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More on On-Campus Interview Cancellations

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Last week, we gave you a post on on-campus interviewing (OCI) cancellations by law firms at three schools. We wondered whether it might be an emerging trend. The flood of e-mails and comments in response suggests that it is.
We’ve compiled a long list for nervous law students. The firms or offices listed below have canceled plans to interview students on campus at certain law schools (or, in some cases, all law schools — the office isn’t hosting a 2009 summer program). When possible, we’ve specified the firm’s office, the law school reporting the cancellation, and the scope of the cancellation (e.g., 3Ls only).
Update / Correction: Please note that this list has been updated and corrected in various ways since it was originally published. Refresh your browser to get the latest version. Thanks.
Akin Gump – Philadelphia and Dallas offices (Georgetown)
[Ed. note: Akin’s Philly office was never signed up to interview at Georgetown in the first place, so there was no cancellation.]
Arent Fox (Cornell)
Arnstein & Lehr – Chicago office
Baker & Hostetler – Orlando office
Barnes & Thornburg – Chicago office (John Marshall)
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft – New York office (Case Western, Rutgers)
Cooley Godward – 3Ls (UCLA)
Dorsey & Whitney – New York office
Duane Morris – Philadelphia office (NYU)
Edwards Angell Palmer Dodge (NYU)
Faegre & Benson – 3Ls (UCLA)
Gunderson Dettmer – 3Ls (UCLA)
Kirkland & Ellis – 3Ls (UCLA)
Kirkpatrick Kilpatrick & Stockton (Georgetown)
McKenna Long & Aldridge
Mintz, Levin – Washington, DC office
Morrison & Foerster – L.A. office (U. Penn.; Brooklyn Law School)
Powell Goldstein
Seyfarth Shaw – (Boston University)
Simpson Thacher – Palo Alto office – 3Ls (UCLA, UVA)
Skadden (Brigham Young University, Catholic)
Stinson Morrison Hecker (University of Texas)
Strasburger & Price – Austin office (University of Texas)
Thelen Reid (UVA)
White & Case (Fordham)
[Ed. note: White & Case is interviewing very enthusiastically at Fordham, which it regards as a “key school” for the firm.]
Willkie Farr – Washington, D.C. office (Columbia)
[Ed. note: The Willkie Farr cancellations apply only to 3L interviewing.]
Winstead PC – Dallas office (Georgetown)
As some of you noted, canceling on-campus interviews may be a cost-savings strategy for firms feeling the economic squeeze. One of you suggested that law schools stop charging firms to interview on campus:

Maybe if some of the schools where firms are interviewing didn’t charge the firms so much to come on campus to interview, they wouldn’t be cancelling…. you know some schools don’t charge at all (and aren’t getting cancellations).

Some firms canceled 3L interviews only. That and rumors of an increasing number of cold offers and no-offers to this year’s summer associates suggest that firms will have limited spots for the Class of 2009.
After the jump, we’ve got a message from a 3L advice seeker, plus full memos from law schools on OCI cancellations.


Despite the nature of this post, ATL does not love fear-mongering. We’re just big fans of transparency and giving gossip an outlet. If you have tips or corrections on OCI cancellations, please send them to us here.
One 3L wrote to us for advice:

Recently, you covered how firms cancelled their entire summer program or OCI sessions at law schools one after one. Obviously, this is going to be a tough recruiting season for 2Ls.

However, as a rising 3L at a T2 school in a primary market, I am curious about how this job market will treat those of us who are either looking to work in another city or no-offered by the firms we summered based on purely demand-and-supply reason.

Sadly, the OCI at my school made no effort to help 3L students at all. There are maybe 25 firms, each providing 3-6 interview slots, to the 3Ls on Campus (compared to the 100+ firms that are interviewing 2Ls). I just sent out 150+ application letters to firms, but in such a slow job market, I don’t have too much hope on the mass mailing either. Therefore, I am hoping that may be you can help me to find out about the job market for 3Ls, and is it more impossible than ever for us to get hired? I am sure that there are a lot of anxious 3Ls out there trying to look for an answer to my question as well.

It looks like it’s going to be a tough hiring market for 3Ls. A recent article in the Washington Post discusses the difficult job market for this year’s grads, noting that several law firms have instituted hiring freezes. So… any advice?
Much of the information on OCI cancellations came to us via comments. These are the few memos that were forwarded to us.
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL – OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICES – MEMORANDUM
The law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. (Boston, MA and Washington, DC) has cancelled their OCI schedule on August 22th and will no longer be coming to campus for the Fall Recruitment Program. They will not be having a summer associate program next year. They have received your bid and they will contact students directly, as needed. Your invitation status in Symplicity will either say “pending” or “not selected” once scheduling opens. On behalf of the firm, we apologize for any inconvenience.
[Ed. note: A Mintz Levin spokesperson clarified this for us. The firm IS hosting a summer associate program in Boston this year and continues to vigorously recruit for that program, as well as summer programs in several other offices. As for D.C., “the firm’s Washington D.C. office, which historically has had a very small summer associate program, has decided to take the opportunity to assess its program and will most probably not be conducting a summer associate program for next year.”]

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CASE WESTERN UNIVERSITY – CAREER SERVICES OFFICE – MEMORANDUM
Dear second year students,
Unfortunately, the CSO was notified by the New York office of Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft today that the New York office has decided not to interview at the New York Off-Campus Interview Program on Friday, August 15th as scheduled. Instead, the New York office has decided to participate in the Resume Collect portion of our Fall Interview Program. At this time we have closed the bidding for the New York office of Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft under the New York session in OCI. We have now opened bidding for the New York office of Cadwalader under the Summer Resume Collect session in OCI. The bid deadline for Summer Resume Collect is July 24 at 1:00 pm.
If you have already bid for the New York office of Cadwalader, your documents will be sent to the firm as part of the Summer Resume Collect package and you do not need to re-submit your bid. If you have not bid for the New York office of Cadwalader but would like to do so, please bid prior to July 24 under the Summer Resume Collect session.
The CSO apologizes for any inconvenience. Please let us know if you have any questions.

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL – OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICES – MEMORANDUM
Dear REDACTED:
Your interview with Duane Morris LLP (Philadelphia, PA) on Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008 in our 2008 Early Interview Week session has been cancelled. The employer has cancelled their participating in 2008 Early Interview Week. They may contact you directly or they may reschedule for a later interview [sic] date.
Sincerely,
Office of Career Services
NYU School of Law
Earlier: Fall Recruiting Open Thread: Some OCIs are DOA

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