Careers
Decline in On-Campus Recruiting for Summer Associates: A Shift in Law Firm Strategies
March 13, 2025, 12:44 pm CDT
According to a report by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), on-campus interviewing is decreasing in significance for the recruitment of summer associates. The shift reflects a changing landscape in legal hiring practices.
The traditional model of law firms conducting on-campus interviews has seen a substantial decline, as indicated by a recent report from NALP released on March 11, 2025. In 2023, on-campus interviews were the preferred method for securing summer associate positions, utilized by 93% of participating law offices. By 2024, however, direct applications emerged as the most favored method, with 91% of firms adopting this strategy.
Data from the NALP Bulletin reveals that for summer 2025 programs, 56% of offers made to second-year law students were outside the conventional law school interview forums. Specifically, only 24% were generated from on-campus interactions, while early interview programs accounted for just 20% of offers.
Nikia Gray, executive director of NALP, addressed these changes in the hiring process. “The data clearly shows a market shift towards direct recruiting and other non-law-school-based recruiting strategies as essential for attracting top talent,” she stated. Gray further highlighted that on-campus interviews are now often used to fill gaps in summer associate classes rather than as the primary hiring mechanism.
The timeline for making job offers has also been adjusted. In 2023, August was the peak month for offers, encompassing 52% of all proposals. However, the following year saw July take the lead with 45% of offers, followed by June at 30%, and August reduced to 20%.
This transformation in hiring behavior is attributed to intense competition among law firms, seeking to secure the best candidates in a tightening labor market.
The report further disclosed that 97% of associates from the class of 2024 received offers to become full-time attorneys after graduation, resulting in a remarkable offer acceptance rate of 90%. The insights were drawn from feedback from 549 law offices about their summer programs.
Various legal publications, including Law.com, Law360, and Reuters, have covered the findings presented in the report titled Perspectives on 2024 Law Student Recruiting.
