Good news for beleaguered law students: it appears that law firm hiring is really picking up. In fact, it's almost back to where it was right before everything came crashing down.

The Wall Street Journal reports on new survey figures today showing that "92% of law students who worked as summer associates last year received job offers," up from only 69% in 2009, during the depths of the recession. The figure now is almost exactly where it stood in 2007, the year that will be remembered by law school students at "The Last Year When It Seemed Like It Would Be a Good Idea to Go to Law School, Prior to This Year."

Americans are also back to accumulating debt at 2007 levels. Not that that should be a deciding factor for you, either way. Don't be left behind!

To review: the job market for law school grads now stands precisely where it stood the year before the global economy crashed, bringing the law profession down with it, and causing an uncountable number of newly unemployable debt-ridden law school graduates to write in to our "Unemployment Stories" series. One way to look at this is, "it's a great time to go to law school once again." Another way to look at it is, "if recent history is any predictor, going to law school now will ensure that you graduate just when the next recession hits."

Issuing predictions about the future of the economy is a fool's errand. What we can say for sure: even if things go well in the legal job market, the only prize is that you have to work as a lawyer. Something to think about.

[Photo: Flickr]