While law school applicants vary widely in their ultimate ambitions, most share the same entry-level career goal: a position as an associate at a law firm.
It’s common for law students to compete for positions as a summer associate at a firm they hope to receive a return offer from. Even those interested in public interest law might spend at least some time in private practice, earning money while building legal skills.
For decades, the process of law firm recruitment was highly regimented and coordinated by career services offices at law schools. However, this process is shifting rapidly, accelerated by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and structural changes in the legal job market.
Here are some trends that aspiring lawyers should understand:
— Law firm recruitment has moved earlier.
— Direct recruitment is rising.
— Specialized skills can provide an edge.
— Lawyers are changing firms more often.
Law Firm Recruitment Has Moved Earlier
Traditionally, students conducted on-campus interviews, known as OCI, in the late summer or early fall of their second year of law school.
Over time, competition among firms to capture student interest early has nudged these first-round interviews earlier. Now, students can expect OCI during their first year, perhaps even after the first semester.
[READ: How to Survive and Thrive First Year of Law School.]
This is a worrying development. Many students are still learning the ropes during their first term and perform better later on. Moreover, first-year students may not have a good sense of their career goals, or what kind of firm they’d want to join.
Fortunately, if you miss the boat during OCI in your first year, or end up at a firm that isn’t the best fit, you may still rejoin the process later on in law school. But if you’re gunning for a place in a highly selective firm, start preparing for interviews early.
Direct Recruitment Is Rising
In an age of social media ubiquity, there is less need for law schools to intermediate between students and recruiters. Increasingly, firms are establishing their own hiring processes and motivated students are applying directly to firms.
According to the National Association for Law Placement’s 2025 annual law student recruitment report, 80% of 2026 summer offers for second-year law students during the 2025 recruiting cycle came from employer-sponsored methods like direct applications rather than school-sponsored methods like OCI.
This is a shocking turnaround; until 2024, a majority of offers came through school-sponsored methods.
[Q&A: Advice for Law Students Hoping to Work at a Major Law Firm]
To hedge their bets, law students seeking summer positions at firms should expect to apply to firms directly as well as participate in on-campus recruitment, if offered.
While students may need to be more proactive as OCI diminishes in importance, career services offices still provide helpful advice for law students. Don’t take this valuable resource at your law school for granted.
Specialized Skills Can Provide an Edge
When hiring, law firms look above all for qualities like academic achievement, research and writing skills, and professionalism. Interviewers also seek to gauge applicants’ genuine interest in the firm as well as strengths in communication and teamwork.
Applicants with specialized knowledge in in-demand areas like AI, healthcare, technology and regulatory compliance may have a leg up.
This is one reason why law schools appreciate applicants with STEM backgrounds. Their expertise may be transferrable to technical legal fields like patent law.
Likewise, older applicants who took an indirect path to law school should see their prior career experience as an asset, not a setback.
[READ: How Future Private Sector Lawyers Can Present Themselves to Law Schools.]
Lawyers Are Changing Firms More Often
Traditionally, lawyers often spent their whole career at one firm, working their way up the ladder. Now job changes are quite frequent, as they are in most industries.
Recruiters target lawyers at every level from associate to partner for lateral hiring. Lawyers at major firms should expect aggressive outreach.
While this makes a role at a prestigious firm even more of a lure, it also means that chances for a career move may come and go.
So, while it makes sense to take law firm recruitment seriously if it fits your career goals, falling short in the process won’t end your career. By the time you graduate law school, your legal career has only begun.
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Law Firm Recruitment: What Law School Applicants Should Know originally appeared on usnews.com