The Legal Job Landscape in Arkansas
The legal job market in Arkansas has evolved significantly in recent years, reflecting national trends while maintaining distinct regional characteristics. The unemployment rate for lawyers in the state is 1.8%, a figure that remains the lowest in the country and indicates a tight labor market for legal professionals. This is a stark contrast to the 3.7% unemployment rate for the overall U.S. population.
The state experiences a high density of private practice firms, many of which are small to medium-sized businesses. In total, there are 18 law schools accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) in the U.S., with three based in Arkansas. Within the state, large firms dominate the landscape with generally around 10-100 attorneys per firm. There are an estimated 384 lawyers per 10,000 jobs, a further breakdown shows that non-solo law firms employ about 46% while solo practitioners make up approximately 54%. The small firm sector is characterized primarily by solo practitioners.
The competition for legal jobs in Arkansas has become increasingly fierce over the past few years, particularly for entry-level positions in larger firms . Smaller firms tend to remain receptive to hiring experienced attorneys, although the market remains selective. The entry-level hiring for larger firms in the state has seen some ups and downs due to variations in annual demand from different firms. However, the overall trend has been somewhat more dynamic compared with other parts of the country, and in 2016, very few larger firms in the major markets experienced declines in hiring compared to the preceding year. For Arkansas, a record number of law school graduates left law school with jobs and this created a subsequent high demand for more seasoned lawyers over the next couple years.
The demand for attorneys with a background on the government side has also recently improved as the outlook for such jobs has changed positively. Several factors have influenced the current landscape, including the increased use of technology, which now allows lawyers to work from home, the reduction in salaries, and finally, the difficult economic climate.
Categories of Legal Employment in Arkansas
Below are some of the most common legal career positions available in the state, with the requisite education and experience for each position as well as the general job description discussed below:
Attorneys – For obvious reasons, attorneys are the most recognized legal career position. Attorneys can work in various fields including corporate law, family law, public interest law, criminal law, litigation, tax law, personal injury law and intellectual property law to name a few. Attorneys are typically required to have a JD from an accredited institution and pass the bar exam in order to practice law in their respective state. In some cases, a specific area of law will require additional LLM coursework, however, most areas of law only require traditional attorney credentials.
Paralegals – Paralegals are below lawyers on the legal career ladder. The major differences between paralegals and attorneys include education levels and the fact that paralegals cannot practice law and are not allowed to handle certain legal responsibilities. While paralegals do not need a law degree, they are usually required to have a paralegal certificate or degree.
Legal Assistants – Legal assistants are the closest legal career position to paralegals without actually being one. Legal assistants assist attorneys and paralegals in various administrative responsibilities.
Legal Secretaries – Like legal assistants, legal secretaries are administrative assistants who provide support to a network of attorneys. Legal secretaries are not as closely related to legal research and advanced legal practices as other legal career positions including paralegals, attorneys and legal assistants.
Court Reporters – Court reporters are responsible for creating transcripts of legal proceedings and other important events. Many court reporters rely on professional transcription technology including stenographs and other advanced tools to capture spoken dialogue and accurately depict the events which take place during a trial or deposition.
Judges – Judges are responsible for overseeing court operations, ensuring justice is fairly administered, and issuing rulings on legal issues. Specific judicial responsibilities and experiences are often dependent on the type of courtroom in which the judge operates.
Legal Analysts – Legal analysts are responsible for evaluating various legal documents and conveying their opinions to those who hired them. Legal analysts are similar to business consultants who work with the corporate sector.
Other legal career positions in Arkansas include legal librarians, compliance officers, contract managers, claims representatives and mediators.
Leading Legal Firms and Employers in Arkansas
Arkansas has over 10,000 lawyers. The capital city of Little Rock has the largest legal community in the state. It is home to several large and regional law firms: Wright Lindsey Jennings, Dover Dixon Horne, and Quattlebaum Grooms & Tull dominate the Little Rock market.
The next largest legal communities are in Northwest AR and Jonesboro. Walmart is the largest employer and largest client in the state; its legal department is located in Bentonville, AR.
Walmart is also the largest employer for IP lawyers in the state. The state’s only patent prosecutions-only law firm, Hopgood & Lee, is located in Fayetteville, AR. Asta CRS is a fast growing mid-sized firm with a niche in IP and robotics law.
The state’s only large general counsel office is at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; the next largest GC offices are at J.B. Hunt Transport Services and Acxiom (then there’s a big drop).
The Arkansas court system requires lawyers to be admitted to the state before they can appear in state court.
Law Schools in Arkansas
A pivotal element in the Arc of the Arkansas Legal Career is obtaining a quality educational experience and Arkansas is home to several law schools.
In Trover Solutions, Inc. v. Ark. Blue Cross & Blue Shield, 76 Ark. App. 341, 344, 63 S.W.3d 168, 170 (2001), the Arkansas Court of Appeals recently, and for the second time in 6 months, weighed in on the duty owed between parties sharing a common interest in litigation. In that case, which involved Arkansas law and not Federal law, the Court noted on 2 occasions that Arkansas has never recognized a common-interest doctrine. 14 years ago it also found no recognized doctrine. So where does that leave us? LGBT rights in the 1970’s? Asking an Arkansas attorney this type question will lead to the same type of snickers and best not to ask. The question is simply ripe for misinterpretation. If the snicker was not a sign to move on to another topic then I do not know what is. So you have been warned.
As if we needed more proof, law schools and legal academia are alive and well here in Arkansas. Good for you Arkansas, you continue to remember what drew people to the study of law in the first place.
Perhaps the most well known law school in Arkansas is the William H. Bowen School of Law (of UALR) located in Little Rock. Named for a late partner of one of the oldest law firms in Arkansas, Friday Eldridge & Clark, the Bowen School is a fully accredited by the American Bar Association. The offerings at the Bowen School feature innovative and relevant programs like the Citizen Lawyer Program, focused on pro bono work. The school also provides clinical experience to its students, enabling them to gain hands-on law practical experience before graduating.
The Bowen School was established in 1975, and today has nearly 700 full-time students. The school has a stellar student-faculty ratio of approximately 18:1, and the average age of the students is around 28. All first-year required classes at the Bowen School, including Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, and Criminal Law, are taught by full-time faculty members, ensuring that law school students get personalized attention from tenured faculty. Bowen’s part-time faculty is made up of practicing Arkansas attorneys who teach at the Bowen School some nights and weekends while still participating and contributing to the community outside the law school.
The Marshall Law School is now the recently renamed School of Law at the University of Arkansas – Little Rock. Located on a compact campus in midtown Little Rock, just north of downtown, the Marshall School of Law has about 700 enrolled students. Though it is officially affiliated with the University of Arkansas, the campus is located just a few blocks from the crowded campus of the rest of U of A – Little Rock, making it easy for students to interact with each other and enjoy everything that the Little Rock area has to offer.
The major advantage to attending law school in Little Rock is that students can complete their studies at 1 of 2 fully accredited Arkansas law schools, but with the convenience of everything the capital city has to offer, including a large array of nightlife, bars, and entertainment options. Marshall Law allows full-time students to attend evening classes, or they can take half-time classes in both the morning and evening.
Other law schools of lesser note include the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law School about 70 miles away in Baton Rouge and Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock, Texas, about 300 miles from Little Rock. While not located in Arkansas, these law schools are in convenient locations for students from our state, and may be good options for students in northern and western Arkansas, especially if they are interested in practicing in Missouri or Texas after they graduate.
Legal Career Education in Arkansas
Navigating the Job Search for Legal Positions-Effective strategies for Searching, Finding and Choosing the Right Legal Job in Arkansas
Like the rest of the nation, Arkansas has a highly competitive legal market. Job seekers need to be in the know when it comes to how to conduct a successful job search.
Take Advantage of Networking Opportunities
There are dozens of networking opportunities in Arkansas—utilize the ones that exist in your area. The Arkansas Bar Association hosts a number of networking events throughout the year. It also publishes an online membership directory where you can look up your peers by area of expertise and contact them. Find an excuse to attend one of these events as often as possible, whether it’s a social event or a seminar. It’s also important to be proactive in networking with attorneys not in your specific genre. For example, let’s say you’re a defendant attorney. You need to network with plaintiff attorneys and vice versa. Sure, you may be competitors, but at the end of the day, you’re still attorneys and you need one another to stay abreast of the laws. If you’re looking for a job outside of the national area, your website matters. Make sure the information on your website is current and up-to-date. Make sure you have your full resume available there. You want it to be easy to find you. Think about paying for a profile on the ABA website . It allows potential employers to search for you and pay for more control over your privacy. And don’t forget the most important and often the most overlooked networking opportunity—your own large network of friends. They come into contact with attorneys all day long. They know who is hiring, when they’re hiring and what they’re hiring for. It’s a simple matter of asking. It’s a matter of volume; you want to have as many people as possible contacting you with new positions. If you have volume, you can be selective about the positions you apply for.
Review the Arkansas Bar Associations Job Openings
The Arkansas Bar Association has a Job Bank on its website that is open to the public whether you’re a member or not. They post a number of job openings for a number of positions with different employers. It’s one of the best resources available to find a position, but even though the association’s site is open to the public, you have to submit your resume and pay for a profile.
Resume Preparation
Most job seekers will pay someone to help them prepare their resume and in this day and age, it makes sense to do so. A professional resume writer can come up with a resume that reflects your skills based on how it looks, how you can structure it and the information you choose to highlight. Most attorneys aren’t especially adept at creating a professional-looking resume and they tend to come off as amateurish.
Job Searching for Legal Roles in Arkansas
The salaries for legal professionals in Arkansas vary considerably, commensurate with their national counterparts. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for Lawyers and Judicial Law Clerks is $107,470 which is on the higher end of the range for legal professionals. Pay in the state ranges from $54,500 to $162,430 per year, depending on industry and experience. According to the NALP 2018 Associate Salary Survey graduates of the public law schools in Arkansas can expect to earn entry-level salaries ranging from $47,000 to $50,000 with a mean salary of $48,250. When compared with national entry-level salaries averages in which public law school graduates earn between $60,000 and $62,000, Arkansas entry-level salaries seem low.
Legal Assistants and Paralegals in Arkansas earn a median salary of about $45,850 depending on their years of experience and location within Arkansas. This is somewhat lower than the national median annual salary for legal assistants and paralegals that is listed at $53,910.
While many legal professionals work in traditional settings such as large and small law firms and corporations, legal professionals who work for the government generally earn lower salaries as do those who work for non-profit organizations. Nonetheless, they continue to earn above the average wage, at salaries that typically exceed $77,000. Paralegals working for federal government agencies generally earn around $77,000 and the mean salary for lawyers who work for the government is nearly $103,000.
Compensation and Benefits in Legal Careers in Arkansas
The future looks bright for legal professionals in Arkansas as the economy continues to rebound and the demand for expert legal services in the region grows. In recent years, the State of Arkansas has witnessed a stable increase in both population and business development, benefitting the legal industry across the state. Job opportunities are expected to expand in the coming years according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and professional job prospects are especially favorable in southern and central Arkansas. As the state’s economy continues to improve, the demand for legal services is evolving in response to the expansion of specialized industries and a trend toward increased efficiency in the legal profession. While large law firms in urban areas such as Little Rock have historically been in high demand, opportunities also continue to grow in small and mid-sized law firms, as well as in-house roles at corporations in the state. Additionally, the need for lawyers in Arkansas’ public sector, including government agencies and nonprofit organizations, remains an avenue worth considering for legal professionals seeking various opportunities . Further, the state’s large number of government offices such as the 4th Division Circuit and 11th Judicial Circuit present legal professionals with a unique opportunity to positively impact their community and the citizenry through rewarding work in the judicial system and across multiple counties. In addition, state and local governmental agencies offer professional opportunities across a wide range of fields and specialties, including those in administration, technology, health, and public relations. Likewise, attorneys with expertise in labor and employment law, personal injury practice, bankruptcy law, and intellectual property are especially sought after by top employers in the state. Future career prospects for legal professionals are promising in Arkansas, and the state has become a focal point for pro bono opportunities for legal professionals who wish to give back and affect change in their communities. Further, the growth of the state’s numerous nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations bring further opportunities for legal employment, as well as opportunities to work alongside some of the finest lawyers in the area.