Exclusive: Biglaw Firms Entrust Their Law School Recruitment Efforts to Current Law Students
Biglaw’s recruitment of law students is well and truly halted. This is no shock: In 2018, when the NALP announced it was removing recruiting guardrails, the race to the bottom was on. Seven years later, it’s awful. Big law firms are abandoning campus recruiting. 1Ls get their 2L summer job *before* their 1L summer job. Summer associate job offers exploding before the end of the first year of law school have become commonplace. This is madness – and it particularly disadvantages law students who don’t have a built-in network of Biglaw contacts, those who think a Cravath is just a Ascot style misspelling tie.
But it’s also a struggle for Biglaw firms trying to pack their summer associate courses with the best and brightest. At least two Biglaw firms have found a rather… interesting method for attracting talent. According to Above the Law tipsters, Sullivan & Cromwell and Paul Weiss have tapped law students to handle some key recruiting functions for the firms. Upperclassmen at top law schools (ATL has not heard of this practice outside of T14) who have already accepted offers at firms have been given the authority to win and dine 1Ls as part of firm recruitment. That’s money for 3Ls who aren’t yet full-fledged attorneys to offer their friends the benefits of a Biglaw spending account.
Above the Law contacted Paul Weiss and Sullivan & Cromwell for comment but did not receive a response.
It’s a bold move that, on the one hand, frees up full-time associates to continue billing, but hands the important screening function to students with fundamentally limited experience at the firm. It’s also fascinating that the firms ATL has heard about that are participating in this practice are the ones experiencing a lot of MAGA-related negative publicity (Paul Weiss was the first Biglaw firm to capitulate to Donald Trump and sign a deal providing him with millions of dollars in pro bono compensation for conservative causes and clients; S&C represents Trump in his criminal case and was allegedly involved in the negotiation of Paul Weiss’s deal with Trump). 1Ls don’t have the greatest experience with Biglaw, but the Paul Weiss and S&C stories have made it into the mainstream news. Spending money probably helps negate some of these negative associations.
But recruiting at Biglaw is ruthless, and I have to imagine that this practice will become more widespread… if it hasn’t already.
Do you have experience with law students recruiting on behalf of Biglaw? If so, email ATL with your story or information about other companies doing the same. All tipsters remain strictly confidential.
Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcastand co-host of Think like a lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter. @Kathryn1 or Juggernaut @(email protected).
