Arthur Greenburg, Almost 60 Years of Southern California Law

“IN 1952, A LAW SCHOOL GRADUATE could expect to make about $5,000 a year,” says lawyer Arthur Greenburg. And he should know. That’s the year – fresh out of law school – that he began practicing law. Now, better than half-a-century later, beginning lawyers do a lot better, and Greenberg is no longer struggling to pay his rent. And much more than salary has changed for lawyers since the fifties.

According to Greenburg, “The greatest changes in the practice have been with respect to the increase in women lawyers.” There were three women in Greenburg’s class of fifty. “Today, women constitute half or more of law school graduates and the new lawyers hired by law firms.” Not only has the diversity of students changed, but the areas of study have as well. “The advances in technology and innovative business developments [are] requiring lawyers to learn subjects which were not taught in law school decades ago.”

Some things have remained constant, though. For Greenburg, “the practice of law really has not changed since the beginning of my career. I attempted to treat opposing counsel and judges with courtesy and respect and by and large, they have reciprocated. Over the years, most of my relationships with other counsel have been cordial and that continues to the present date. Law firms in 1952 were looking for the best and brightest young lawyers and that has not changed today.”

-- Courtney "Coco" Mault

First published in Southern California Super Lawyers magazine, 2009