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 law.com Thu, Mar 4, 2010