Who should complete this survey?
U.S. legal employers that recruited students for 2027 2L summer programs (including making jumbo offers for the 2026 1L summer/2027 2L summer programs), should complete the survey. Complete the survey if your office recruited for a summer program, even if no students accepted a summer program offer. Your information is important to our collective understanding of the entry-level recruiting market, even if only a portion of the survey applies to your office this year. Do not submit data for non-U.S. based offices.
Should I report office-level or firm-wide data?
Please submit a survey for each individual office that recruited for a 2027 2L summer program.
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. If office-specific information is not available, indicate that the figures are for multiple offices.
Where should we report recruiting that took place via job fairs/career conferences – in Section II or III?
Job fairs that are run by a consortium/group of law schools would be reported under Section II (law school-sponsored). Fairs organized by another entity (e.g., a bar association), should be reported in Section III (employer-sponsored).
How do I complete the survey?
A PDF version of the survey is available to help you preview the questions and 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_6tCZH1OBA8Q7EDc.
When is the survey submission date?
All responses must be submitted by 11:59 PM PDT on Friday, August 21, 2026.
How will my information be shared?
Your office data is completely confidential and will only be reported in aggregate. No information about your organization specifically or that could be attributed to your organization will be published. NALP does not release a public list of survey participants. Additionally, group or subgroup data appears in the final report only when a minimum of at least five unique firms are represented.
I am planning to register to attend NALP's 2027 Entry Level 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 coordinate submission of a survey for each U.S. office in your firm, as applicable.
What’s new in the survey this year?
NALP is excited to update the survey better reflect evolving recruiting timelines and to deliver valuable insights to you sooner than ever. As a result, we have split the traditional Recruiting Survey into two separate surveys. This initial survey collects information on recruiting for 2027 2L summer programs. A second survey will be administered in fall 2026 to request data on 2026 summer program outcomes (e.g., return offers), as well as 3L and post-clerkship hiring.
Additionally, NALP has new and expanded questions in this initial survey about:
- The status of your office’s recruiting for the 2027 2L summer program.
- The prevalence of jumbo offers for 2026 1L summer/2027 2L summer programs, including who received these offers, the number that were made and accepted, and related return policies.
- The prevalence of 1L early commitment bonuses/stipends, including who received these bonuses, related work requirements, and award amounts.
Who should I contact with additional questions not covered in these FAQs?
Contact [email protected] with any additional questions. Please allow at least two business days for a response.
