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DLA Piper: Pushes Back Current Summers Like Weil, Delays 2010 Summer Recruiting Like Orrick

Monday, July 27, 2009 5:21 PM - By Elie Mystal

DLA Piper logo.jpgDLA Piper, one of the biggest law firms in the country (and the world), has added its voice to the changing nature of Biglaw summer programs.

In a letter sent to law school deans and career service officers (and obtained by Above the Law), DLA Piper announced it was deferring its current summers and delaying recruiting for new summers.

For current summers, the program is similar to the one Weil Gotshal announced earlier this month. The earliest 2009 summer associates will be able to start is January 2011, and they will be encouraged to take a deferral and not start until January 2012. Here’s how the DLA memo puts it:

One result of these deferrals is that our current summer associates would start at the firm at approximately the same time as the Fellowship participants from our class of 2009, creating another potential class that may exceed demand. While we proactively reduced the size of our summer class for 2009 to half the size of the Summer 2008 class, the start date changes require that we adjust the start dates for this class as well. We have therefore made the decision to make offers to this Summer’s class in generally the same manner as the last class. We will make offers to our summer associates of 2009 soon after the program ends, and the offers will be for a January 2011 start date. We expect that some portion of the class will be encouraged to participate in a Fellowship program during 2011, further deferring the expected start date to January 2012 for some. We plan to keep these offers open until the NALP deadline of November 15.

That is bad news for summers that are currently at DLA, but it also means that summers who want to go to DLA will have to wait their turn.

More details after the jump.

In addition to pushing back the class of 2010, DLA also announced that it is joining Orrick’s crusade to make decisions about next year’s summer program as late as possible:

As for our Fall 2009 recruiting for the Summer 2010 class, it will begin after November 15, 2009. Moving our recruiting schedule to later in the Fall will allow us to take into account the responses to our offers from the current class before hiring for our 2010 summer program. While we are shifting our recruiting period and will not be interviewing on campus later this Summer or early Fall, we do plan to be on campus and in contact with students in our usual manner - participating in mediation and trial advocacy programs and other coaching sessions, providing resume review and critiques, offering office open houses and other events. It is critically important to us to maintain our relationships with law schools and to offer opportunities to as many of our talented recruits as possible. Recruiting and retaining talented associates remains central to our ability to serve clients well now and in the future.

Why would you commit to the class of 2011 until you are forced into a decision?

Of course, assuming that firms like DLA and Orrick still hire summer associates for 2010, and defer them to 2012 or beyond, eventually all of these deferrals are going to have to catch up with the firms. Either the firms will have to greatly reduce the number of summers hired or offers extended, or at some point they will have to accept a huge class of first-year attorneys. Nobody really wants to turn law school into a four-year experience where the fourth year is spent hiding out in a public interest organization.

The ever-dwindling list of firms who will be hiring rising 2Ls this fall for 2010 summer programs means that competition during this OCI season should reach gladiatorial proportions. You’re going to see 2Ls standing outside of hotel rooms while Tyler Durden berates them, all fall.

Is it even worth wishing for a 1L summer associate gig? The class of 2011 might be the “lost generation,” but what are we calling the class of 2012?

Check out the full memo below.

DLA PIPER — MEMORANDUM — ON-CAMPUS RECRUITING

Earlier this year, we recognized that the demand for legal services was unlikely to rebound swiftly, and that our Summer 2008 incoming class was larger than the demand for work would sustain. In order to provide the new associates with meaningful work, DLA Piper decided to postpone the start dates for the class of 2009 from October 2009 to January 2010. We also created a Public Interest Fellowship program for a portion of the class members, giving them the opportunity and assistance to work and gain experience outside the firm in 2010, while contributing to the public good. Those class members who agreed to take the Fellowship will receive a $60,000 stipend for the calendar year 2010. The response to the Fellowship program has been positive and a large portion of the incoming class will devote themselves to Fellowship opportunities before joining the Firm in January 2011.

One result of these deferrals is that our current summer associates would start at the firm at
approximately the same time as the Fellowship participants from our class of 2009, creating another potential class that may exceed demand. While we proactively reduced the size of our summer class for 2009 to half the size of the Summer 2008 class, the start date changes require that we adjust the start dates for this class as well. We have therefore made the decision to make offers to this Summer’s class in generally the same manner as the last class. We will make offers to our summer associates of 2009 soon after the program ends, and the offers will be for a January 2011 start date. We expect that some portion of the class will be encouraged to participate in a Fellowship program during 2011, further deferring the expected start date to January 2012 for some. We plan to keep these offers open until the NALP deadline of November 15.

As for our Fall 2009 recruiting for the Summer 2010 class, it will begin after November 15, 2009. Moving our recruiting schedule to later in the Fall will allow us to take into account the responses to our offers from the current class before hiring for our 2010 summer program. While we are shifting our recruiting period and will not be interviewing on campus later this Summer or early Fall, we do plan to be on campus and in contact with students in our usual manner - participating in mediation and trial advocacy programs and other coaching sessions, providing resume review and critiques, offering office open houses and other events. It is critically important to us to maintain our relationships with law schools and to offer opportunities to as many of our talented recruits as possible. Recruiting and retaining talented associates remains central to our ability to serve clients well now and in the future.

These are unsettling times; the law firms that manage carefully through this period will be stronger and fit for the future. DLA Piper had a very solid year in comparison to competitors and we expect also to finish this year well in light of the economy. We would welcome discussions with you should you have questions about anything covered in this letter. Please contact me, any of our local office hiring partners
or any member of our recruiting team.

Earlier: Weil Gotshal Defers Current Summer Associates to 2011 or 2012
Breaking: Orrick Overhauls On-Campus Recruiting

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Posted in: DLA Piper, Job Searches, Start Dates, Summer Associates

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