But 2008 was an anomalous year, wasn't it? It seems strange for a firm of less than 2,000 attorneys to hire 300+ SAs in a single year, as Skadden did just prior to the collapse. It seems like the big firms were kind of out of control with their hiring for a few years at the height of the bubble--just like they may have over-reacted with their layoffs and class reductions the past couple of years.

It wasn't just 08. It was all the middle 00's. Before then I have no clue.

Either way, I think we are basically back to a new normal. There isn't going to be a hiring frenzy. But it doesn't seem like we are at 2005-2008 hiring. But for t14's that doesn't mean a whole lot. Mostly it seems like you just end up at a less selective firm than you might have in 2006.

This is probably why OCI at non t14 is still really fucking shitty. The number of SA slots is still low, but enough for the t14 to get their fill. Back in boom times they had to hire at Notre Dame because literally all the t14 who weren't autistic were already going to a firm.

I'd say that as a whole, people here are at less preftigious firms than they would've gotten in 2008, if that's what's most important to them in a biglaw jerb.

however, i think the difficulty of getting a biglaw job period--i.e. salary-wise--is probably close to what it was pre-recession, if not on its way there.

I don't think the ease of getting a job is the same. Because it seems like a lot of people are skating by with 1 offer, or having to hustle mass mailing. People with shitty grades are worse off because there isn't a huge demand for t14 jds. They have to show their worth somehow.

Though I think the chances of getting a jerb are within 10% of what they were, at the T14 at least.

But I think if you are willing to hustle smartly t14= biglawl with you don't have autism.

Amen. At a T2 and only the people in the top 15% or so or those with ties have paying good jobs. Everyone else is scrambling waiting for the few small firm positions that will likely open up in March or April.

NYU also, and my experience is very much the same. Every single person with whom I am even remotely acquainted has a job lined up. People openly talk about which firms they are going to (not in a bragging way, but in a comfortable way that indicates the assumption that pretty much everyone around them is set as well). I am on a secondary journal, and do office hours with 7 people. All of them have V20 and higher firms lined up. I am friends with a group of 8 or 9 transfers. Many have V10's, a few V20's, a V50. Hell, I know kids around median who are set with top firms. NYC certainly was the market to recover the fastest, and the top NYC schools are really reaping the benefits of it now. Can't wait to see if the stats confirm my observations when they come out in a year or 2. Perhaps my samples are a bit skewed (transfers, journal folks, etc. tend to always do well), but I think the overall vibe is very good here.

I would argue that for the T6, things are getting close to pre-recession levels. HYS were pretty much recession-proof already, so its not like they needed much recovery. And CLS and NYU are both in the strongest market that recovered the fastest. I'm sure Chicago did well to, as it always does due to its small size and the reputation in Chicago. Can't say with as much certainty for T7-T10, but for T6, I'd say things are starting to look good again for the most part.

any info regarding below median at t6? t10? t14?

+1, very interested in the status of those below median at T6, T10, T14

WTF is a V150?

I don't know how to answer how "below median" people did at my DNC, but I do know that most people have firm jobs lined up that wanted them. I would guess about 30% of OCI participants don't have anything. I am not going to assume they were all bottom half, but maybe they were.

Maybe he meant NLJ?

Maybe he compiled his own list to supplement the V100?

.

Agree with this, tho not necessarily the firms listed.

You're at M and you only know one person without a job?? I don't know who you know but that is NOT representative. There are a significant number of us without jobs.

I believe blowhard was referring to 2L's (he is a 2L). I'm sure the story is very different for 3L's. Anecdotally, pretty much all of the 2L's I know have something lined up for the summer, though several are at smaller firms or PI positions that don't lead to guaranteed long-term jobs.

Ok that makes more sense.

Anecdotal CLS follow up:

I know of only one person who does not have a firm job. Everyone else does, and it was fairly common in the fall to talk to other people about "where everyone is going for the summer." Although i did feel really bad for the 1 person i know who struck out when some people who didn't know asked him/her about the summer, and s/he replied 'still looking.' Although a few others I know, including myself, barely got by with only 1 offer (albeit myself and others got that 1 offer from different V30 firms).

Biglaw (defined as V100) seems guaranteed, with the majority going to V20 firms. that doesn't make it pre-recession in terms of the number of people going to the most prestigious firms, but pre-recession in the sense that it seems like a golden ticket to biglaw.

Good to know that CLS is having a similar experience. Not surprised at all either. NYC was the fastest to recover, and this is where so many of the jobs are located. So you had to expect that CLS and NYU would be able to really reap the benefits. Really good time to be at either school right now, it seems. Your experiences sound exactly like mine at NYU, in that a V100 firm seemed essentially guaranteed for anyone with halfway decent grades, a good personality, and perhaps a bit of work experience (though I know many people who got good jobs without any WE). I think that when the data comes out in 2013 for our OCI in 2011, CLS and NYU will be very close to the top.

This sounds exactly like my lower T14...

With all the jobs that have been cut at big firms, why would you think that hiring is back to pre- recession hiring? It seems like all this data is anecdotal. Does anyone have actual data ? I know that somewhere there was a thread where people posted the size and school of the SA at their firm. I think that people without jobs tend not to post. In part, they dont post because they get comments that imply that it is their own fault they don't have a job.

I think if you are T20 or better, things are pretty good and the bulk of the classes have decent gigs lined up for the summer. For the lower tier schools, the picture is not so good. I would be surprised if 50% have anything decent lined up and are waiting for the few small and mid size SA positions that should open up this month and next month.

The school year's not even over yet, so obviously, you can't gather any definitive data, but I agree. There's definitely a self-selection bias going on in this thread that paints a much rosier picture than even the OCI threads. People without jobs are unlikely to talk to other people about their situations, much less go on an internet message board to broadcast it to the world.

Of course people without jerbs are not going to talk about it much with all the egos and oneupsmanship that goes on. By reading the 3L threads I can only assume their problems are the same as the 2Ls - no jobs for many.