For some first-year law students with the right pedigree, the door to a lucrative job at an elite U.S. law firm now opens before their first grades are in.
In a first, many top firms this year are recruiting summer associates during students' first semester. Some are dangling "jumbo offers" and "loyalty" bonuses for students who do two summer stints back-to-back, keeping them out of other firms' reach.
Recruiting has crept earlier for a decade and sped up after the pandemic, when online interviews let law firms bypass traditional campus programs. It's now starting nearly on day one, making it harder for students to make informed career choices and potentially saddling firms with mismatched hires or workers they won't need, experts said.
Read more from Karen Sloan.
