Fierce Competition for Law Students
Competition for summer associateships and graduate employment offers has become incredibly fierce, as firms slash their offer rates. According to a new report by the National Association for Law Placement (‘NALP’), • The median number of offers by US law firms for 2010 summer associate positions was seven, down from 10 offers in 2008 and 15 offers in 2007; • Offer rates to students who had completed a summer program in 2009 fell from 90 per cent in 2008 to 69 per cent last year – the lowest offer rate since NALP began tracking those data in 1993; • For those students who were unable to secure a summer associateship, prospects were even worse, only ten of 300 firms surveyed making offers to graduates outside of their associateship program. NALP Executive Director Jim Leipold offered a somewhat hesitant and qualified optimism when he said: "I don't think anyone expects recruiting volumes to pick up significantly during 2010, though the worst does seem, we hope, to be behind us."
Fierce Competition for Law Students