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Recruiting activities remained strong during the fall of 1999, according to
data compiled by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). Most law
schools reported more employers on campus, and one-third of law firms reported
visiting more schools in their recruiting efforts. NALP's data also indicate
that, compared with findings of a similar survey for fall 1998, firms did not
necessarily extend more callback invitations, but that more of these invitations
resulted in offers.
Nationwide, 83% of law schools reported an increase in the number of
employers on campus in the fall of 1999 as compared with fall of 1998, and
one-third of legal employers reported visiting more schools this fall than last
fall. The nationwide median number of schools at which employers recruited was
six, with almost half of the largest firms increasing the number of schools they
visited. Over one-half of law schools reported an increase of 10% or more in the
number of employers on campus.
Offer rates increased somewhat, with 64% of callback interviews of
second-year students resulting in an offer (versus 42% for 1998) and 45% of
callback interviews of third-year students resulting in an offer (versus 24% for
1998). For large firms of 251 or more attorneys, about two-thirds of callback
invitations to second-year students resulted in offers, as compared with 40% in
1998. Rates of acceptance of offers to second-year students remained fairly
steady, at 29% nationally. Acceptance rates were considerably higher than
average at firms and offices with 50 or fewer attorneys, with over half of those
offers to second-years accepted.
Most schools participated in one or more job fairs, and 30% participated in
seven or more job fairs. Responding employers were relatively evenly split
between those did participate in job fairs and those who did not.
New information on schools' bundling of resumes for employers revealed that
the ratio of employers on campus to employers for whom schools bundled resumes
was 2.5 to 1.
Analyses at the city level reveal wide variations. For example, employers in
New York City reported by far the highest level of activity in callback
invitations and interviews of second-year students, making an average of 125
offers to second-years for summer 2000. New York employers also reported the
highest number of callback invitations to third-year students, but was equaled
by offices in the San Jose area in terms of the number of offers extended to
third-year students. Acceptance rates to offers for summer employment were
lowest at firms in New York, Miami, Chicago, and Minneapolis, where about
one-fifth of offers were accepted, and highest in Charlotte and Houston, where
45% and 49% of offers, respectively, were accepted.
These are among the findings recently published in NALP's Perspectives on
Fall 1999 Law Student Recruiting, an annual review of selected aspects of fall
season recruitment activity and experiences of both legal employers and law
schools. Among the additional findings:
- Firms in the Northeast were most likely to participate in job fairs; firms
in the Southeast were least likely to do so.
- The median class size for summer programs was eight. Summer programs were
the largest by far in Boston, New York City, Dallas, and Houston, with medians
in these cities two times the national figure or more.
- Most summer program participants — 89.0% — received an offer for an
associate position and 65% of these offers were accepted.
- Employers issued a median of 53 callback invitations each to second-year
students. Nationwide, about three-fourths of these callback invitations were
accepted. About 64% of callback interviews resulted in an offer, with a median
of 21 offers per employer. Overall, less than three in ten offers were accepted.
- Recruiting of third-year students not previously employed by the employer
was reported by 231 employers. The median number of callback invitations was
eight, and nearly all of these callback invitations were accepted. About 45% of
these interviews resulted in offers, of which 42% were accepted. Acceptance
rates ranged from about 31% in Philadelphia and San Francisco to 69% in
Charlotte.
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