Should On-Campus Interviews Be Postponed Until Spring?

For decades, it has been customary for BigLaw firms to conduct on-campus interviews for summer associates shortly after the law school year begins in the fall. In recent years, there has even been an increasing trend toward starting as early as August.

But, given a seeming seismic shift in the way corporate law practice is being conducted, it might well make more sense to postpone the on-campus interviewing season until spring, according to a number of participants at a recent conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the National Association for Law Placement.

Summer programs have been curtailed as many major law firms struggle to find enough work to keep their existing associates busy, and senior partners grumble that it's virtually impossible to predict how many new hires might be needed a year or more before they will actually start work, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

"No rational person would hire their people two years in advance if they had a choice," says Howard Ellin, the global hiring partner of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. "Clearly, getting it much closer to when the people are going to come to work would make a lot more sense."

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