In-House Counsel Refuse to Pay for First-Year Associates' Work

The Wall Street Journal blog reported today on a growing trend among in-house legal departments: they are flat out refusing to pay for work performed by first-and second-year associates.  The big question is: how will the law firms and law schools respond?  Some firms have already launched apprenticeship programs for their new attorneys. And some law schools are beefing up experiential learning opportunities for their students.  It seems very clear that clients facing economic pressures are only going to become more demanding and sensitive about the bottom line in the future, and the legal market -- both firms and schools -- will have to find a way to respond fairly quickly.