Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Some OCIs are DOA

This sign captures the flavor of the past week in law firm news, including the massive layoffs at Cadwalader and the office closings at Akin Gump. If you have other tips for us, send them to us here.
The law firm pain is starting to be felt even by those still in law school. We’ve been forwarded various emails announcing that some firms or offices have canceled on-campus interviews for 2009 prospective summer associates, including the New York office of Dorsey & Whitney, the Chicago office of Midwestern firm Barnes & Thornburg, and, as we reported on Wednesday, Cadwalader (at certain law schools, e.g., Rutgers – Newark). Here are excerpts from the notices:

From John Marshall Law School:
I received notice from the head of recruiting at Barnes & Thornburg that the firm will not be having a summer program in its Chicago office next summer. Therefore, the OCI option for that firm has been removed from Symplicity.


From Columbia Law School:
The New York office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP will no longer be interviewing at EIP (ed. note: Early Interview Program) as they have decided not to have a formal summer associate program in 2009.


From Rutgers Law School:
Also, please note that Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, scheduled to interview on campus on August 13th, has had to cancel and will contact students independently to schedule interviews if they are selected.

We expected large law firms to power on with their summer associate programs, so we were somewhat surprised to hear that Dorsey & Whitney is suspending its program in New York. Then again, it was a rather small program — about five summer associates in 2007, per the firm’s NALP form (PDF). A Dorsey spokesperson had this comment:

It is true that the New York office of Dorsey & Whitney will not sponsor a formal summer associate program in 2009. We have made this decision based upon our hiring needs in the New York office at this time. This decision with respect to the New York office summer associate program does not preclude the possibility of hiring an incoming class for 2010 in our New York office. The firm’s other offices that have traditionally sponsored summer associate programs will continue to do so.

Have other firms canceled their OCIs at your school? Please let us know in the comments, including your school, the firm, and the firm office.
See full notices from firms regarding OCI cancellation, after the jump.


Cutting back on fall recruiting and / or formal summer programs — how big a trend is this? Let us know in the comments, or forward OCI cancellation e-mails to tips at abovethelaw dot com.
Here are some of the e-mails that have been forwarded to us. Good to know that you can still get work in South Bend…
(Note the proliferation of different terms and acronyms for the fall interview process. We’re aware of OCI (on-campus interviews), FIP (fall interview program), EIW (early interview week), EIP (early interview program) — and surely there are others.)
JOHN MARSHALL SCHOOL OF LAW – CHICAGO — OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICES – MEMORANDUM
I received notice from the head of recruiting at Barnes & Thornburg that the firm will not be having a summer program in its Chicago office next summer. Therefore, the OCI option for that firm has been removed from Symplicity. The Indianapolis and South Bend office of Barnes & Thornburg will be having summer programs in 2009, and to apply for those programs you should contact the firm directly.
Pascale J. Bishop
Associate Director of Career Services
The John Marshall Law School
315 S. Plymouth Court
Chicago, Illinois 60604
COLUMBIA SCHOOL OF LAW – NEW YORK – E-MAIL FROM RECRUITMENT MANAGER IN CAREER SERVICES OFFICE
Dear Student,
The New York office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP will no longer be interviewing at EIP as they have decided not to have a formal summer associate program in 2009. If you are still interested in learning about the firm, please visit their hospitality suite on August 18.
Best,
Jen
RUTGERS SCHOOL OF LAW – CHICAGO — OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICES – MEMORANDUM
Classes of 2009 and 2010,
As you may have seen by now, Symplicity is showing firm selections for those employers in Session One whose interview choices have been entered into the system. Your invitation status for each employer will read one of the following:
preselect – you have been selected for an interview
alternate – you are on the wait list and will be contacted by our office if you are moved into an interview slot
not invited – you have not been selected to interview with this firm
pending – the firm’s selections have not been entered into the system
The interview schedule will be automatically generated once the selections for ALL Session One employers have been received by our office. Please remember that students cannot select or change their interview times for Session One interviews.
Also, please note that Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, scheduled to interview on campus on August 13th, has had to cancel and will contact students independently to schedule interviews if they are selected.
We hope to have the full interview schedule for Session One available by early next week.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Office of Career Services
Rutgers School of Law — Newark
Center for Law and Justice
123 Washington Street
Newark, New Jersey 07102

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