Big Calif. Firms Increase Summer Hiring, Pay More Than $3K a Week
Hiring of summer associates apparently hasn’t been affected by the recent financial downturn.
The Recorder interviewed seven big West Coast law firms and found that most expected to increase the number of summer associates hired for 2008.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has already hired 97 summer associates and expects to add up to 15 more, up from last year’s total of 93. It is paying $3,077 a week. Other firms (PDF) increasing summer hires include Morrison & Foerster, hiring 134 summer associates compared to 108 last year; and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, expecting to hire up to 200 summers, compared to 181 last year.
The only firm interviewed that has slashed its summer associate program is Heller Ehrman, which hired 50 students this year, compared to 97 the year before. Summer pay will be higher, though, at $3,100 a week at most offices, the story says. Heller’s human resources chief, David Sanders, told the legal publication that the number is down because the firm is rebalancing the number of first-year associates it hires compared to judicial clerks and lateral hires.
