The Rapid Acceleration of Summer Associate Recruitment: What It Means for Law Students and Firms

By Molly Allen. 

You are mere months into your first year of law school. You are finally beginning to understand what a tort is. You’ve written one, maybe two, legal memos. And now, in addition to preparing for your first-semester exams, you now must also begin applying for 1L and possibly even 2L summer associate positions.

Unfortunately, due to the accelerated recruitment timeline for law firm summer programs, this is the reality for many law students in Arizona and across the country. This recent trend poses concerns for students and firms alike. Reevaluating these timelines is necessary to preserve the goals of legal education and prioritize law students’ career development. 

Background

For over a half-century, on-campus interviews (OCI) were the primary method by which law firms filled their summer associate positions. While this recruitment process is not free of issues, it at least provided students with a dependable timeline. For example, law schools traditionally conducted OCIs for 2L summer programs during the fall of their 2L year.

In recent years, however, the recruitment timeline has been moving forward. The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) conducts yearly studies on law firms’ summer programs and recruiting outcomes. In their most recent Perspectives on Law Student Recruiting report, NALP compared 2L summer hiring in 2024 to 2023 and found that the number of offers given before August increased by 33%.

NALP also noticed a decrease in popularity of OCI, finding a 44% decrease in OCI offers for 2L summer programs in 2025 compared to 2024. Conversely, it noted a 35% increase in offers from other recruiting methods, such as direct applications.

This increasing reliance on recruitment outside of OCI allows firms to continue moving their application deadlines forward. These accelerated timelines are especially common for the biggest and highest-paying law firms, colloquially referred to as “Big Law.” 

Many of these firms have begun opening their applications for 2L summer positions in the 1L spring semester, that is, over a year before the position begins. This means that firms are only evaluating students on one semester of grades. Additionally, firms extend these offers for the 2L summer program before the 1L summer program even begins.

Even more troubling is the emergence of top firms such as Kirkland & Ellis and Perkins Coie extending 1L and 2L summer offers simultaneously. These offers are given to 1Ls as early as January, which is a year and a half before the 2L summer program begins.

This begs the question: how far will these firms push the envelope? It seems likely that Big Law will follow the lead of the New York Yankees, who recently signed a seven-million-dollar “pre-agreement” with a thirteen-year-old boy from the 2030 class. While that is, of course, an exaggeration, it reflects the general anxieties about recent hiring trends and what it means for the future of firm recruitment.

Troubling Effects on Law Students

The accelerated recruitment and interview process has concerning consequences for law students. Words intended to provide comfort to new students—“1L grades aren’t everything” and “focus on your classes; you’ll have plenty of time to worry about your career later”—are now misleading for students hoping to work in Big Law. To stay ahead of the curve, 1L students must prioritize applications and networking when they should be learning how to read cases, write legal memoranda, and ingest the overflow of information from their first semester classes. 

Additionally, students who failed to master the art of the law school exam on their first go are at a severe disadvantage. The accelerated application timeline denies them the opportunity to demonstrate resilience and growth by improving upon their first semester grades, since many Big Law summer program applications open well before schools release second semester grades.

It is difficult to imagine which types of students this process benefits. It is certainly not first-generation law students, who often lack the familial connections and financial resources necessary to access “the informal networks and early insights that can help them compete in the early recruiting landscape.” Other non-traditional law students, such as part-time students, may be similarly disadvantaged.

Ideally, the first year of law school is a time for students to explore various areas of law, develop fundamental legal skills, and build a foundation with which to face the pressures of a legal career. Instead—in part due to the unforgiving recruitment process—1L students must confront  stress and anxiety of applications and interviews on top of their coursework. In this way, the legal field burns them out before they even enter it.

These trends are even concerning for law schools, whose rankings depend in part on the number of students who land the most in-demand jobs after graduation. So, in order for law students and schools to stay competitive, they must bow to the whims of these powerful firms. 

Equally Disadvantageous for Firms

Ironically, the forces driving this accelerated timeline—the law firms—are likely to suffer from it just as much as, if not more than, law students. By hiring students based on only one semester of grades, these firms have extremely limited insight into the students and their potential as associates. Even two semesters of grades would allow firms to better assess a student’s growth or consistency.

It is not difficult to see how this could decrease retention rates for junior associates, because students commit to firms so early in their law school journey. As students are exposed to various areas of law through their classes, externships, and 1L summer positions, their interests and career goals are susceptible to change. With these accelerated timelines, firms risk hiring applicants who have to make rushed and uninformed decisions instead of hiring those who, in the long run, may turn out to be a better fit for the position.

Possible Solutions

Slowing the Big Law recruitment timeline likely requires joint action. Firstly, the American Bar Association (ABA) should release guidelines that include recommended timelines for opening applications and conducting interviews. For example, these guidelines could advise firms to not open their applications until after the 1L spring semester. While these guidelines would not be binding on law firms, they would at least pressure these firms to reevaluate their recruitment timelines and conform with the ABA’s stance.

Second, the law firms can collectively set similar guidelines for the recruitment process. As evidenced by the existence of NALP and OCI, law firms can work  together to implement law student recruitment programs. Law schools can help in this process, as they did with OCI, by advocating for students and working with firms to come to mutually beneficial agreements.

Where Does Arizona Fit In?

Arizona law students, schools, and firms are not immune to this accelerating recruitment timeline. Arizona is home to many large and nationally recognized law firms, and Arizona law students run the Big Law hiring gauntlet each year. According to recent employment outcome statistics from Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, more than 40 graduates secured long-term positions at law firms of over 500 attorneys, and more than 75 students secured positions at law firms of over 100 attorneys. Thus, the impacts on students and firms discussed above are not a distant threat, but are occurring now within our state borders.

Both ABA-accredited law schools in Arizona are members of NALP and abide by NALP and the ABA’s guidelines regarding recruitment and hiring. Their career services departments work closely with firms to facilitate OCI, externships, and summer associate placements. Given this established partnership and regulatory framework, Arizona law schools are well positioned to advocate for reforms in the current recruitment practices that promote students’ well-being and learning.

Conclusion

The acceleration of the recruiting timelines for Big Law summer programs unfortunately does not seem to be slowing down. It is already taking its toll on law students, and it is sure to have negative consequences for firms as well. To ensure consistency and fairness in the law student recruitment process, the ABA, firms, and law schools must work together to set limits and guidelines for these already intense recruitment processes. Let’s allow 1L students to shift their focus away from Big Law and towards simply learning the law.