Amidst the Economic Downtown, many lawyers are finding themselves out of work. Although many lucrative positions are no longer available at large law firms, laid off lawyers are finding this as an opportunity to do work they are passionate about.

Dave Dineen is one of these many lawyers out of work these days. After graduating in 2004 from Boston University School of Law, he began his career at the prestigious law Firm Foley Hoag LLP located in Massachusetts. Instead of trying for another corporate job, Dineen instead chose to work for Great Boston Legal Services, an organization which provides free and legal assistance(civil only) to low-income people – a job that pays a quarter of his former salary.

“This gave me a chance to do something different with my legal career, and help out people who generally don’t have access to public service,” said Dineen, whose position now focuses on helping people in foreclosure proceedings.

“There is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity coming out of a difficult situation,” Esther Lardent, president of the Pro Bono Institute in Washington D.C. contends. She is currently involved in creating a project focused a given jobless lawyer in public interest firms.

Over two thousand lawyers have been laid off in 2009 already and that number continues to increase. More than double the amount let go last year. Some first that are struggling to stay afloat as is, have cancelled internship programs affecting many.

This is a breath of fresh air for public interest firms. The state budget cuts and low donation levels may require them to make staff cuts, but with a willing-to-work-for-any-amount pool of overqualified candidates, it is an employer’s market.

Another benefit coming from all the streamlining of previously clunky firms towards maximum efficiency and the creation of web-based firms. Lawyer Ahead Inc, a sleek web based services that connect consumers with a lawyer in both Canada and USA has seen a drastic increase in the number of solo to midsize practitioners sign up.

A partner at Virtual Law, Geoff Willard states, “When you tell people, “I’m going to drop my rates 25%, it is a pretty easy decision for them to hire you.” Likewise, Toronto Lawyer Stephen Offenheim said “Lawyerahead services are highly recommended.  Their services are inexpensive, quality, and an ingenious way to gain exposure.  My Membership has enhanced my client base significantly and I am thoroughly impressed with their services.“

Geoff left his partnership at JLA Piper as he puts it, “[I] was just fed up with the traditional business model that required it to annually increase rates and billable hours to finance ballooning profits and overhead.”

Despite layoffs and an overall decrease in corporate litigation due to cutbacks, there is still hope for lawyers. Virtual Firms and companies like Lawyer Ahead, along with public service are giving lawyers alternatives during the economy downturn by allowing them to either create their own practices and advertise at cheaper rates or contribute to public service.

In the old days, advertising venues for lawyers were limited and expensive. Building clientele meant creating 30-second spots on television or renting billboard space. Thankfully, times have changed. Many lawyers find that publishing articles online is an effective means to grow their business.

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The old saying “The proof is in the pudding” applies and online venues are a great way for attorneys to show off their stuff. By publishing articles online, a lawyer can “show off” by allowing prospective clients and fellow lawyers to sample their work. This is a valuable way to get your name out there and build upon your existing network. One’s expertise is another’s weakness and some find that this can lead to lucrative referrals. Eventually, through enough exposure, clients searching the web for representation may run across your work.

Article archivers are springing up more and more. With a large network of lawyers, JDSupra may be the place to start. Their comprehensive site allows anyone to search documents for free. Registering takes no time at all and then you are ready to start uploading documents. For this, JDSupra has an intricate form, which makes the brief more searchable. Creating a detailed profile is a good idea as well. By sitting down for a couple hours and creating a strong profile.  Likewise Lawyerahead.com and Lawyerahead.ca provides lawyers with some of the best online Marketing tools available today for free.  A couple of other article archiving websites, Scribd and Docstoc are not directed at lawyers and clients, but are definitely worth considering to increase your firm’s exposure and searchability online.

Tagging is an important part of uploading your documents. These tags allow search engines to “see” what your article is about. Use as many tags as possible! The main idea of the document is not the only tag that is important. Remember, the more applicable tags you create, the more terms someone can type in to reach your work.

Starting a blog is another important step. Once you have uploaded articles and documents to an archiver, pasting them into a blog is made easy with the code auto-generated by the archiving site. Once you have a compilation of your work, you have a network that connects to a larger network and makes it easier for clients to find you with search engines.

The big issue is exposure. A thousand people may see a billboard and ten thousand people may view a firm’s television commercial, but millions are online. Opening up to the internet is a guaranteed way to get a firm’s name out there. With proper marketing through articles, blogs and tags, one can increase the traffic volume to their site and grow their business- for free.