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Historically, large law firms and some government agencies conducted ‘fall recruiting’ in September or October, primarily targeting second-year law students. To avoid conflicts with fall classes, the On-Campus Interviewing (OCI) programs shifted this timeline to the summer. This adjustment gave students earlier access to potential employers prompting more law schools to follow suit. By the early 2000s, most law schools had transitioned OCI to August, though some continued to hold sessions in July. The Great Recession necessitated further change. Today, most law schools conduct OCI in early to mid-August, before the start of Fall classes.
OCI is an expensive and time-consuming process. In the analog era of recruiting, law firms relied on law schools to reach students, with some firms flying in lawyers from across the country for face-to-face meetings. The National Association of Law Placement (NALP) reports it was an average of 6 to 8 weeks from the first interview to the job offer for lateral associates, while partner-level searches took 3 to 6 months, depending on the firm’s book of business and other factors.
Everything Changed During Covid -19
Covid-19 brought confusion, fear, and uncertainty. By the summer of 2020, the world was shut down, and everyone waited for things to return to normal. In law student recruiting, schools had no choice but to cancel their OCI programs. By January 2021, most schools were hosting OCIs virtually. As everyone adjusted to the pandemic, students began reaching out directly to firms for summer associate positions.
For the first time in decades, students and firms engaged directly rather than exclusively through schools. While Covid -19 caused chaos, it also spurred rapid technological development and new programs that permanently changed legal recruiting.
The digital era of recruiting begins
OCI resumed in the summer in a fully virtual format, but the recruiting landscape was permanently transformed. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of video platforms such as Zoom, removing geographic barriers and normalizing remote interviews and hiring decisions. In 2021, 56% of students reported contacting employers directly outside their school’s OCI program, with over 70% of those students securing screening interviews.
The previously analog, school-managed process quickly evolved into a decentralized, digital marketplace where firms and students engaged directly. Firms recognized the efficiency and strategic advantages of this approach, including greater control over timing and the ability to bypass lottery-based OCI systems. As a result, many firms never fully reverted to pre-pandemic practices.
NALP Comments on Competitive Recruiting Timeline
By 2023, only 53% of summer associate offers were made through OCI, and 45% were extended in July or earlier, reflecting an accelerating competition to secure candidates.
No rule has ever required firms to recruit in August or participate in OCI, and there is no mechanism to mandate a return to previous structures. Recruiting practices have evolved in response to changing market forces during an unprecedented global disruption.
For law students, the changes have made an already fraught process even more difficult. Schools, which can provide valuable resume and interview assistance, are struggling to meet the new, often disjointed recruiting timeline, said Lauren Jackson, an associate dean in Howard University’s law student career services office.
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