Berkeley Law 1Ls offered class to help handle early recruiting efforts
As the recruiting time for summer jobs moves ever earlier, the University of California at Berkeley School of Law has launched new course aimed at preparing first-year students for the application process and mapping out their careers. (Photo illustration by Sara Wadford/ABA Journal)
As the recruiting time for summer jobs moves ever earlier, the University of California at Berkeley School of Law has launched new course aimed at preparing first-year students for the application process and mapping out their careers.
Law.com has the story.
“An Introduction to Big Law Practice for 1Ls,” the one-credit course with 18 students, was developed by professor Frank Partnoy and members of the career development office. It ran from Jan. 12 through Feb. 23.
The classes had two parts: a lecture with some Q&A plus a smaller discussion focusing on individual needs in the application process. Students wrote business plans designed to be a “potential roadmap for their career,” including “possible contingencies, mentors, areas of specialization and long-term goals” and how to spend time during their 1L and 2L years to prepare for their summer jobs, according to Law.com.
In June, the ABA Journal first reported on the fast and furious pace of recruitment that shifted from just before the students’ 2L year to as early as during the 1L years, with some outreach starting just after students receive acceptance into law school.
Then in January, leaders of 18 student organizations from top law schools wrote the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar protesting the high-speed timelines for employment recruiting at law schools.
While the student leaders supported the employers’ enthusiasm to find top talent, “the accelerated timelines have also begun to undermine legal education, student and staff well-being and the recruitment market,” according to a Jan. 1 letter written to Daniel Theis, the council’s chair.
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