Big Law Firms Cutting Summer Programs May Ultimately Broaden Job Prospects
What if lawyers could get jobs at big firms after they've been lawyers for a few years? If big law firms cut their summer programs, and in turn, dismantle the formal hiring process that basically starts and ends during the first semester of a student's second year in law school, it might just happen.
According to The National Law Journal's L.A. Legal Pad,
With no sign of a lasting rebound in the wider economy, some law firm leaders are playing it safe by reducing their 2010 summer programs or skipping them altogether.
Personally, I think that big firms should cut their formal summer programs entirely.
The idea of securing a job through on-campus interviews during the fall of one's second year in law school with a start-date just over two years away is ridiculous. It creates a false sense of security, and it puts too much emphasis on a student's grades from his or her first year in law school.
I don't think that firms should necessarily stop hiring law students for summer positions; however, I think that the focus of summer employment should shift from lining up next year's crop of associates to actually providing the students with some practical experience.
Clients are increasingly requesting that law firms refrain from staffing cases with first-year associates in order to cut down on their legal fees. Clients tend to think of a lawyer's first year as nothing more than on-the-job training, and they don't want to pay for it. Also, partners at large firms often prefer to hire laterals, who already have experience in specific areas. However, the big firms' formal hiring processes--which start with summer programs--make it nearly impossible for a student who chooses not to go through on-campus interviewing during his or her second year of law school to get a job at a big firm at all.
The result? Law students are advised to get a job at a big firm for a couple years before doing anything else--even if said students have no desire to work at a big firm--because they may never get another chance. Instead of working up the pay ladder, many lawyers are paid more for their first two years of practice than for their next ten.
If big law firms break with tradition by ending their summer programs and their formal yearly hiring processes, hiring partners will be able to hire associates based on academic credentials and experience. Clients will be happier because they'll at least think that they're getting a better deal. Most importantly, law students, and new lawyers will be able explore different career choices without the fear that there's no chance they'll ever get hired at a big prestigious firm.
Overall, lawyers may actually be able to work their way up into big firms based on broad qualifications rather than just their grades from their first years of law school.
The system is weird. I wonder why it got set up like this in the first place?