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Just wondering when the average start date for new associates happens to be? I've seen on a few firm's NALP forms that the latest start date is January, is that average? I know you can be deferred, sometimes indefinitely, but excluding those instances when is a normal start date? Jan. is 9 months after graduation, don't you only have 6 months before loan payments start to kick in? How are you supposed to start paying loans if you haven't started yet, do most take on some type of other job to hold them over?

pjo wrote:Just wondering when the average start date for new associates happens to be? I've seen on a few firm's NALP forms that the latest start date is January, is that average? I know you can be deferred, sometimes indefinitely, but excluding those instances when is a normal start date? Jan. is 9 months after graduation, don't you only have 6 months before loan payments start to kick in? How are you supposed to start paying loans if you haven't started yet, do most take on some type of other job to hold them over?

Going to be at a lit boutique this fall. Start date is whenever I want to start, as long as it is reasonable.

Depends on the firm. Some firms allow you to start any day after you take the bar, others the first Monday after you take the bar, others have staggered start dates, any one of which you can take. The staggered start dates will typically be something like August, September, October, November. Yet other firms, will assign you a specific start date.

Probably best to look at the abovethelaw open threads on start-dates to get an idea of what your firm might do.

Firms that have late start dates like Jan prob give you some sort of sign on bonus. Also a lot of firms pay stipends when you get deferred and they're not that bad at all if you get a biglaw offer. High 5 figures.

Firms that have late start dates like Jan prob give you some sort of sign on bonus. Also a lot of firms pay stipends when you get

Even firms that start associates way earlier than January give signing bonuses/bar stipends/etc.

In terms of federal loans, you get 60 days after graduation, plus an additional 270 days of forbearance whenever you opt to use them, so long as you can identify a valid reason (not working is a valid reason). Note that if you had federal loans in UG and you went part-time during any semester, some of your forbearance may have been used already.

A&O wrote:Depends on the firm. Some firms allow you to start any day after you take the bar, others the first Monday after you take the bar, others have staggered start dates, any one of which you can take. The staggered start dates will typically be something like August, September, October, November. Yet other firms, will assign you a specific start date.

Probably best to look at the abovethelaw open threads on start-dates to get an idea of what your firm might do.

Thanks for all the responses. Can you post a link to the "open threads"? I can't seem to find anything like that on the site.

http://abovethelaw.com/2009/04/nationwi ... -the-list/

That's a good starting point. I'm sure you can use the tags to navigate to a more recent entry for this year's start dates.

Some of the firms are inaccurate, though, especially since many firms moved start dates up (and many others moved them even further back) as the date approached. Let me know if you have specific firms in mind and I'll tell you what I know!

Do basically all firms offer a stipend if you don't start until Jan/Feb? I'm looking on the ATL thread A&O posted and it seems like only a handful offer a stipend. What do for those 8-9 months in between graduation and starting? I can't believe the firm would just expect you to sit at home and do nothing

Do basically all firms offer a stipend if you don't start until Jan/Feb? I'm looking on the ATL thread A&O posted and it seems like only a handful offer a stipend. What do for those 8-9 months in between graduation and starting? I can't believe the firm would just expect you to sit at home and do nothing

Varies from firm to firm. If not a stipend, some firms will give a salary advance.

It may be different for the class of 2011, but for 2010 many of the deferred associates received no stipend if it the start date was by Jan-March. After that, it seems that most received some sort of stipend though definitely not high five figures as one poster stated. Most are around $5k/month, and many firms deferred for a full year with this type of pay with the caveat that the incoming associate work for a non-profit.

It seems like most firms are trying to catch up and push start dates back. If you were an SA in 2010 (2011 grad), you will likely see a similar date to the class above you though probably slightly earlier. If you will be an SA in 2011, you may be in good shape for an on-time start because firms significantly reduced starting class sizes for 2010 SA's (by smaller classes) and 2009 (by low offer rates).

It really varies firm by firm. The average doesn't really matter.

Both my sister and her boyfriend started in October '10 (originally supposed to start in January '11 but both had start dates moved up). Both at firms in the V40-V70 range. Both of them graduated in May '10.