As law firms ‘jockey’ for positions, on-campus recruitment for summer associates is declining in popularity.
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On-campus recruiting for summer associates falls in popularity as law firms ‘jockey for positions’
March 13, 2025, 12:44 pm CDT
On-campus interviewing by law firms has “firmly tumbled from its place of prominence” in the recruiting of summer associates, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association for Law Placement. Image from Shutterstock.
On-campus interviewing by law firms has “firmly tumbled from its place of prominence” in the recruiting of summer associates, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association for Law Placement.
In 2023, on-campus interviewing was the most popular recruiting method for summer 2024 programs for second-year law students, with 93% of surveyed law offices reporting that they used on-campus interviewing, according to a summary by the NALP Bulletin. In 2024, only 24% of summer 2025 2L offers came from on-campus interviews, and only 20% came from early interview programs through law schools. Only 24% came from on-campus interviews, and only 20% came from early interview programs through law schools.
Nikia Gray, the executive director of the NALP, commented on the findings in a March 11 press release.
“We now know from the data,” she said, “that the market is coalescing around direct recruiting and other non-law-school-based recruiting practices as being the preferred methods–or at least the most necessary–to compete for talent.”
On-campus interviewing, she said, “is taking a secondary or even tertiary role, used only to top off or round out summer associate classes as needed.”
The offer timeline has also changed. In the 2023 cycle, August accounted for 52% of offers. The report found that 97% (2024) second-year associates were offered positions as associates following graduation. Offer acceptance rates reached an all-time high of 90%.
A total of 549 law offices reported information on their 2024 summer programs.
Publications covering the report, Perspectives on 2024 Law Student Recruiting, include Law.com, Law360 and Reuters.
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