General State of Market for New Grads Forum

[Andymayne2]

In this Covid economy, how are prospects right now for new T14 law school graduates? Is everyone fucked like in the prior recession?

[nealric]

In this Covid economy, how are prospects right now for new T14 law school graduates? Is everyone fucked like in the prior recession?

Mot recent T14 graduates likely secured their employment pre-COVID. Any who didn't were likely to have a tough time COVID or not. We won't know how the current rising 2L class fares until recruiting season is over, which won't be until after Spring next year due to delayed timelines.

Setting aside T14 graduates, I would not want to be a new graduate on the job market right now.

[Anonymous User]

I just graduated from a T25 school. The only people I know with jobs had them pre-COVID. I know of some people who have had interviews (ranging from personal injury to biglaw) but nobody has received an offer. So presumably there are a few jobs out there, but not many. Most of them have been applying in the southeast.

[Anonymous User]

2L recruiting has been delayed into the Spring, but some biglaw firms have started to fire associates (i.e. Baker McKenzie). I would expect summer classes at some firms to be much smaller than those in recent years.

[LBJ's Hair]

I feel like it's really gonna vary firm to firm

As someone mentioned, Baker McKenzie is (apparently) doing layoffs, while my S/O's firm seems completely back to normal after a dip in April. Hours are above Jan levels, they offered all their summers, have been interviewing/hiring clerks, etc

[Anonymous User]

Not a new grad but a 2019 grad who just completed a state level clerkship. Some clerks secured jobs before covid but covid really hit right when the regional firms clerks from my court apply to started interviewing/hiring. It was completely quiet until the first week of August, but since then many clerks have gotten jobs. These certainly aren't biglaw jobs but I think they're pretty standard of the jobs clerks usually get. Anecdotally, I was interviewing a lot in February/early March, mid-March-August got no interviews/offers. Then suddenly the first two weeks of August I had like 5 interviews and ultimately ended up doing 3 of them and getting offers from all 3. I ended up with a job I'm really excited about and I think it's pretty much the best case scenario for a job from my clerkship regardless of covid or no covid. On August 1, I really thought I wasn't going to have any job at all. I know some of the other clerks had similar experiences. There are jobs out there!

[Anonymous User]

Not a new grad but a 2019 grad who just completed a state level clerkship. Some clerks secured jobs before covid but covid really hit right when the regional firms clerks from my court apply to started interviewing/hiring. It was completely quiet until the first week of August, but since then many clerks have gotten jobs. These certainly aren't biglaw jobs but I think they're pretty standard of the jobs clerks usually get. Anecdotally, I was interviewing a lot in February/early March, mid-March-August got no interviews/offers. Then suddenly the first two weeks of August I had like 5 interviews and ultimately ended up doing 3 of them and getting offers from all 3. I ended up with a job I'm really excited about and I think it's pretty much the best case scenario for a job from my clerkship regardless of covid or no covid. On August 1, I really thought I wasn't going to have any job at all. I know some of the other clerks had similar experiences. There are jobs out there!

Congrats on the moves. As a fellow 2019 grad, can you give some advice on what resources you used? I moved to a new area last winter for work and to take the bar, but Covid took that job opportunity away unfortunately (I did get licensed in that state though). I haven't worked since I graduated from a school just outside the T14. I have solid internship experience, median grades, and will work any type of law. Websites like Indeed aren't doing much for me besides the occasional interview, and it's tough to network because of the pandemic, but I'd be willing to try much harder on that front. I'm stuck between whether I should just work anywhere at this point (even though that's not even a guarantee), or work harder on the applying/networking side, or all of the above.

[Anonymous User]

Not a new grad but a 2019 grad who just completed a state level clerkship. Some clerks secured jobs before covid but covid really hit right when the regional firms clerks from my court apply to started interviewing/hiring. It was completely quiet until the first week of August, but since then many clerks have gotten jobs. These certainly aren't biglaw jobs but I think they're pretty standard of the jobs clerks usually get. Anecdotally, I was interviewing a lot in February/early March, mid-March-August got no interviews/offers. Then suddenly the first two weeks of August I had like 5 interviews and ultimately ended up doing 3 of them and getting offers from all 3. I ended up with a job I'm really excited about and I think it's pretty much the best case scenario for a job from my clerkship regardless of covid or no covid. On August 1, I really thought I wasn't going to have any job at all. I know some of the other clerks had similar experiences. There are jobs out there!

Congrats on the moves. As a fellow 2019 grad, can you give some advice on what resources you used? I moved to a new area last winter for work and to take the bar, but Covid took that job opportunity away unfortunately (I did get licensed in that state though). I haven't worked since I graduated from a school just outside the T14. I have solid internship experience, median grades, and will work any type of law. Websites like Indeed aren't doing much for me besides the occasional interview, and it's tough to network because of the pandemic, but I'd be willing to try much harder on that front. I'm stuck between whether I should just work anywhere at this point (even though that's not even a guarantee), or work harder on the applying/networking side, or all of the above.

Sure! I actually got my job from my schools job board which was a complete surprise. I didn't think people actually got jobs from that. I was in a similarish situation to you in that I went to school in one state but was looking for a job in another state (think went to school in say NY and looking for a job in CT). I did a lot of applying on Indeed but ultimately got interviews mainly from apply on my states bar association website. Check if your state has a bar association site or a young lawyers chapter. I wasn't involved in the SBA but there were postings there and I think the head of the young lawyers chapter was helpful in connecting other clerks with jobs. Good luck!

[Pomeranian]

According to data from the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report: While the U.S. economy overall added 1.4 million jobs in August, the legal industry added zero jobs...

https://www.law.com/2020/09/04/jobs-rep ... s-nothing/

[Anonymous User]

Post-clerkship hiring was brutal for those who had the misfortune of starting their search in late February/early March. Doesn’t bode well for current 2Ls. If BigLaw firms weren’t hiring clerks, I’m skeptical they’re going to want to hire a bunch of summers.

[Anonymous User]

Post-clerkship hiring was brutal for those who had the misfortune of starting their search in late February/early March. Doesn’t bode well for current 2Ls. If BigLaw firms weren’t hiring clerks, I’m skeptical they’re going to want to hire a bunch of summers.

It was rough for me too as an appellate federal clerk, and I didn't get a lot of traction with big law firms (thankfully, I had my time at a big firm and was trying to move out anyway). But I found that firms were just hesitant to hire 6 months out at the uncertain start of a pandemic. I got a ton of offers a month before my clerkship ended. Hang in there!

[Anonymous User]

Post-clerkship hiring was brutal for those who had the misfortune of starting their search in late February/early March. Doesn’t bode well for current 2Ls. If BigLaw firms weren’t hiring clerks, I’m skeptical they’re going to want to hire a bunch of summers.

It was rough for me too as an appellate federal clerk, and I didn't get a lot of traction with big law firms (thankfully, I had my time at a big firm and was trying to move out anyway). But I found that firms were just hesitant to hire 6 months out at the uncertain start of a pandemic. I got a ton of offers a month before my clerkship ended. Hang in there!

OOC, what kinds of firms gave you offers recently?