Getting
a
summer
associate
gig
is
probably
a
far
cry
from
what
you
remember.
There
used
to
be
some
decorum.
You’d
make
it
to
campus,
try
to
make
some
friends,
and
form
your
study
cohort,
knowing
that
you’d
have
at
least
a
couple
of
months
before
you
had
to
worry
about
the
job
hunt.
That
decorum
went
out
the
window
back
in
2018
when
NALP
abandoned
the
recruitment
guardrails.
The
following
years
coasted
on
custom,
but
once
firms
realized
how
deregulated
things
were,
the
process
ramped
up.
OCI
and
law
firm
swag?
Already
on
the
decline.
Keeping
your
head
in
the
books
so
your
grades
make
you
a
strong
candidate?
Who
has
time
for
that?
Biglaw
firms
are
recruiting
1Ls
before
any
of
their
grades
are
in
—
and
they’re
sending
in
3Ls
to
do
the
work
of
determining
who
gets
the
summer
jobs.
Aggressive
recruiting
has
put
additional
pressure
on
students
at
top-tier
law
schools
and
they’ve
banded
together
to
ask
the
ABA
to
do
something
about
it.
Law.com
has
coverage:
A
group
of
student
organizations
from
top-tier
law
schools
reached
out
to
the
American
Bar
Association
with
concerns
about
accelerated
recruiting
timelines
being
promoted
by
Big
Law
firms.While
the
students
from
18
law
schools,
including
all
17
schools
from
the
“T14,”
praise
employers
for
being
enthusiastic
and
state
that
“our
student
bodies
have
thus
far
matched
this
energy,”
they
claim
the
early
recruiting
has
“begun
to
undermine
legal
education,
student
and
staff
well-being,
and
the
recruitment
market,”
according
to
the
Jan.
1
letter
addressed
to
Daniel
Thies,
chair
of
the
Council
of
the
ABA
Section
of
Legal
Education
and
Admissions
to
the
Bar.
In
other
words:
We
love
the
money
and
lines
on
our
résumé
—
keep
that
up
—
but
can
you
let
us
breathe
long
enough
to
do
our
Con
Law
readings?
Can
you
blame
the
students
for
wanting
some
intervention?
Some
firms
are
trying
to
fill
up
second-year
spots
before
grades
come
in.
A
running
joke
on
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer
is
that
the
next
step
will
be
for
Biglaw
recruiters
to
put
“Go
Get
A
JD!”
tents
right
outside
of
prestigious
undergrad
commencement
ceremonies,
but
the
risk
that
that
might
actually
be
the
next
stage
of
development
cuts
into
the
tee-hee
factor.
Asking
for
the
ABA
to
intervene
is
probably
the
smartest
thing
to
do
here.
Even
if
the
rush
to
recruit
is
facially
wrongheaded,
no
one
else
has
a
strong
enough
MO
to
overcome
the
push
to
adopt
the
practice.
Why
would
students
risk
fumbling
the
chance
at
a
lucrative
career
by
not
sending
in
their
résumés
when
firms
ask
for
them?
Some
moral
victory?
Those
dividends
don’t
pay
rent.
Why
would
the
firms
change?
Waiting
for
grades
would
allow
for
a
more
merit-based
approach
toward
choosing
summers,
but
sitting
on
their
hands
risks
their
competitors
getting
first
pick
of
the
crop.
If
relying
on
the
prestige
of
the
relative
applicants’
schools
is
a
good
enough
measure
of
potential,
the
earlier
the
better.
And
as
far
as
boutique
firms
are
concerned,
the
crop
of
law
students
that
survive
the
hastened
recruitment
and
have
good
work
product
to
show
from
it
will
seek
out
niche
practice
areas
once
they
figure
out
what
they’re
actually
good
at.
Boutiques
just
have
to
wait
for
the
talent
to
knock
on
their
doors.
It
would
be
nice
if
the
ABA
had
the
authority
to
smack
some
common
sense
back
into
these
firms.
Until
that
happens,
law
students
should
be
on
the
lookout
for
any
3Ls
who
can
hook
them
up
with
a
six-figure
job.
Law
School
Student
Groups
Ask
ABA
To
Review
Accelerated
Associate
Recruiting
Timelines
[Law.com]
Earlier:
Exclusive:
Biglaw
Firms
Farming
Out
Law
School
Recruitment
Efforts
To
Current
Law
Students
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.