Summer Associate hiring in Washington remains steady

The summer associate recruitment process is well under way in Washington, where the largest law firms are hiring around the same number of summer associates as last year. The figures are still below pre-recession levels, but steady hiring in the US capital means that these law firms indicates some confidence that the legal market will hold steady for the next couple of years, until these summer associates are ready to take up first-year associate positions. By contrast, hiring at the national level has contracted. Covington & Burling intends to hire between 45 and 55 summer associates for 2012. This year they took on 47 summer associates, down from 54 in 2010, 62 in 2009 and 64 in 2008. Covington’s partner in charge of hiring, Michael Imbroscio, said: “We wanted to be cautious. “We’ve been very fortunate that even in this tough economy, we’ve been able to attract and make offers to virtually everyone we put in the summer program. We’ve been very mindful about overhiring.”

Summer Associate hiring in Washington remains steady washingtonpost.com Tue, Sep 6, 2011