How law firms compete for fewer students in on-campus interviews
Competition among law firms is heating up as they chase fewer students in on-campus interviews.
Law school enrollment dropped from 52,488 in 2010-2011 to 37,058 in 2015-2016, Law.com (sub. req.) reports. Meanwhile, law schools are seeing the same or slightly more law firms participating in on-campus interviews, Law.com reports in a related story.
At Cornell Law School, the number of law firms participating in interviews increased by about 25 percent. At Harvard Law School, about 500 law firms are interviewing. In the Northeast overall, 41 percent of law schools are seeing an increase in on-campus recruiting.
As a result of the competition, law firms are trying different ways to attract top-quality associates. Law.com takes a look at some of their approaches.
Law firms are extending job offers to summer associates before on-campus interviews begin, and the trend may have increased this year, career services deans tell Law.com.
Kirkland & Ellis plans to increase student interviews by 25 percent so it can consider more diverse candidates. Toward that end, the law firm has added “full schedules,” in which 20 to 25 candidates are interviewed in a day, to recruitment at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, University of California at Berkley School of Law and Stanford Law School.
Kirkland plans to hire the same number of summer associates for 2017 as it hired this year, except in Houston, where it plans to bump up hiring.
Day Pitney will also be interviewing more students, and it is recruiting at higher-tier law schools this year.
Mintz Levin, on the other hand, isn’t conducting more interviews, but it is hosting receptions for 1Ls at its offices around the country.
Some law firms have learned that some strategies are ineffective. Mintz Levin, for example, used to extend job offers immediately after interviews to show their strong interest. But the students simply waited longer to accept while they explored job possibilities with other firms.
