RMN'S Blog
Recession Proof Practice Areas
While some law practice areas move with the ebb and flow of economic and industry trends, certain practice areas remain consistent in good times and during recessions. After all, it is smart to be prepared for the future rather than trying to stop it. Consider entering into one of these practice areas:
Labor and Employment
When the economy is booming, people are being hired and promoted. When an economy is ailing, business downsize, and employment related lawsuits increase (particularly when unemployed workers facing financial ruin and have little to lose when pursuing litigation). This means that labor and employment attorneys are always needed—domestically and abroad. Shifts in regulatory and technological environments have caused attorneys to predict that labor and employment related litigation will continue to swell, and remain a significant practice area in good and rough times.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is an organization’s most valuable asset. Our STEM focused society and world will result in increased developments in science and technology, which means that there is a need for lawyers with specialized backgrounds in these areas to help protect the intellectual capital of businesses, authors, inventors, musicians and other owners of creative works. In today’s competitive landscape, demand for intellectual property lawyers is growing. As long as invention and innovation exist, intellectual property lawyers, paralegals, and other professionals will be needed to procure the rights to new ideas and protect the ownership of existing creations. Even when other law practices are affected by a recession, intellectual property law continues to thrive.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy has been a growing practice areas in the legal industry. Consumers and companies have been relying on debt; combined with a shaky economy, escalating medical costs, and record foreclosures, and we have a strong, recession-proof practice area. Business now seek legal help in restructuring their assets. As bankruptcy work continues to explode, attorneys, paralegals and other legal professionals with bankruptcy knowledge will be highly sought after.
E-Discovery Practice
As more data is stored electronically, corporations are challenged with the task of wading through a growing sea of information and locating what is relevant to a lawsuit. As the costs of e-discovery escalate, corporations are under increasing pressure to comply with new e- discovery rules and judges are less tolerant of discovery abuses. This means that the e-discovery industry is forecasted to grow tremendously in the next few years and legal professionals with technical knowledge and skills will be at the forefront of this new and lucrative legal niche.
Civil Litigation
Lawsuits tend to mean an argument before a judge and jury. This is true in good and tough times. In today’s competitive world, individuals and organizations are more likely to resort to the legal system to recoup financial losses or to use litigation as a cash flow tool to avoid paying money owed—and this becomes especially true during tough economic times. The recent uptick in litigation of all types is driving demand for legal professionals who can represent clients in areas such as complex civil litigation, commercial litigation, insurance defense, class actions, labor and employment, personal injury lawsuits and regulatory actions.
