Law Schools

Legal Recruiting And You: How The Sausage Is Made

NALP is a quasi-governing body that oversees legal recruiting from both the law school and Biglaw perspective.

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So far, and indeed going forward, this column has focused on providing advice for law students and alumni on the ins and outs of the legal hiring process as seen through the lens of the Career Services Office. But I also want to use this space to pull back the curtain a bit and show those who might not be familiar a bit of what the legal recruiting system looks like from my side of the desk.  Because their Annual Education Conference is currently happening, there is no better place to begin this look than with the National Association for Law Placement (NALP).  As I explain to my first-year students each fall, NALP is a quasi-governing body (though in reality, it is more of a forum) that oversees legal recruiting from both the law school and Biglaw perspective, akin to the NCAA, except that NALP thinks its members deserve to be duly compensated for their work.

NALP provides a number of services that all law students should be putting to good use.  The NALP Directory of Legal Employers is a fantastic repository of all types of information regarding its Biglaw members, including an array of hiring statistics and compensation figures.  Of particular interest to those just starting law school, the Directory might be the single best place to find firms that hire 1Ls as part of their summer program.  For those pursuing a career in public interest, the Public Service Job Directory is a well-known repository of job postings and employer profiles, but less well-known is that the PSJD is a NALP initiative (a fact that is on the home page, albeit in very small font).  NALP also provides reams of data on all aspects of legal recruiting and employment, including law firm diversity.  NALP members can even review statistics on the nature of Career Services Offices themselves, including salaries.

But perhaps the most important NALP product is the “Principles and Standards for Law Placement and Recruitment Activities.”  In short, these are the rules of legal recruiting.  Why do firms give students 28 days to accept a summer offer?  Part V.B.1 states, “Employers offering full-time positions to commence following graduation to candidates not previously employed by them should leave those offers open for at least 28 days following the date of the offer letter or until December 30, whichever comes first.”  Why can students only hold five offers open at once during fall recruiting?  Look to Part V.A.3.: “A candidate should not hold open more than five offers of employment at any one time. For each offer received that places a candidate over the offer limit, the candidate should, within one week of receipt of the excess offer, release an offer.”  Any law student who is even considering taking part in the fall recruiting cycle should read the Principles and Standards thoroughly and know them as if it were their Torts outline.  Also, as you go through the recruiting process, if you think a law firm is in violation of the Principles and Standards, reach out to your school’s CSO immediately.

As mentioned above, this week is the NALP Annual Education Conference in “South Florida” — as a native Miamian, anything North of Joe Robbie Stadium (yes, that will always be the stadium’s name) might as well be Georgia or Alabama — and while I am not in attendance, I took a look at the Conference agenda as it provides good sense of the important issues currently floating around the recruiting world.

Some of the discussions center around relatively mundane topics such as which CSO database is superior between Symplicity and 12twenty, to which I channel Washington State football coach Mike Leach.

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But other panels touch on topics of vital importance.  Evergreen issues such as the need to develop and retain a more diverse and inclusive set of law students and lawyers will be discussed on multiple occasions, including how best to engage and empower first generation law students.  How not to overload 1Ls when their heads are already spinning from everything else that the first few months of law school throws at them will also be discussed as will how to deal with students dealing with mental illness or substance abuse.  Topics which are more of the moment include how best to deal with an ever-shortening recruiting timeline that is creeping ever further into the summer and how to adjust recruiting efforts in this #MeToo moment.

NALP is a vital organization for not only those of us directly involved in legal recruiting, but for everyone in the legal realm.  Over the next several days by the beach, its members will tackle some of the most pressing issues in legal recruiting, hopefully coming up with some answers, or at least a bit more understanding.

Nicholas Alexiou is the Director of LL.M. and Alumni Advising as well as the Associate Director of Career Services at Vanderbilt University Law School. He will, hopefully, respond to your emails at [email protected].

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