JD Journal » summer associate programs

NALP Reports Better Employment Outlook for Recent Law Graduates

aostler — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:09:42 +0000

There is good news for recent law graduates. According to the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), the rate of summer associates that received offers increased to 87% in 2010, from a historic low of 69% in 2009. The increase of 18% is much closer to what the offer rates were in 2008, which was 90%.

Having more job offers available has made law graduates a little bit pickier. For permanent job offers, acceptance rates dropped a little bit, going down to 82% in 2010 from 85% in 2009. Also, the median number of summer offers for 2Ls that firms put out went up a little bit, from seven to nine. Despite all of this, the summer programs overall size dropped a little bit more, with a median class size of four, instead of about six, which it had stayed close to for almost 10 years. 3Ls were also still not in high demand by law offices, as only 15% of them said that they interviewed them, and of those only 40% were given job offers.

There is no need to worry about these smaller class sizes and low demand for 3Ls, as there is more good news. According to the survey taken by NALP, in 2011, most law firm officers that didn’t have a summer program in 2010 are planning on adding one this year, which is good news for both law students and recent graduates.

Skadden Arps To Cut Summer Program Invitations In Half

todd — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:17:45 +0000

Prominent New York based firm Skadden Arps sent out offers to potential candidates for their 2010 summer program. The firm, which boasts over 2,000 lawyers, announced in August that there would be massive cuts to their summer hiring. They hired 225 students for this summer’s program and they plan to hire less than half of that for the summer of 2010.

It is up in the air as to how the rates for summer participants will compare to previous years.

Skadden Slashing 2010 Summer Class Size by Half

Erik Even — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:15:54 +0000

Skadden will hold its Summer associates program in 2010, but with less than half as many associates than in 2009.

The firm had 225 summers this year, but will only have about 100 in 2010. No 2010 offers will be rescinded — if more than 100 associates accept their offers, they all will participate.

As for the 2009 Summer class, whose start dates were deferred to 2011 in May, Skadden will offer jobs to 95%.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, founded in 1948, is a prominent law firm based in New York City. With over 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. Forbes magazine called Skadden “Wall Street’s most powerful law firm.”

Dorsey & Whitney Cancels Most 2010 Summer Programs

Erik Even — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:55:27 +0000

Dorsey & Whitney, which in June laid off 55 staff members and cut associate salaries, has canceled its 2010 Summer Associate programs, except at the firm’s Minneapolis, Minnesota headquarters.

The firm claims the cancellations are not to save money.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP is a large law firm, with close to 700 lawyers and 850 staff, located in 19 offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

DLA Piper Defers its Deferred Associates

Erik Even — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:10:38 +0000

DLA Piper is making major changes to its associate program, including further deferrals of associates who were deferred back in April.

Eighty-five new lawyers were deferred to January, 2010. Now half of those will be further deferred to Fall 2010, and take public interest jobs in the interim.

This year’s incoming class is 15% smaller than last year; and only 65 summer associates were brought in for 2009.

DLA Piper is also working on a new compensation system for associates that abandons the tradition lock-step model and pays based on merit. The firm will also give more work to staff attorneys.

DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world, with more than 3,700 lawyers in North America and Europe.

Harvard Law Reduces Summer Job Requirement

Erik Even — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:20:52 +0000

Most students receiving financial aid from Harvard Law School are required to work for 10 weeks over the summer, the traditional length of a major law firm summer program. But this year, many students have seen their summer jobs reduced, or cut entirely, by law firms.

Initially, the school said these students would still need to complete these work weeks, or risk losing their financial aid; although students who could not find work could appeal at the end of the summer.

But now the school has officially reduced the period of required work to eight weeks. The school initially resisted, unsure it could afford the change.

But after learning how many students were impacted by summer job reductions, Harvard Law reduced the requirement.

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the United States’ oldest law school in continuous operation. It is home to the largest academic law library in the world. HLS is typically ranked in the top three law schools in the nation, and is currently listed as the second best law school in the United States by US News and World Report, behind only Yale Law School.

New York Law Firms Slash Summer Classes

Erik Even — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:46:33 +0000

The New York Law Journal has published its annual survey of summer class sizes at New York Biglaw firms.

Latham & Watkins had the largest cut in class size, of 68%. The firm has 26 summer associates this year, down from 80 in 2008.

Here are the top five New York firms in terms of summer associate class size decrease:

Latham & Watkins: -68% to 26
Shearman & Sterling: -60% to 53
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson: -54% to 32
Jones Day: -49% to 25
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett: -49% to 57

Morris Manning Cancels 2010 Summer Associate Program

Erik Even — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:17:06 +0000

First, Manhattan’s Skadden announced that 2009 Summer Associate Program 3Ls, if they are offered jobs, will not begin until 2011.

Now Atlanta’s Morris Manning has said they will not have a 2010 Summer Associate Program at all.

From the memo:

This decision was made because we don’t know when the economy will pick up, we feel that our first obligation should be to making sure that our existing lawyers are productive rather than committing to bring in a whole class of additional associates, and we believe that when and as we need to hire additional lawyers there are very likely to be a lot of well-qualified experienced lawyers available as well as well-qualified third year law students, since so many firms have contracted significantly and reduced or eliminated their summer programs.

This is incredibly bad news for anyone currently in law school, or thinking about law school. For the foreseeable future, law grads will have to compete for jobs directly against legions of more experienced, unemployed lawyers.

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, is 175-lawyer firm with offices in Atlanta, Alpharetta, Duluth and Savannah, Georgia; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Washington DC; Beijing and Taipei.

Skadden Warns Summers: You Will Be Deferred to 2011

Erik Even — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:13:27 +0000

The 2009 Summer Associate Program at Skadden has begun. And the 3Ls have been warned that, if they get an offer to join Skadden, they won’t be starting in 2010 — they will be deferred to 2011.

There are no further details on 2011 deferrals, as those decisions, such as precise start dates and stipends, have most likely not been made, and will not be for some time.

Do you have any additional details? Send us a confidential tip!

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert Asks Trainees to Defer, Offers Whopping £2,500

Erik Even — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:53:19 +0000

London’s Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, which recently opened a fifth office in Manchester, has asked half of its September 2009 incoming trainee class to delay joining the firm for six months, in return for a no-strings-attached cash payment of £2,500 ($3,800).

The firm is also cutting the size of its summer program.

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert LLP is a leading international legal practice specializing in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, as well as insurance and reinsurance. It has offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, with its principal office in London.

Schulte Roth & Zabel Lays Off 20 Lawyers; Defers Start Dates

Erik Even — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:50:31 +0000

Late last year, New York City’s Schulte Roth & Zabel laid off 30 lawyers.

This week the firm asked 20 attorneys to update their CVs. The layoffs affected the corporate, real estate, and litigation practices.

Those asked to leave have been given two months notice, and will get outplacement assistance.

The firm has also shortened its 2009 summer program to 8 weeks, and has deferred start dates for incoming associates to January, 2010. There is a $20,000 stipend, and some associates will be offered a public interest deferral that pays $75,000.

Schulte Roth & Zabel is one of the top 100 largest law firms by revenue. The firm was founded in New York City in 1969 and launched in London in 2002. The firm also has an office in Washington, DC. Schulte employs nearly 450 attorneys in its three offices.

Buchanan Ingersoll Defers Start Dates

Erik Even — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:35:06 +0000

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney has announced that start dates for first-year associates will be deferred from September 2009 to February 2010. There will be an undisclosed deferral stipend.

The firm will also cut its 2009 summer associate program by three weeks. There will be 10 summer associates firmwide in the now seven-week program, compared to 23 last year.

Nine first-year associates will start in February, compared to 25 last year.

Deferred associates need not find public-interest fellowships.

In February, Buchanan Ingersoll cut staff and froze salaries.

Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC is a large US law firm and lobbying group based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The firm has over 500 lawyers in sixteen offices nationwide, and was ranked 82nd on the National Law Journal’s 2008 list of the 250 largest law firms in the United States.

Attorneys Disappear from Troutman Sanders Website

Erik Even — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:35:04 +0000

In March, Atlanta’s Troutman Sanders said layoffs were likely. Now legal industry news sites have noticed that 28 names have mysteriously disappeared from the firm’s roster of attorneys on its web site.

The firm refuses to confirm a specific number of lawyers who have left the firm, and will not give circumstances behind why lawyers have left.

The firm offered a voluntary buyout package last month.

Troutman has pushed incoming associates to January 2010, and cut two weeks off its 2009 summer associate program.

The firm, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, has offices in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, Newark, Norfolk, Orange County, Raleigh, Richmond, San Diego, Shanghai, Tyson’s Corner, Virginia Beach and Washington, DC.

Robinson & Cole Slashing Salaries

Erik Even — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:58:39 +0000

Hartford, Connecticut’s Robinson & Cole is cutting all associate and counsel salaries by $10,000.

The pay cuts are effective immediately, and affect incoming and current associates and counsel in all nine of the firm’s offices.

The firm has made no changes to its summer associate and incoming fall associate programs for 2009.

In March, the firm laid off 11 lawyers and 19 staffers.

Robinson & Cole LLP is a 164-year-old law firm with offices in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Florida and Rhode Island. It employs 240 lawyers.

Chapman and Cutler Laying Off ‘Underperformers’

Erik Even — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:11:38 +0000

Chicago’s Chapman and Cutler is taking steps to reduce costs, including laying off an undisclosed number of “underperforming” lawyers, and possibly cutting salaries.

The firm has canceled its traditional May partners’ retreat and shortened its summer associate program to eight weeks. Chapman has been paying $160,000 to first-year associates, but may reduce the pay to $145,000.

It has also eliminated its public relations budget, which may be why it thinks stealth layoffs are a good idea.

The firm may shed more employees by early summer. The firm is hiring in New York, where it opened an office with one partner in February. Chapman’s other two offices are in San Francisco and Salt Lake City.

Alston & Bird Defers Start Dates

Erik Even — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:09:50 +0000

Atlanta-based Alston & Bird is deferring start dates for incoming associates.

Summer programs are being reduced to nine weeks. Entering associates will be deferred to January, 2010. There will be a $10,000 stipend offered.

Those interested in a one-year public service or pro bono fellowship will get payments of $500 per month. Alston & Bird will be provide salary advances, as well as covering bar exam and study course fees and moving expenses.

Alston & Bird LLP is the second largest law firm in Atlanta and the forty-third largest in the United States. Founded in 1893, the firm has local offices in Atlanta; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; New York City; Washington, DC; Dallas; Los Angeles, the Silicon Valley and Ventura County.

Fried Frank Lays Off 99, Defers Class

Erik Even — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:14:44 +0000

Fried Frank laid off 99 employees, lawyers and staff, today.

Effective today, we are implementing changes that will result in an overall reduction of 41 associates and 58 administrative staff from our U.S. workforce. This decision is one we worked very hard to avoid. But we must respond responsibly to the current environment…

The start date of our fall 2009 class has been deferred to January 28, 2010. All incoming associates whose start date is deferred until January 2010 will receive a $10,000 stipend. We are also offering an opportunity for members of the fall 2009 class to defer until the fall 2010. We are encouraging those associates to develop their legal skills by pursuing a public interest or government position or by volunteering with a legal, political or community-based organization. Those who elect this deferral will receive a stipend of $70,000 plus health benefits. Finally, both of our summer associate programs in New York and Washington DC will now conform to a ten, not twelve-week schedule.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP is an international law firm with offices in New York City, Washington DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The firm had more than 600 attorneys worldwide.