Careers
News Flash to Law Students: If You Get a Summer Job Offer, Accept Now!
Posted Aug 25, 2009 5:26 PM CST
By Martha Neil
Amidst the worst legal market in the memory of many practicing attorneys, a Northwestern University School of Law career services official offers some advice to law students.
Those lucky enough to land an offer for a summer associate job in 2010 at the beginning of the BigLaw on-campus interview season should accept it "as soon as humanly possible," writes assistant dean William Chamberlain in a column in the National Law Journal.
Even though the National Association for Law Placement recommends that law firms give offerees 45 days to consider their response, smart students will be risk-averse and secure a 2010 summer position now, he says. "Any sense of entitlement will be fatal this fall."
Northwestern's elite reputation has helped the school maintain what Chamberlain describes as a "robust" on-campus interview program. However, some law firms are not participating this year and have reduced or even eliminated their 2010 summer programs.
Earlier related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Skadden Halves 2010 Summer Program, Plans Offers for 95% This Year—For 2011"
ABAJournal.com: "Fordham Bans Reed Smith for 5 Years, Cites Late Interview Cancellation"
- How B of A’s GC Got Fired: Leave Now, and Leave Your BlackBerry Behind
- Schools Ranked by 'Super Lawyers' Produced
- Law Firm Price Wars Break Out as Some Try ‘Loss Leader’ Bids for Work
- Five Questions for Law Firms Abandoning Lockstep Compensation
- Judge Jails 2 Attorneys for Contempt in 4 Days
- Reed Smith Will Ask Nonequity Partners to Pony Up Possibly 15% of Pay
- Court Deputy Ordered to Apologize or Face Jail After Taking Lawyer's Paperwork
- Skadden Jumps on the Bonus Bandwagon
- ABA Executive Director Resigns
- Nasty Attitude to Co-Worker, Naughty Word in E-Mail Cost 2 Their Jobs
Should Supreme Court Justices Be Able to Review News Accounts Before Publication?
Comments
Bill
Aug 25, 2009 10:22 PM CST
Wow, what an incredibly offensive headline to most law students and recent grads who are struggling to survive in a job market decimated by a surplus of law grads, hyper-inflated tuition and outsourced document review positions, all with the blessing of the ABA. Gee, thank you, ABA, for this enlightening newsflash. Most of us had no idea. Whatever would we do without you?
Newsflash to the ABA: pull your head out of your BigLaw-chapped a-s. Your policies are rapidly destroying this profession.
Flag this comment
HBC
Aug 26, 2009 6:16 AM CST
The headline is a little silly Bill, but I’m not clear how it rises to the level of “incredibly offensive,” unless of course you mean “not offensive” (which is what “incredibly offensive” says lliterally, i.e., not believable as an offense). But if the headline is not offensive it’s not clear why you wrote. Maybe you ought to rescue your own head.
Flag this comment
B. McLeod
Aug 26, 2009 6:31 AM CST
The headline is surely intended to be humorous, perhaps at the expense of Dean Chamberlain (who ought to have realized by now that students who are not comatose would have reached the conclusion on their own).
Flag this comment
FSD
Aug 26, 2009 6:59 AM CST
Newsflash to the ABA—there is widespread fraud by the schools to lure applicants into signing up for student loans.
What have you done about it? Nothing!
Flag this comment
unemployed 2007 graduate
Aug 26, 2009 8:32 AM CST
So, I’m only three years too late? Rats!
Flag this comment
Esq.
Aug 26, 2009 9:18 AM CST
How about offering some useful advice for the vast majority of 2Ls who will not be extended any offers. Oh, but wait, that might actually require work.
Legal career ‘counselors’ are the laziest, sorriest bunch that I’ve ever seen, as they are completely at a loss to counsel in any situation that does not involve the traditional linear 2L summer associateship leading to a 3L offer, and lateral transfers among big firm associates. In other words, they have nothing worthwhile to offer the other 80% of the profession.
Flag this comment
B. McLeod
Aug 26, 2009 11:25 AM CST
How about, “2Ls, be all that you can be.”
Flag this comment
Dagz
Aug 26, 2009 11:50 AM CST
News Flash to 1L law students at TTT law schools, cut your losses and get out while you still can! Don’t throw good money after bad! Smart students should be risk-averse and forego spending another 50-100k in tuition and expenses.
Flag this comment
1v90
Aug 28, 2009 7:22 AM CST
So any advice for a doomed 2L?
Flag this comment
B. McLeod
Aug 28, 2009 7:26 AM CST
Visit your local Army Career Center. Today.
Flag this comment
AndytheLawyer
Aug 28, 2009 7:56 AM CST
Alternative advice for #9—Do what our intrepid forefathers did. Emigrate to another land with greater possibilities of a better life. Try India, for example, where so many American firms are shipping so much legal work anyway.
Flag this comment
Andy
Aug 28, 2009 8:22 AM CST
Don’t lose hope guys. I graduated in ‘96 from a top tier state school and it was a really bad market then unless you were in top 15% of class. Not as bad as now though. But as 1Ls my class only a handful of people who weren’t top 10% had clerkships of any kind and even then it was often from family connections. I joked about this in class one day and our professor stopped the lecture and gave us a pep talk, promising market would improve and most of us would find good jobs within a year of graduating. I think he was proved right. But
Flag this comment
JME
Aug 28, 2009 9:15 AM CST
What is actually funny, of course, is all the top students in my 2008 class that were law clerks their first year, and are now unemployed lawyers, while I hung out my own shingle, and am already looking at buying a second law firm. As I have said previously - small town life is great!
Flag this comment
lucky boy
Aug 28, 2009 10:35 AM CST
I am so lucky that I come from a rich family with great connections. I was able to secure a great summer associate for 2010 at BigLaw. I feel bad for you poor Joe the Plumber types. Actually, no, I don’t. I don’t like Joe the Plumber. But I feel kind of bad for Joe Six Pack. Muhahaha!
Flag this comment
B. McLeod
Aug 28, 2009 10:51 AM CST
You go, #14. You’re “Managing Partner” material!!
Flag this comment
Add a Comment
We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy.
Commenting has expired on this post.