NALP Bulletin, August 2008
As summer programs draw to a close, most employers can predict reasonably well what the acceptance rate from their summer program will be. However, a look at the broader picture and at the trends over time provide not only benchmarks against which to compare one's own results, but also a better understanding of the larger market and a clearer picture of how the legal employment market tracks with the overall economy.
NALP has been monitoring summer and fall recruiting activity in some manner for about 20 years and has collected information on summer program outcomes since the early 1990s by means of a yearly survey of employers. The findings are published annually in Perspectives on Fall Law Student Recruiting. A compilation of results over the past 10 years is shown in the table below and the table on the opposite page. Some of the notable findings include:
The full Perspectives on Fall Law Student Recruiting reports from 2001 are available under "Research & Directories" > Recruitment & Hiring. In addition to more detailed information on summer program outcomes, these reports also offer information on fall recruiting for summer programs, third-year recruiting, employer activity on campus, and summer program characteristics.
Summary of Summer Program Outcomes — 1997-2001
1997 | 1999 | 2001 | |||||||
Median Size of Summer Program | % of Participants Receiving Offer | % of Offers Accepted | Median Size of Summer Program | % of Participants Receiving Offer | % of Offers Accepted | Median Size of Summer Program | % of Participants Receiving Offer | % of Offers Accepted | |
Nationwide | 8.0 | 88.2% | 60.1% | 8.0 | 88.9% | 65.2% | 6.0 | 84.2% | 72.8% |
Size of Firm: | |||||||||
50 or fewer | 4.0 | 79.3 | 59.0 | 3.0 | 69.1 | 68.1 | 2.0 | 63.3 | 72.6 |
51-100 | 6.0 | 84.8 | 73.2 | 5.0 | 83.0 | 75.4 | |||
101-250 | 9.0 | 88.3 | 62.0 | 8.0 | 88.5 | 64.9 | 8.5 | 81.8 | 73.2 |
251-500 | 10.0 | 92.2 | 58.6 | 9.0 | 90.0 | 70.3 | 11.0 | 82.8 | 73.3 |
501+ | 10.0 | 91.4 | 60.1 | 8.0 | 89.1 | 71.8 | |||
By City: | |||||||||
Boston | 28.0 | 97.8 | 75.0 | 19.0 | 97.4 | 73.5 | 21.0 | 88.2 | 82.5 |
New York City | 10.0 | 97.4 | 59.2 | 18.0 | 97.6 | 70.3 | 12.0 | 95.0 | 78.5 |
Philadelphia | — | — | — | 10.0 | 90.3 | 63.4 | 11.0 | 73.8 | 87.2 |
Washington, DC | 7.5 | 91.5 | 48.4 | 8.5 | 90.2 | 59.7 | 7.0 | 88.9 | 66.0 |
Atlanta | 23.0 | 91.5 | 54.1 | 13.5 | 90.8 | 62.3 | 9.0 | 85.2 | 70.8 |
Dallas | 18.0 | 84.8 | 57.1 | 22.0 | 75.3 | 39.3 | 17.0 | 79.5 | 55.1 |
Houston | 18.0 | 81.4 | 52.2 | 21.0 | 89.9 | 49.7 | 10.5 | 79.2 | 60.7 |
Chicago | 15.0 | 90.0 | 65.9 | 14.0 | 91.7 | 70.1 | 9.0 | 86.4 | 71.9 |
Los Angeles | 6.0 | 64.5 | 60.0 | 6.0 | 86.9 | 66.3 | 6.0 | 88.3 | 69.9 |
San Francisco | 7.0 | 90.7 | 44.9 | 5.0 | 91.7 | 59.1 | 7.0 | 85.1 | 67.2 |
Source: NALP's Perspectives on Fall Law Student Recruiting reports
for 1997-2007.
Summary of Summer Program Outcomes – 2003-2007
2003 | 2005 | 2007 | |||||||
Median Size of Summer Program | % of Participants Receiving Offer | % of Offers Accepted | Median Size of Summer Program | % of Participants Receiving Offer | % of Offers Accepted | Median Size of Summer Program | % of Participants Receiving Offer | % of Offers Accepted | |
Nationwide | 5.0 | 87.0% | 77.0% | 6.0 | 90.6% | 73.0% | 6.0 | 92.8% | 76.8% |
By Size of Firm: | |||||||||
50 or fewer | 2.0 | 64.5 | 75.6 | 2.0 | 60.4 | 70.4 | 3.0 | 73.0 | 73.6 |
51-100 | 4.0 | 74.8 | 77.3 | 4.0 | 79.5 | 76.4 | |||
101-250 | 6.0 | 80.0 | 77.8 | 8.0 | 84.3 | 77.1 | 8.0 | 87.6 | 78.3 |
251-500 | 5.0 | 85.8 | 81.7 | 9.0 | 88.2 | 73.7 | 9.0 | 90.5 | 77.5 |
501+ | 7.0 | 91.9 | 75.4 | 9.0 | 95.3 | 72.0 | 8.0 | 96.1 | 76.5 |
By City: | |||||||||
Boston | 14.0 | 93.2 | 78.9 | 9.0 | 96.5 | 85.3 | 9.0 | 97.9 | 80.1 |
New York City | 18.0 | 96.4 | 78.5 | 14.0 | 99.1 | 76.3 | 22.0 | 99.0 | 79.5 |
Philadelphia | 14.0 | 93.8 | 86.7 | 13.0 | 93.8 | 83.5 | 16.0 | 92.7 | 81.4 |
Washington, DC | 6.0 | 84.9 | 68.4 | 9.5 | 94.4 | 60.5 | 9.0 | 94.7 | 71.9 |
Atlanta | 12.0 | 86.8 | 72.0 | 10.5 | 93.4 | 65.9 | 4.0 | 87.6 | 67.0 |
Dallas | 8.0 | 73.3 | 68.2 | 15.5 | 79.5 | 56.0 | 17.0 | 85.0 | 47.8 |
Houston | 5.0 | 82.1 | 62.3 | 9.0 | 85.3 | 54.9 | 8.0 | 83.7 | 60.9 |
Chicago | 9.0 | 90.7 | 79.4 | 11.0 | 94.4 | 75.3 | 9.0 | 95.3 | 81.7 |
Los Angeles | 5.0 | 88.6 | 82.1 | 6.0 | 94.2 | 77.3 | 5.5 | 91.0 | 77.6 |
San Francisco | 5.0 | 84.9 | 86.1 | 5.0 | 92.4 | 73.8 | 5.0 | 94.5 | 65.8 |
Source: NALP's Perspectives on Fall Law Student Recruiting reports for 1997-2007.