A career in jurisprudence. The employers’ opinions on the education of young specialists

The FutureToday company in association with the Secret of the Firm magazine (Kommersant Publishing House) conducted a study of the employers’ expectations from the young specialists in the sphere of jurisprudence in July of 2013. The study resulted in the rating of universities of law and in an article in the Secret of the Firm magazine.

138 companies from the rating of the most wanted employers according to the study performed yearly by FutureToday and the Pravo.RU rating of legal firms. The Law Firm "YUST" was among the respondents.

28 companies that took part in the survey provided detailed information for analysis, 18 law firms and 10 non-law companies among them.

There are a total of 1168 lawyers working in the respondent companies. 943 of them are employees of law firms and 225 - of non-law companies.

There are a total of 203 lawyers at starting positions in those companies, 175 of them are employees of law firms and 28 - of non-law companies.

Meanwhile, only 12 law firms made it to the top 100 of the most wanted employers by the students and graduates of universities of law (annual survey by FutureToday “The most wanted employers rating of 2013”).

This reflects the tendency common to all students – they strive to get employment at the most widely known companies, while specialized law firms are known to few.

THE EMPLOYERS SPEAK

Partners of the Law Firm "YUST" Evgeny Zhilin and Anna Kotova-Smolenskaya answered the surveyors’ questions:

On the education of the young specialists.

“We cannot remember a single case, when we asked for the aspirant’s diploma to check the grades. Usually the interview with the candidate gives all the required information. When we interview, we understand just how deep this young specialist is immersed in the future profession. The results are quite indicative. The knowledge received during studies and retained is the indicator of the quality of the candidate’s learning capability. It is a formality, on one hand; on the other hand – it is astounding to watch as the interviewed demonstrates the absence of the knowledge, without which the defense of the diploma paper that he wrote is impossible. Unfortunately, this happens”.

On combining work and study

“The students often request to hire them or to recruit them as trainees, without the connection to their student’s duty of work practice. We are always responsive to such request and, as the experience shows, are satisfied by such cooperation. People remain in the company as employees, and what may be called “stars of jurisprudence” appear thanks to the guidance of Partners and senior colleagues”.