and businesses of New Orleans for over 65 years.
Baker Donelson – A powerful, multi-service law firm, with more than 550 attorneys across 19 offices in the Southeastern United States and Washington, D.C.
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz P.C. – An American full-service law firm.
U.S. District Court For The Middle District of Louisiana – The United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana is a federal court in the Middle District of Louisiana. It was created on June 18, 1966.
Gordon Arata McGuire & Long, A L.L.C. – From the Port of New Orleans to the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, Gordon Arata have a history of establishing important relationships with a broad range of industrial and commercial businesses in Louisiana.
Jones Walker – Jones Walker serves clients in core practice areas in key economic sectors.
King, Krebs & Jurgens, P.L.L.C. – We represent a broad array of clients including small businesses, multinational corporations, publicly traded corporations and government entities.
Liskow & Lewis – Liskow is widely known within and outside the state as one of Louisiana’s largest and most-respected full service law firms.
McGlinchey Stafford – McGlinchey’s Louisiana lawyers can trace their roots back to the founding of Louisiana more than 200 years ago.

Compensation for Legal Positions in Louisiana

The average salary for the most common legal careers in Louisiana varies depending on experience and location. The rates for some of the more prevalent career titles are as follows:
Attorney: $127,048
Paralegal: $54,169
Legal Administrative Assistant: $56,841
Law Clerk: $53,626
Fortunately for aspiring attorneys and paralegals, the state offers a number of lucrative careers in both state and federal municipalities. For example, the Bureau of Justice Statistics lists the annual median pay for federal public defenders in Louisiana at $65,000, and the BLS lists regional compensation for Louisiana litigators at $153,000 . Paralegals and legal administrative assistants also enjoy excellent compensation. Indeed, the salary for paralegals, according to the BLS, is a whopping 36 percent higher than the nationwide average.
A growing legal market translates to better salaries statewide, but job availability differs immensely from one municipality to another. Thus, potential attorneys and paralegals should review all areas, concentrating primarily on areas with a relatively low cost of living.

Tips for Networking and Job Searching

The legal job market in Louisiana is competitive, but there are ways you can enhance the chances of finding legal career opportunities. Perhaps the best place to start is the state’s bar association websites, like the Louisiana State Bar Association, which provide access to legal job postings, networking opportunities, and resources on industry trends. With its large membership base spread across the state, each district bar also offers lawyers valuable networking opportunities that can help with the development and discovery of new legal career opportunities. Another way to explore legal career opportunities is through networking and job fairs hosted by organizations throughout Louisiana. Like the bar associations, universities with law schools provide tips and resources to navigate the job markets in and out of state, while events organized by the Louisiana Association for Justice help members develop a greater understanding of industry changes and the potential impact it could have on legal career opportunities.

How Louisiana Laws Affect Legal Careers

The distinctiveness of Louisiana’s legal system, founded on severely different laws from the other states, profoundly impacts the practice of law in the state and, consequently, the opportunities available to legal professionals. The cornerstone is that Louisiana law derives its authority primarily from the French and Spanish civil law. The state law and personal property laws are based on codifications of laws rather than case law and judicial interpretations. Out of respect for the differing laws, the names of the courts, procedures before the courts, and even the attorneys have their own nomenclatures.
Civil law differs because the primary source of law is legislative enactments, in contrast with the Anglo-American common law system where judicial decisions are the most important sources of law. Essentially, civil law countries enact comprehensive, detailed codes or statutes which include the relevant rules of law. Statutes or codes enacted by legislatures are the "legal code." This differs from the United States’ reliance on judicial opinions as the principal source of law. A major consequence of Louisiana being a civil law state is a lawyers cannot have a single career and must be knowledgeable of the civil law system, the many lawyers’ duties, responsibilities and obligations codified in Louisiana law, and the structure and functions of the various courts.
A comprehensive overview of the Louisiana judicial system can be found on the official website for the Louisiana Supreme Court. An introduction to the structure, authority and court personnel provides an outline for the so-called "cabinet of courthouses" in the state. The scope of the court system is extensive, and the nuances of appellate review and the appellate process is complex. The site has links to the state rules and regulations for argument before the appellate courts and filing documents with the courts.
An overview of the local courts can be found on the Louisiana Secretary of State’s website. The "Court History" section provides a summary of the court systems in Louisiana, information on the judges and their titles, and information on the operation of the courts. The information for each individual court provides numbers for trial court personnel, court contact numbers, and the court mailing address.
The American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility, pursuant to Section 525(e) of Title V of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, recommends the Commission to evaluate lawyers’ education to ensure lawyers understand their ethical obligations. The Louisiana Supreme Court has established the Continuing Legal Education Subcommittee to assist with accreditation of CLE courses in Louisiana. The website for the Subcommittee describes the process, requirements and information for obtaining information and assistance from the Bar.
As a result of Louisiana’s historical legal influences and the civil code derived from Code Napoleon and the Spanish Civil Code, Louisiana’s bar is the only one in the country that does not require a written bar exam.

Upcoming Trends in Legal Jobs in Louisiana

In the wake of the transparency and competitiveness brought about by the Louisiana Supreme Court’s new lawyer discipline system, which is now fully implemented, some of the more traditional areas of legal practice in Louisiana are becoming less lucrative as litigation funds dry up. Corporate tax departments are obtaining tax opinions without going through law firms. More cases are being handled by non-attorneys, either through the reallocation of paralegal time or through the use of in-house counsel for corporate clients.
With this dynamic result, lawyers in law firms will continue to see a decline in hours available for work and, with larger numbers of lawyers competing for less work, attorneys are already seeing downward pressure on rates. Thus, although more firms are creating salary escalators such they do not have to pay summer associates and associates the year-end bonuses, large law firms in Louisiana appear to be continuing to pay almost 40 percent more than other area firms in order to keep their salary scale up.
The industry at large is experiencing a declining demand for legal services. In the medium term (2-5 years), the overall market for legal services will be smaller and more competitive than it has been over the last 10 years. Since that’s the period in which many law firms have added associates at a rapid pace , billing rates are predicted to peak across the country over the next couple of years. It is likely that company legal departments will continue to decrease the number of hours sent outside of the company and that alternative fee arrangements will also grow in number and acceptability. Eventually, the overall lower demand for legal services and increased use of alternative fee arrangements will be likely to cause a rethink of the large, leverage-heavy firm model.
Where does that leave Louisiana-based firms? In the short term, the limited increase in salary and bonuses in "biglaw" firms, combined with the firm attrition expected over the next few years means that it is likely a firm with large financial reserves will be able to hire more associates at the same time that a number of other firms drop associates. Over time, however, it is likely that those firms will not be able to recover sufficient work from abused clients to justify the de facto partnership to associate ratio. Moreover, happy lawyers are productive lawyers. The downward pressure on hours and rates create more dissatisfaction for many lawyers and that dissatisfaction spills over into practice life.