As OCIs Drop at Top Law Schools, NALP Official Predicts More Grads Will Go Solo
Even students at the nation’s top law schools are getting fewer on-campus interviews, leading one career official to predict that more graduates will end up going solo or entering alternative careers.
Bloomberg reports on the dreary job picture for law students, even at Harvard and New York University law schools.
At Harvard, the number of first-round interviews for both 2Ls and 3Ls has fallen 20 percent this year, according to Mark Weber, assistant dean for career services. Irene Dorzback, dean of career services New York University law school, told the publication that first-found interviews there plunged this year and callbacks dropped “dramatically.”
James Leipold, executive director of NALP, which bills itself as the Association for Legal Career Professionals, says the job crunch is likely to affect job choices for grads extending into the class of 2011.
“We expect to see more students taking nonlegal jobs in industry,” Leipold told Bloomberg. “We expect to see more students taking jobs at small and medium-sized law firms or launching solo practices right out of law school.”
Bloomberg also noted these developments:
• Summer associates offered jobs at DLA Piper won’t start until January 2011 or January 2012, according to an internal memo at the law firm.
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom plans to cut its 2010 summer associate program by more than 50 percent.
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius have canceled plans to hire summer associates for next year.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “As Traditional Legal Jobs Dry Up, Students Can Mold Unique Careers”
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “A ‘Lost Year’ for 2Ls: About Half of BigLaw Jobs Are Gone”
Updated Sept. 25 to clarify the name of the Association for Legal Career Professionals.
