September 2024

NALP is currently conducting the Survey of Legal Employers on 2024 Recruiting. The results of the survey will be published in NALP's Perspectives on 2024 Law Student Recruiting in early 2025. Your participation will help to ensure a comprehensive report with important benchmarking information on recruiting and summer program outcomes. More information is available below.

Survey of Legal Employers on 2024 Recruiting

The Survey of Legal Employers on 2024 Recruiting is now open through Friday, November 8. This survey is intended to be completed by any U.S. offices that hosted a summer program in 2024 and/or recruited 2Ls for a 2025 summer associate position or 3Ls for associate positions during summer/fall 2024. A PDF version of the survey is available here to assist in compiling your data; however, all survey information must be submitted via this online survey. Data on lateral hiring will be collected in a separate survey in late 2024/early 2025.

A list of frequently asked questions about the survey is included below. If you have any questions that are not covered in the FAQs, please contact research@nalp.org.

2025 NALP Legal Recruiting Summit

The 2025 NALP Legal Recruiting Summit will take place on Thursday, January 23 in New York City. This event is an opportunity for legal recruiting and career services professionals to come together for a comprehensive look at the current state of entry-level law firm recruiting. This high-level conference tailored specifically to the legal recruiting community is a members-only event with limited space. The Summit will focus on trends in the legal market, statistics from the 2024 recruiting season, and more. Summit registration will open in October.

More information on attendee requirements is available below.

U.S. Legal Employers: If someone from your office plans to register for the Recruiting Summit, completion of the Survey of Legal Employers on 2024 Recruiting is required for attendance.

2024 Recruiting Survey Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

General Survey Questions

Who should complete this survey?

Any U.S. legal employers that hosted a summer 2024 program, recruited 2Ls in 2024 for summer 2025 programs, and/or recruited 3Ls in 2024 for entry-level associate positions should complete the survey. Your information is valuable for our collective understanding of the entry-level recruiting market, even if only a portion of the survey was applicable to your office this year. Do not submit any information for non-U.S. based offices.

Should I report office-level or firm-wide data?

Please submit a survey for each individual office for which any of the following applied:

• hosted a summer 2024 program,
• recruited 2Ls in 2024 for summer 2025 programs, or
• recruited 3Ls in 2024 for post-graduate associate/entry-level attorney positions.

Office-specific surveys will provide the most consistent and comparable information for the analyses from this survey and allows us to report city-specific information - one of the most valuable, and sought-after, features of NALP's reporting. In circumstances where office-specific information is not available, indicate that the figures are for multiple offices.

How do I complete the survey?

A PDF version of the survey is available to preview/collect your survey data in advance; however, all surveys must be submitted via the web-based survey at: https://qualtricsxmt3b52ch7n.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0f8m5BzYsxCGdhA.

When is the survey submission date?

All responses should be submitted by 11:59 PM PST on Friday, November 8, 2024.

I am planning to register/have registered to attend NALP's 2025 Legal Recruiting Summit. Do I have to complete the survey to attend?

Yes, at minimum you must submit a survey for your office. Ideally, please try to coordinate submission of a survey for each U.S. office in your firm, as applicable. The results of this survey will be shared at the Summit, and by providing as much information as possible you will help to ensure that we can provide you with a comprehensive presentation.

Who should I contact with additional questions not covered in these FAQs?

Contact research@nalp.org with any additional questions. Please allow at least two business days for a response.

Section I: Length and Outcomes for Your Summer 2024 Program

Questions #10 and 20-22 (Outcomes of 2Ls and 1Ls) refer to 1L summer associate positions that are affiliated with a diversity program. What types of diversity programs are these questions referring to?

These items are intended to capture any students who were employed in connection with a diversity program at your firm as a 1L summer associate. Some examples include law firm diversity programs established by your firm, the 1L LCLD Scholars program, and bar association scholarship programs. This item is not intended to capture student participation that was limited to networking events or conferences hosted by your firm.

Who should be counted in Question #13 (Outcomes for 1Ls)?

This item refers to any 1L students who participated in a summer program at your office and received an offer to return as an entry-level associate after graduation — without a requirement that they must return for any portion of their 2L summer. Typically, only a very small percentage (less than 1%) of 1Ls receive an associate offer at the conclusion of the 1L summer and many firms do not make associate offers this early. If you are unsure if you have any students who should be reported here, contact us at research@nalp.org. Any students reported here should not be included in items #14-18.

Section II: 2024 Recruiting Methods

Question #2 asks about the various recruiting methods that were utilized in 2024. If I am reporting office-level data, should I report only the methods used by my office or by the firm as a whole?

Report based on the methods utilized by your office only in 2024. In the web-based survey, this item will determine whether Sections III-V are available for you to complete - so respond accurately. You should only select the methods that were used in 2024. Do not select methods that you may have utilized in prior years or plan to use in the future if they were not utilized in 2024.

In Question #2, how should I respond if our office signed up for a law school OCI program(s) and received a list of candidates from a school(s), but ultimately interviewed these students prior to the school's OCI program?

In this circumstance, use the "law school early interview program" recruiting method to capture these interviews that took place prior to the law school's OCI program. If you interviewed a portion of these candidates early, but still interviewed via the law school's interview program, select both the "law school on-campus interviewing program" and "law school early interview program" recruiting methods. The students who were interviewed via OCI will be reported in Section III and the students who were interviewed early will be captured in Section IV.

In Question #2, how do I distinguish between a law school on-campus interviewing program (e.g., OCI) and a law school early interview program?

Law school OCI programs are more traditional and formally structured programs in which firms pre-select candidates to interview, or the law school assigns candidates by lottery, and interviews are organized by the law school. They are typically referred to as "OCI" by the school.

The format of law school early interview programs may vary by school and these programs may not be offered by some schools. Early interview programs are typically less structured than traditional OCI programs, firms may be responsible for organizing interviews, and these programs often take place prior to the traditional OCI program at a school. This category also includes instances where a law office may have registered for OCI and received a list of candidates, but ultimately interviewed these students prior to OCI.

Are the questions related to prior year recruiting methods and offers made applicable to my office?

These questions are only applicable if you did not utilize a particular recruiting method in 2024 (e.g., a law school OCI program) and are meant to capture the number of offers, if any, your office made via that method in 2023. In the web-based survey, these items will only be visible if you did not select the recruitment method(s) referenced in each question. The purpose of these items is to measure total offer change from 2023 to 2024.

You do not need to respond to these items for recruiting methods that your office utilized in 2024 (and these items will not appear in the web-based survey). This prior year data will instead be asked about in Sections III-V, as applicable.

Section III: 2024 Recruiting for 2Ls via Law School On-Campus Interviewing Programs (e.g., OCI)

What interviews should be reported in this section?

Only interviews that resulted from law school OCI programs should be reported in this section. Law school OCI programs are more traditional and formally structured programs in which firms pre-select candidates to interview, or the law school assigns candidates by lottery, and interviews are organized by the law school. They are typically referred to as "OCI" by the school.

If your office signed up for a law school OCI program and received a list of candidates, but ultimately interviewed those candidates prior to OCI, report those students in Section IV: Recruiting for 2Ls via a Law School Early Interview Program.

Section IV: 2024 Recruiting for 2Ls via a Law School Early Interview Program

What interviews should be reported in this section?

Report any interviews that took place via a law school early interview program. The format of law school early interview programs may vary by school and these programs may not be offered by some schools. Early interview programs are typically less structured than traditional OCI programs, firms may be responsible for organizing interviews, and these programs often take place prior to the traditional OCI program at a school. This category also includes instances where a law office may have registered for OCI and received a list of candidates, but ultimately interviewed these students prior to OCI.

Section V: 2024 Recruiting for 2Ls Outside of a Law School OCI or Early Interview Program

What interviews should be reported in this section?

Report any interviews that took place outside of a law school OCI or early interview program. This could include methods such as, but not limited to, direct application to your law office, law school resume collects, internal or client referrals, and job fairs/career conferences.

How should I report the number of schools in Question #1?

Report the number of unique schools from which students were interviewed for summer associate positions in your office via the recruiting methods referenced above. Count each law school only once in your 2023 and 2024 figures. This number should not exceed the total number of candidates interviewed as reported in Question #2. Law schools that have multiple campuses, but are accredited as one institution (e.g., Rutgers Law School's Camden and Newark campuses) should be counted as one law school.

I'm not sure what to report in Questions #2 and #3.

Question #2 asks about the total number of students interviewed via methods outside of law school OCI and early interview programs. For offices that conduct both screening and callback interviews, report only the number of screening interviews. If your office has instances where some students can "bypass" the screening interview and go straight to the final round of interviews, include those students in your response here. If your office only conducted one round of interviews, report the total number of candidates interviewed here.

Question #3 asks about the total number of students who made it to the final round of interviews. For offices that conduct both screening and callback interviews, report the total number of full round/callback interviews only. If your office only conducted one round of interviews, your responses in questions #2 and #3 should be the same.