Second-year law students are having an increasingly difficult time finding summer associate positions. Likewise, 2008 summer associates are receiving fewer full time job offers in comparison to previous years. Judith Collins, director of research at the National Association for Law Placement, says, “This decline is pretty big, compared to what we’ve seen recently.”
Some statistical notes from the recent NALP survey:
- In 2008, the median number of offers to 2Ls for summer associate positions was 10, compared to 15 in 2007.
- In 2008, only 47% of callback interviews led to offers, compared to approximately 60% in previous years.
- Acceptance rates for both summer associate positions and full-time positions increased by about 3%.
Collins offered little hope for job seekers, “This is sort of what we expect. It’s probably going to continue, but we have no way to project how long and how severe the declines will be.”
