For 2nd Year, Most Summer Associates Land Full-Time Jobs, Surveys Say
Despite anxieties over whether law was a good career choice, surveys show the hiring of summer associates is stabilizing.
American Lawyer’s Summer Hiring Survey and an informal poll of of 21 law firms by Am Law Daily show that 96.5 percent of the summer associates working for large law firms ended up with full-time jobs there. The survey involved 1,361 summer associates, according to Am Law Daily.
The Am Law Daily notes that the “robust offer rate” may be surprising to job candidates because the Summer Hiring Survey found widespread anxiety. “That survey found anxiety among summer associates about their chosen profession hitting a four-year high in 2012 despite signs that law firms are more stable now than they were during the depths of the recession,” Am Law Daily reports.
Firms that reported offer rates at 100 percent, included Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton with 115 summer associates and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr with 91 summer associates.
Van Beckwith, who oversees recruiting at Baker Botts, tells the Am Law Daily that his firm’s 87.2 percent offer rate is on the high side considering a clerkship doesn’t mean an automatic offer.
“We really want to make sure we are getting the highest quality in terms of thinking, writing, and ability to deliver legal services. We try to match up real work assignments for real clients, turn the associates loose and see how they do,” he is quoted saying.
