A National Association for Law Placement survey of 2008 law firm recruiting found that law firms offered fewer summer associate positions to current 2Ls for 2009, and fewer 2008 summer associates received full-time job offers.
In addition, the acceptance rate for those summer associate and permanent positions was unusually high.
Last year’s recruiting climate was the worst the legal industry has seen in four years, according to the NALP survey, and 2Ls were hit hardest.
The median number of offers to 2Ls for summer associate positions at firms fell from 15 in 2007 to 10 in 2008. The decline was even steeper at firms with 700 or more attorneys, where the median number of offers fell from 30 in 2007 to 18.5 in 2008.
Additionally, fewer callback interviews yielded summer associate offers in 2008. In recent years, about 60% of callback interviews led to summer associate offers. Last fall, however, only 47% of callback interviews led to offers.
Acceptance rates for summer associate offers increased by about 3% from the previous year, to 32.5%.
About 90% of 2008 summer associates were offered full-time positions, compared to about 93% in 2007.