What is going on at the Cadwalader D.C. office? First came the news that they lost four rainmaking antitrust partners to Paul, Weiss, and now they’ve cancelled their summer program. What? Yup. You read that right.
The D.C. office of Cadwalader is forgoing its summer program in 2017.
Students at American University Washington College of Law who had signed up to interview with the D.C. office of Cadwalader during on-campus recruitment got an email telling them the program is no more — at least for this year:
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Cadwalader DC greatly appreciates your interest in the firm and the DC office and wants to inform you that their plans have changed and the DC office will not hold a summer program next summer. Although Cadwalader DC will not be recruiting on campus this year, they are excited about returning to campus for summer 2018 as well as for 3L hiring. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Jason Beekman, Manager of Attorney Development and Legal Recruitment [ ]. The firm looks forward to keeping in touch.
And it isn’t as if American Law student are being punked — students at George Washington Law School also received notification that summer program was being cancelled:
Thank you for registering to attend Cadwalader’s hospitality suite on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the firm has decided to cancel their hospitality suite and interview schedule as they will no longer be hosting a summer 2017 program.
Welp, this is a… bold move.
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The summer associate program is a major component of modern Biglaw recruitment. Canceling a summer program is generally reserved for firms experiencing dire financial issues (the move got a particularly bad rap in 2012, when Dewey & LeBoeuf pulled the plug on its summer program just days before the demise of the firm became official), or firms with such a great reputation they can buck the prevailing employment model.
It is unclear exactly what the thinking behind Cadwalder’s cancellation was — but we reached out to the firm for comment, and it is only the D.C. office that is on a break:
Our summer programs in our NY and Charlotte offices are on track as usual. We are as committed as ever to our Washington office, however, to be fair to students interested in our DC office, we decided to take a year off from having a DC summer program to allow us to have more clarity on our hiring needs before recruiting incoming DC associates for the Fall of 2018.
Reading between the lines, it seems entirely possible that the departure of big-name partners had an impact on their summer program. At least the firm made the call before extending offers to law students, and they can now plan accordingly.
Earlier: Musical Chairs: Cadwalader Antitrust Stars Decamp For Paul, Weiss
Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).