Following two months of legal job loss in February and March, April is giving many in the legal field more optimism since 1,500 new legal jobs were added in the US last month, according to the official monthly report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There was also good news in general for employment in the US, which increased by 244,000 jobs in April.  Yet even with more people getting employed, the rate of unemployment went from 8.8 percent to 9 percent in April, because of more unemployed people that were beginning to look for work again.

This is especially good news for everyone in the legal industry, since the losses mentioned above include 300 in March and 2,000 in February.

There are thousands of law students that are ready to graduate this month, and hopefully there will be enough jobs to go around in the current depressed market.

• Employment Rate for Law Graduates Dives to 15 Year Low
• Job Market for New Grads Edges up
• Legal Sector Jobs Edged Upward in January
• American Bar Association to Kill LSAT?
• Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP Announces its New Partner

Martin R. Lueck, Chairman of the firm’s Executive Board, said that Daignault’s expertise will be a big addition to the continuous expansion of the firm’s IP practice in New York. “The addition of Ron to our New York office is a logical step in our evolution. When we opened the office in February 2010 with David Leichtman, Hillel Parness and Bryan Vogel, we did so to capitalize on and enhance our national trial practice. We will continue to expand our client service in New York during 2011 and beyond. More importantly, we have integrated our new lawyers in New York into our nationwide practice, including the relocation of partner Marla Butler to New York.”

David Leichtman, partner in the New York office, added that he, together with the rest of the partners in New York office, is excited to work with Daignault. “We are very pleased to welcome Ron to our firm. His broad trial experience and the breadth of his intellectual property knowledge significantly enhance our national capabilities and in New York, particularly in the life sciences patent litigation field.”

• Winston & Strawn Announces a New Partner at its IP Practice
• April is a Good Month for the Legal Industry with 1,500 New Jobs Added
• Patton Boggs’ Profits and Revenue Show Slight Increase
• Two Former Senators Join Arent Fox
• Former Washington DC Attorney General Joins Covington & Burling

The numbers include lawyers, paralegals, public relations specialists, secretaries and other positions; and reflect layoffs by firms nationwide over the last few months, and the dissolutions of Am Law 100 firms Heller Ehrman, Thelen, and Thacher Proffitt & Wood.

In all, 2.6 million US jobs were lost in 2008, the biggest fall in more than six decades.

But the number of legal services jobs actually increased in December by 1,300.

• Thacher Proffitt Is No More; Fourth Biglaw Collapse This Year
• Lateral Moves Are All the Rage
• Many from Heller, Thelen Remain Jobless
• Taylor Swift Threatening Legal Action Over Alleged Topless Photo
• Workers Laid Off By KEL Law Firm