By JOSH KELLER

Many big law firms are deferring the start dates for their new hires because of the economy, leaving some graduating law students with delays of up to a year or more before they can begin their jobs. In response, some law schools are trying to find new ways to support those students, including offering extended health insurance or new academic programs to ease their bumpy transition into the legal profession.

Starting this fall, the University of California at Los Angeles will offer a one-year master's of law program that seeks to teach recent law graduates the skills they would typically learn in the first year at a law firm. Northwestern University's law school announced this month that it will offer assistance to acquire health insurance to graduating students who need it, and other top law schools are stepping up their student-advising services to help place deferred hires in short-term jobs at public-service legal organizations.

A main goal of the programs, administrators said, is to keep students networking and building practical legal skills even as the market for new graduates stalls.

"You need to be doing something so that when it comes around down the road you don't have a gap," said David E. Van Zandt, dean of Northwestern's law school. The school needs to give students ""opportunities as much as we can to be active in building their career," he said.

The UCLA program, called Transition to Practice, specifically targets recent graduates who are either unemployed or have had their job offers deferred, whether they graduated from the university's law program or another law school. In its first year, the program will take 20 students and train them in negotiating, how to conduct depositions, and other real-world legal skills that new lawyers usually hone outside the university, said Michael H. Schill, the law school's dean.

Students who are waiting a year for their jobs to start "can pick up the skills that will benefit them as if they are in their first year," said Mr. Schill, "so they can go out and get a running start on their careers."

At the University of Chicago, where about 160 students out of a graduating class of 200 typically go on to work at big law firms, the number of graduates with deferrals continues to grow, said Abbie Willard, associate dean for career services and public initiatives. Advisers are sending out monthly tip sheets, helping students delay loan repayment, and meeting with students individually to discuss their options, she said.

The situations of students whose jobs have been delayed vary widely, she said, from waits of a month to more than a year, and from unpaid interims to deferrals with a stipend and health insurance. For students who are forced to wait until late 2009 or 2010, she said, the most important thing is to get real-world training.

"Our sense is that some actual skill building and on-the-job experience will be more valuable to our people than extending their education," Ms. Willard said.

Mr. Van Zandt, at Northwestern, said the difficult job market is forcing law schools to think about their graduating students in a different way. In addition to offering access to health insurance to graduates with delayed job-starting dates, Northwestern announced this month that it would help them find internships with public-service organizations.

"We've lived through an era where it's so easy for the schools," Mr. Van Zandt said, "where it's all students coming out of school getting top jobs, getting $160,000 salaries. . This is a situation that top schools have not really had to face before."