In the End, Just a Few Small Changes to Law Firm Recruiting Guidelines

In a recent post, we noted that "change does not come easily to the citizens of Law Firm Land." So no surprise that the board of the National Association of Law Placement (NALP) has, for now, made just two small changes to the law firm summer associate recruiting guidelines: The deadline for students to accept offers will drop from 45 days to 28 days, and the deadline for students who have completed a summer program to accept job offers will move from Nov. 15 to Nov. 1.

The National Law Journal (NLJ) reports that NALP board has backed off the recent NALP recommendation to delay the summer associate offer process by four months -- a proposal that would have initiated a January offer kickoff date for law firm summer associate offers.

Law firm recruiters and law school administrators "largely welcomed" the outcome, reports the NLJ. The NALP proposal to delay law firm summer associate offers to January, met with a chilly reception from many law firms and those involved in law firm hiring.

NALP Executive Director Jim Leipold said that the organization received 800 responses to the proposal since it was unveiled in early January, but there was "no easy consensus or even a trend around one particular idea." Leipold explained that "Law firms and law schools are both conservative and risk-averse institutions. The scope of change was very large and it doesn't surprise me that there was resistance."

NALP's Jim Leipold was a guest on Law School Podcaster's segment, "The Current Economic Environment: What It Means for Law School Applicants & Students." Tune into the full show to hear more on this topic.