The Pandemic Is Putting Law Students’ Futures on Hold
States are canceling bar exams while firms are shortening summer programs, clouding career prospects.
Just weeks ago, Anne Karen Tolbert, a third-year student at the University of Mississippi’s law school, was looking forward to graduating this spring and starting the job she’d lined up. But then the coronavirus pandemic put that opportunity—and her future—on hold.
Now Tolbert is attending online job fairs, worrying about her lack of health insurance, and wondering when she’ll be able to take the Washington, D.C., bar exam, which was supposed to take place in July but was canceled on April 10. A decision about a possible fall exam date is due by May 4. “I’m just trying to see what’s going on with that and figure out, Do I need to move home with my family?” she says. “Do I need to just try to get a temporary or part-time job in between?”