We already knew that Biglaw firms were stepping away from using law school interview programs as their main source of recruitment in favor of alternative hiring plans, but one elite law firm just made a move that may spell doom for on-campus interviews if more firms decide to follow its lead.
Latham & Watkins — a firm that brought in $5,688,226,000 gross revenue in 2023, putting it at No. 2 on the Am Law 100 — will no longer be participating in law school interview programs to recruit summer associates. Instead, the firm is encouraging all candidates to send their applications directly to the firm. Bloomberg Law has additional details:
The Los Angeles-founded firm had been cutting on-campus interviews, dubbed OCIs, over the last three years before opting out entirely this year, according to the person [familiar with the matter], who spoke on a condition of anonymity. The 3,000-lawyer firm has directed law students to apply online for the summer associate positions that are the principal pathway for graduating law students to get jobs.
As the National Association for Law Placement reported earlier this month, the majority of offers (56%) made during the 2025 recruitment cycle resulted from alternative hiring programs. In the wake of Latham’s move, Nikia Gray, NALP’s executive director, now believes that OCI will shift to becoming “more of a primary tool for regional and local firms. For those big national firms, it’s going to become something that they perhaps participate in to top off or round out their class.”
How many Biglaw firms will step away from on-campus recruiting now that Latham has officially put another nail in its coffin? Only time will tell. Is your law firm planning to kick OCI to the curb? Please let us know. You can email us or text us (646-820-8477) if you have any intel. Thank you.
Latham Scraps On-Campus Interviews to Recruit Summer Associates [Bloomberg Law]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.