Hope for Second-Year Law School Students?(And: If Hitler Were a Berkeley 2L)

In parsing the fate of law school students, there’s no point in talking about the 3Ls. Their chances of success in the job hunt are about as bright as Obama’s prospects of winning the war in Afghanistan. In other words, abandon hope all ye who enter here.
The 1Ls can actually pray the economy will improve. And unlike the poor 3Ls, they knew what they were getting into when they enrolled this fall.
But what about the 2Ls? They have a year and a half more to stay in the law school bunker. Is that long enough for the economy to pick up and for firms to open their wallets doors to draw them close to the Biglaw bosom? Many 2Ls report that their dance cards for the summer are empty.
But there may be hope for current 2Ls without summer suitors, reports Zach Lowe at AmLaw Daily. Some firms are coming back for another round:

[A] small number of those 2Ls stand to benefit from an added mini-round of recruiting, which law school officials and firm recruiters attribute to the cautious stance some firms took the first time around in August and September. The reason, according to about a dozen sources we interviewed: Firms shooting for smaller class sizes limited their offers to the best of the best in the class of 2010. The students in that group found themselves with several offers to choose from, leaving firms short of the already smaller-than-usual targets they’d set. Now those firms are going back to top law schools and asking about candidates who have not yet secured a gig for summer 2010, according to career services deans at law schools, law firm recruiters, and industry groups.

Which firms are still looking? What are they looking for? And, if Adolf Hitler was a 2L, what would he do?
Find out after the jump.


Skadden Arps, Kelley Drye, Kaye Scholer, and Latham & Watkins are among those rumored to be looking for more summer associates. They’re not going to take just anybody, though:

Some law firms, the career advisers say, returned to campuses in November for additional interviews — though those sessions tended to be with a select group of students who matched certain criteria (such as practice area experience and interest, or a willingness to work in a particular part of the country). Other firms are calling career services officials and asking to be connected with such students, officials say. In early November, Georgetown University’s law school set up videoconference interviews with law firm partners outside the Washington, D.C., region for a handful of 2Ls, says Gihan Fernando, assistant dean for career services at the school.

Some schools are being extremely proactive about getting their bright young things hired. Harvard and Columbia “have compiled resumes of uncommitted 2Ls into books and sent them to law firms, according to officials at those schools.”
Good luck snagging jobs in the second round, 2Ls! If summer 2010 approaches, though, and you’re still jobless, Berkeley law school has advice for you.
This video from Berkeley law students starts with a Star Wars intro. We’re so sick of parody videos that riff on that intro that we almost dismissed it. But we persevered and were rewarded with a hilarious dubbing of Downfall. Have you ever thought about how Hitler would handle being a 2L? The Boalties have:

So 2Ls, if you don’t snag a job in this second mini-round of recruiting, get to work organizing 1L-2L mixers.
Good News for 2Ls: More Interviews [AmLaw Daily]
Hitler Angry About Smart 1Ls [YouTube]
Earlier: Open Thread: 3L Recruiting

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