Such cuts set a bleak backdrop for young associate lawyers lacking experience.
Amanda Nordstrom, a third-year law student at Rutgers School of Law in Camden, said she would work as a clerk for Superior Court Judge Louise Donaldson in Camden after graduation. But it's only a one-year position.
"I'm worried about finding a job afterwards," said Nordstrom, 26, of Mount Ephraim. "I don't know if the economy is going to rebound."
"I think people are panicked and are really shutting down," Nordstrom said. "A lot of graduates who thought they were set with a firm job feel like the rug has been pulled out from under them, because the job has either been rescinded or deferred."
She said some third-year students were scrambling for temporary jobs to help pay back their loans.
Sitting on loans
"I've talked to people who are thinking about taking part-time jobs at coffee shops just to pay their loans," Nordstrom said. "I even spoke with one person who was thinking about baby-sitting to pay back her loans."
Jonathan Ursprung, 25, about to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, said students were "more anxious" as they tried to enter the job market.
His position at a Boston firm was supposed to start in September but has been deferred until January.
"I know a lot of students are worried about what to do during the deferral period. There is a grace period on some of our loans, but it's still frightening," said Ursprung, who declined to give the amount of his student debt.
Last year, according to career planning advisers at local law schools, deferrals were rare or nonexistent. This year, deferrals are routine. Law schools have no firm numbers on graduating third-year students who have obtained jobs. Those figures will not be available until next year.
