THE RETURN OF THE SUMMER ASSOCIATE.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 September 2016
• Author: Fitzgarrald, Jonathan

According to "The National Law Journal," law firm summer associate programs are on the rise and it's paying off: 95 percent of summer associates who clerked for law firms in the summer of 2015 were offered permanent positions after graduation. This is the highest rate since 2007, and up significantly from the low of 69 percent in 2009.

Prior to 2008, BigLaw was booming and firms kept pace with client demand by hiring law students for summer associate positions. These students were groomed to become associates and many received full-time offers upon graduation. But with the Great Recession came significant changes across the legal landscape: As the economic downturn bled into all sectors, companies drastically cut their legal budgets and, in response, law firms scaled back across the board, including campus recruitment efforts.

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