On-campus recruiting for summer associates falls in popularity as law firms ‘jockey for positions’

Residence
Every day Information
On-campus recruiting for summer season associates…

Careers

On-campus recruiting for summer season associates falls in reputation as regulation corporations ‘jockey for positions’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 13, 2025, 12:44 pm CDT

On-campus interviewing by regulation corporations has “firmly tumbled from its place of prominence” within the recruiting of summer season associates, in keeping with a report launched Tuesday by the Nationwide Affiliation for Regulation Placement.

In 2023, on-campus interviewing was the most well-liked recruiting technique for summer season 2024 packages for second-year regulation college students, with 93% of surveyed regulation places of work reporting that they used on-campus interviewing, in keeping with a abstract by the NALP Bulletin. By the following 12 months, direct software turned the most well-liked technique, utilized by 91% of places of work.

In 2024, 56% of provides for summer season 2025 2L packages had been made outdoors a regulation college interview program. Solely 24% got here from on-campus interviews, and solely 20% got here from early interview packages by means of regulation colleges.

Nikia Grey, the chief director of the NALP, commented on the findings in a March 11 press launch.

“We now know from the information,” she mentioned, “that the market is coalescing round direct recruiting and different non-law-school-based recruiting practices as being the popular strategies—or at the least essentially the most needed—to compete for expertise.”

On-campus interviewing, she mentioned, “is taking a secondary and even tertiary function, used solely to prime off or spherical out summer season affiliate courses as wanted.”

The supply timeline has additionally modified. Within the 2023 recruiting cycle, August was nonetheless the most well-liked supply month, accounting for 52% of all provides. In 2024, nonetheless, July was hottest, accounting for 45% of provides; adopted by June, with 30% of provides; and August, with 20% of provides.

The adjustments are taking place “as competing corporations jockey for positions in an more and more tight hiring market,” in keeping with the report.

The report additionally discovered that 97% of 2024 second-year associates obtained provides to turn into associates after commencement. Supply acceptance charges reached an all-time excessive of 90%.

A complete of 549 regulation places of work reported data on their 2024 summer season packages.

Publications masking the report, Views on 2024 Regulation Scholar Recruiting, embrace Regulation.com, Law360 and Reuters.

Write a letter to the editor, share a narrative tip or replace, or report an error.