Biglaw, Job Searches, Summer Associates

You're a 2L? I want to say one word to you. Plastics.

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While the bad news continues to rain down on practicing attorneys, law students are the ones sitting there with a “deer in cataclysmic meteor event” look on their faces.

It’s been a while since we gave law students a chance to vent their frustrations, so here we go.

Today, NALP is out with actual statistics showing how 2Ls are seeing their jobs disappear in a pyroclastic flow. From a synopsis in the National Law Journal:

The median number of offers to 2Ls for summer associate positions at firms of all sizes fell from 15 in the fall of 2007 to 10 in the fall of 2008. The decline was even steeper at firms with 700 or more attorneys, where the median number of summer associate offers fell from 30 in 2007 to 18.5 in 2008. Additionally, fewer callback interviews yielded summer associate offers in 2008. In recent years, about 60% of callback interviews led to summer associate offers. Last fall, however, only 47% of callback interviews led to offers.

And after scrolling through the 20-page NALP report, we also noticed the shortening of summer programs:

Summer programs were typically 10 to 12 weeks long, regardless of firm size. Over three-quarters of offices reported summer programs of either 10, 11, or 12 weeks, although the lengths reported ranged from 6 to 19 weeks. For the vast majority of offices (80%), the 2008 summer program length was the same as in 2007. About 11% reported that their program was one or two weeks shorter compared with 2007; however, about 5% reported that their summer program was one or two weeks longer.

More numbers, statistics, and reasons to trade in your J.D. for a certificate of attendance in refrigerator repair, after the jump.

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As tipster Artie Bucco might say:

2Ls are experiencing, nothing but constant ass rape.

As a result, TaxProf Blog highlights the only obvious move:

Not surprisingly, the offer acceptance rate also jumped. At 32.5%, it is the highest rate recorded since 2002.

And just to make sure that nobody carries a false hope that this storm will pass any time soon, the National Law Journal adds this little tidbit:

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“This is sort of what we expected,” [Judith Collins, NALP’s director of research] said of the survey’s gloomy findings. “It’s probably going to continue, but we have no way to project how long and how severe the declines will be.”

/ wrists.

NALP: There Are Far Fewer Summer Associate Positions for 2Ls [TaxProf Blog]

2Ls seeing far fewer offers for summer associate positions [National Law Journal]

Perspectives on Fall 2008 Law Student Recruiting [NALP]

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