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I accepted an associate position at a large law firm in the midwest after my summer associate gig ended in August. WHen they offered my position they said they wouldn't be able to tell me which department I'd be in quite yet. Fastforward and its nearly thanksgiving and they still haven't told me which department I'd be in.... is this normal? does biglaw typically give out dept assignments at the same time as offers?

Anonymous User wrote:I accepted an associate position at a large law firm in the midwest after my summer associate gig ended in August. WHen they offered my position they said they wouldn't be able to tell me which department I'd be in quite yet. Fastforward and its nearly thanksgiving and they still haven't told me which department I'd be in.... is this normal? does biglaw typically give out dept assignments at the same time as offers?

Completely depends on the office. Sometimes you get an offer to join a specific group within the firm, sometimes you get an offer to join lit or corporate, and sometimes your offer is just for the firm as a whole. For many firms, they don't know a entire year in advance where they'll have room. You might not find out till next summer.

You may be able to glean from the firm's NALP page what groups associates are concentrated into. Although this information 1) might not be accurate and 2) is at best a guess

I found out what department/group I'd be in my first day of work. They have no real incentive to let you know earlier, it lets them adjust as necessary according to demand.

I didn't get mine until roughly a month before I started.

Found out a few weeks prior to the first day.

It's not likely you will find out anytime soon. A lot of factors go into deciding a practice group for associates. I believe some people in my class found out in April.