Top Law Schools

As a first or second year law student, is it appropriate to reach out to law firm partners to network? If anyone here has such experience, how is it different than reaching out and speaking with a junior/mid-level associate?

Nope, not at all. It'll be to your benefit. Just expect many of them to ignore you, which is part of the business, don't take it personally. I did this as a 1L, 2L, and 3L and grabbed coffee too.

Yeah there is zero reason not to do this. Just be smart about cold-contacting folks, the way you would about anyone. I did this repeatedly in law school, and it definitely landed some interviews.

This is a great idea, I strongly encourage it. Not only can you land interviews, but most importantly, you can find people who can be helpful throughout your career. Think of networking as a long-term effort. It can be a good idea to talk to both partners and associates. They'll give you a different perspective. And a good number of associates will end up working in-house eventually.

Definitely do it. A partner pushing your resume can be difference between you having a job or not.

Also, a lot of us (like me) have families that are a little bored of hearing our corporate law work stories/news. So, when an interested law student calls me to ask about my job, as long as I'm not busy, I'm thrilled to chat on the phone or grab coffee, as long as my schedule allows.

When people ignore, just don't take it personally as they may just be really busy with work.

Also, I'm not a partner though, just an associate.

I find that law partners have very low response rates to cold contact unless you have some connection to them so look for those, the more the better, and don't just contact random partners.