As Summer Classes Plummet By 80% at Some BigLaw Firms, Clients Balk at Paying for Law Student Work
As summer associate classes shrink at a number of major New York law firms this year, law students lucky enough to have made the cut have an enhanced opportunity for a quality work experience.
Given the reduced ratio of summer associates, there is more opportunity for interaction with partners and other lawyers at at these firms, points out the New York Law Journal.
A chart accompanying the article reports that the size of the summer associate class plummeted by around 80 percent at Cravath Swaine & Moore and Weil Gotshal & Manges this year, compared to 2009, while dropping more than 65 percent at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.
However, counteracting that favorable development is the growing reluctance of a number of clients to pay for law student work. Citigroup Inc., for instance, has imposed a ban on such payments, effective July 1, the article states.
“More and more clients don’t want summer associates to bill to them,” says tax partner J. William Dantzler Jr. of White & Case, who oversees the firm’s New York hiring. “When I started almost all clients would accept it. And it’s evolved to where a lot of clients don’t.”
Hat tip: Am Law Daily.
