Dear 1L,
Recruiting starts EARLY this year—even earlier than last.
Below is some info I’ve gathered for 2024. I hope you’ll help out by adding what you’ve been seeing and hearing in your location.
🔷 Some perspective:
When I was a 1L in the 1990s, I had zero stress over finding a “legal” job for the summer. I wanted to be home where my parents lived and close to the beach, with friends, so I
worked for a local catering company; and
volunteered on a political campaign.
Increasingly in recent years, students have come under great pressure to find a job that will give them actual lawyering experience.
🔷 Typical 1L summer jobs today include:
— working for a state court judge (federal court for the very lucky);
— being a research assistant for a law-school professor or for the law-school research librarians;
— being a legal intern at some other private or governmental entity; or
— working at a law firm (for diversity scholars and, increasingly, all top 1Ls).
🔷 2024 Recruiting for BigLaw Jobs:
At some top schools, the big firms started holding recruiting events and talking to 1Ls in October this year, and there will be formal job fairs, firm dinners, and other events starting as early as next month and continuing throughout the spring.
—Big firms are also increasingly starting 1L associate programs to get ahead of recruiting for summer jobs after 2L and 3L; many more firms also have big diversity-scholarship programs for 1L associates.
—Official OCI (on-campus interviews) is in July (as of last I heard).
—Many firms and schools are again participating in a pre-OCI right after 1L exams are throughout the spring.
🔷 Where to find listings (for all legal job types):
DO rely on your career services office, but DON’T limit yourself to those resources.
Beyond investing fully in LinkedIn—which I encourage you all to do—consider this excellent book that shows you how to get lots of additional sources for job listings:
— Brian Potts’ The Jobless Lawyer’s Handbook.
It’s short, and it’s written in a fun style to read.
— I hope you’ll pick up a copy for yourself, but the entire thing has also generously been made available by Brian in a pdf on LinkedIn.
🔷 Goals for any 1L summer job:
1: Accumulate relevant and interesting experiences to talk about during interviews for 2L summer jobs. (More on those below.)
2: Explore areas of law or ways to practice to help hone your thinking on what you want to do after graduation.
3: Make contacts in the legal industry that can write recommendations for you and help you with your career.
4: Gain practical legal skills not available in law school.
***
Fondly,
💌 Amanda
#Dear1L
🗳️ Law Students: What’s happening with recruiting at your school this year?
🗳️ Lawyers: What did you do during your 1L summer? Isn’t it crazy how early everything happens today?