<p>"Contract LAwyers are the lowest of the low: piddling grads from T3 and T4 schools."</p>
<p>First, I think that your characterization of contract lawyers as the "lowest of the low" is a bit dramatic and goes too far. Second, it's not just T3 and T4 attorneys who are doing contract work. The reality is that if you come out of T1 or T2 law school with student loans to pay off (as many do), and if your large, prestigious law firm lays you off because the economy is not so hot and you can't get a job because all of the other law firms are laying off attorneys rather than hiring them, you, too, may end up doing contract work. It's not glamorous, but it's a living. Contract lawyers may still make a lot more money than people in many other industries make (often depends on the situation -- for example, whether that contract attorney was a direct hire by the law firm (not typical) or went through an agency that takes a cut). I think that the most difficult thing for these contract lawyers is that they are not gaining much substantive experience, so getting off of the treadmill of doing contract work can be incredibly difficult.</p>