Empirical Legal Studies

Does personality motivate job choice among lawyers and law students?

My thanks to Sara Benesh for her kind introduction and for allowing me to guest edit this post.

The government has been preparing itself for the retirement of baby boomers (the “quiet crisis”)--including legions of lawyers.  In 2007, Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that, among other things, facilitates loan forgiveness to attract employees who have made 120 monthly payments on student loans while employed in public service.  Is the financial incentive enough to lure lawyers and law students to public service?

Beyond financial incentives, a coauthor and I have been interested in the impact of public service motivation--an intrinsic, measurable personality characteristic--on job choice.  Our articles are based on quantitative analysis of multiple data sets: (Article 1) primary data we collected from first year law students and (Article 2) analysis of secondary data “National Survey of Career Satisfaction” from the American Bar Association.  ELS readers might be particularly interested in the policy capturing design used in the first article.

Very briefly, we find that, among lawyers, public service motivation positively predicts whether one's second job is in the public sector (school debt is probably the guiding factor right out of law school). Among law students, we find that public service motivation is actually a better predictor of job-fit than sector-fit. In other words, regardless of which sector a student plans to enter, students with stronger public service motivation are more likely to accept jobs that emphasize service to others.

For government recruiters, the task ahead seems to be one of attracting applicants using service-oriented work, rather than financial perks like loan forgiveness. 

 

Guest Blogger, Robert Christensen

I am pleased to introduce Robert Christensen, assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the University of Georgia, as a guest blogger this week.  Most of Prof Christensen's work is on the relationship between courts and public agencies and on the impact of anti- and pro-social attitudes/actions on public and nonprofit work groups and organizations. His newest work, which he'll be blogging about, considers a personality characteristic -- "public service motivation" -- and its influence on the job choices of lawyers.  I think our readers will find it really interesting, and we welcome your comments and reactions to it.  Welcome, Rob!

Sociology, Social Science & The Wal-Mart Litigation

Whether the American Sociological Association (ASA) "missed an opportunity to advance sound scientific methods and opinions in litigation when it failed to scrutinize the content of, and method behind, Dr. Bielby’s case-specific claims in the Wal-Mart case" is a contested proposition. Rather than pick a side, I instead urge interested readers to assess the two recent and competing papers. Gregory Mitchell (UVa) et al.'s paper criticizing the ASA is found here; Laura Beth Nielson (Northwestern) et al.'s rebuttal paper here. Comments welcome.

Sharing Lessons Learned

Over at Concurring Opinions, Jessica Erickson (Richmond) is trying to launch a discussion (here) for "Empirical Newbies" (her words) contemplating empirical projects. Her helpful tips might have particular traction for those on the tenure-track.

Helpful Online Stats Resources

Once folks finish spring semester grading, those with time and interest might want to explore UCLA's wonderfully rich online treasure-trove of helpful, practical stats resources (here), which include classes, seminars, etc. (here). Not only are the resources organized topically, but but specific statistical packages as well.

A String of Hires at USC Law

Although the ELS Blog typically refrains from noting individual personnel moves, a recent string of hires by Dean Bob Rasmussen at USC Law warrants note insofar as it involves leading ELS scholars. USC just announced hiring Lee Epstein and Nancy Staudt away from Northwestern (here and here, respectively). Epstein's hire is especially interesting as it complements USC Law's earlier hire of Mathew McCubbins, a leading positive political theorist. As Brian Leiter notes, these hires substantially bolster USC's presence in the law and politics field.