IP is already a hot area of law, set to soon get even hotter, as technology attempts to cool down the human impact on global warming. IP Law & Business reports that companies developing clean technologies are seeing a huge number of investors before they even reach the product stage, and lawyers are standing by; but not for typical patent application filings. Instead, the demand is for IP strategic counseling and comprehensive IP due diligence work. Experts in technology transfer and licensing are highly desired because of the number of technologies being developed at research institutes and universities. Patent lawyers are helping to vet and negotiate financing deals, explaining the technology and scope of the license to potential investors. And once products are marketed, it's anticipated that litigation will follow as the green start-ups battle to protect their patent rights. But not just any firm can jump into the boom. "Alternative energy spans numerous technologies and industries," says Craig Opperman, who has a clean-tech practice at the Palo Alto, California, office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. "And there are only a few firms that can offer these clients a full package."

A pressure, deadline, and competition-based environment; the high-achieving, perfectionist personality attracted to the profession; the responsibility and fear of stigma or appearance of weakness—all contribute to the fact that lawyers are more likely to be diagnosed with depression than individuals in any other occupation—3.6 times the norm—reports the Boston Globe. When it was founded 30 years ago, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers mostly helped law professionals address substance-abuse problems, often channeling people to Alcoholics Anonymous. But as times have changed, so have the mental stresses of the profession, and LCL has adapted its focus to encourage lawyers to seek help for personal issues as well as substance abuse. Depression and anxiety often begin with the competition of law school, then continue when the high debt incurred in school can force graduates into jobs with long hours and little personal time—perhaps a reason that 26 percent of those lawyers who sought counseling in 2005 reported anxiety and depression, with 21 percent seeking counseling because of drug or alcohol abuse problems. Solo practitioners and small-firm lawyers can be particularly vulnerable to mental stress because they have fewer peer confidants. Many lawyers are reluctant to reveal signs of weakness, something that can prevent even those with built-in peer networks from confiding in each other. Groups like LCL reinforce the larger truth that seeking help is in fact a sign of strength, not weakness.

The business of naming the best is booming, reports the National Law Journal, leaving many law firms slugging through surveys, struggling to determine which of the over 200 yearly opportunities are worthwhile, and sometimes stretching their marketing departments thin in the process. A positive ranking or naming of "Top" or "Best" can boost a firm's image, provide status in a specialized category, or help differentiate look-alike firms. But the process to apply or be considered often can be time-consuming and require effort from not just the marketing department, but human resources, finance, and even the lawyers themselves. As rankings, directories, and "league-table" publications proliferate, and the time-consuming surveys involved multiply, law firms have begun to hire external consultants or in-house marketing professionals, or are at least educating their current marketing teams in the booming business of being named.

Law.com reports that the 2007 Annual Compensation Survey for Paralegals/ Legal Assistants and Managers, conducted by Altman Weil Publications, Inc., in partnership with the International Paralegal Management Association, found that $53,500 was the median salary for paralegals, with the inclusion of bonuses and overtime making that number $59,973 nationally, a very solid increase of 9 percent from 2006. James Wilber of Altman Weil cites the "growth and increasing sophistication of the para-legal profession" as reasons that "legal organizations that want to attract and retain talented paralegals must compensate them competitively." Specialists are up 6.5 percent from 2006, with the median paralegal specialist position receiving a total cash compensation of $84,000. The survey reports that paralegals in law firms are earning 9.5 percent more than those in law departments. Yet that figure does not reflect how top wage earners fare in each setting. Within law firms, paralegals in an IP, patent, and/or trademark practice are earning the most—with a median cash compensation of $69,675; whereas in law departments, the highest earners are in corporate practice, bringing in $70,098.

Mandatory retirement no more? Maybe not, reports the American Lawyer. Some firms are finding that the reasons to force out seniors are simply no longer compelling enough to retain fixed retirement age policies, especially as the American Bar Association reports that the median age for lawyers was 45 in 2000, up considerably from 1980, when the median age was 39. Some argue strict economics--that in order for the younger generations to grow into leadership positions and make more money, the older lawyers, who've had their chance, have got to go. Others debate that reasoning, arguing that if a firm continues to grow, there should be plenty of revenue for all—and that an arbitrary age for retirement doesn't necessarily eliminate the lowest-performing people. Some firms are now tailoring their retirement age policies to an approach that's more case by case, hoping that by allowing senior lawyers to set their own retirement dates, client transitions will be made more smoothly. And older lawyers who want to remain professionally active but have been forced out of their firms for reaching a certain birthday are finding themselves heavily courted by other firms who desire their experience and thick Rolodexes. As we all live longer, does 65 sound old to anyone anymore?

New York Lawyer has found that lawyers weary of billing their time might find happiness in a new trend away from firms and toward (usually) lower-paying corporations, which offer better schedules and more flexibility; in other words, the choice of quality of life over monetary reward. Corporations are seeing more applicants for any open position and report having more and more highly qualified candidates to choose from as word spreads about the benefits of their businesses. In-house counsel converts report pride in their corporations and products and/or mission and a satisfaction in always being part of the same team rather than going from client to client, which can involve extensive time and travel. So while the salaries may be lower, some lawyers are finding that alternative benefits can more than compensate for the lesser income.

Although those impressive, recently boosted law firm starting salaries of $160,000 aren't false, they are rare, and reserved mostly for firms with 500 lawyers or more—not the first job for the vast majority of law school graduates. But, as the National Law Journal reports, the jaw-dropping salaries are so widely publicized that some law students are leaving school with high, high hopes and empty, empty pockets that will not be as quickly refilled as they may think. While 90.7 percent of last year's graduates were employed within nine months, 80 percent of them were working for firms with fewer than 100 lawyers and the majority of graduates end up at firms with 10 lawyers or less. Taking into consideration location, most lawyers in private practice can expect to earn a less eye-popping but still quite respectable salary of between $40,000 and $45,000 their first year.