Policies and Guidelines for Employers

The CDO welcomes conversations with employers about their recruiting engagement with BU Law and our students – please do not hesitate to contact us at lawcdo@bu.edu if you have any questions or would like to discuss specific issues.

For all forms of recruiting activities, BU LAW subscribes to the “Principles for a Fair and Ethical Recruitment Process” set forth by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), and expects both employers recruiting at BU law and BU Law students to comply with these as well.

In addition, the following BU Law Recruiting Policies, in combination with all relevant laws and policies, apply:

General Provisions:

  1. Unless addressed elsewhere in these policies, all offers to law student candidates, whether for summer employment or full-time employment following graduation, should remain open for at least two weeks after the date of the written offer.
  2. All offers should be confirmed in writing by an employer, with all relevant details, and with the offer letter date serving as the effective offer date for all timelines and deadlines.
  3. Employers should grant reasonable requests for extensions to students to whom they have extended offers.
  4. Students should familiarize themselves with employers’ individual recruiting policies.

Offers of Summer Employment to Second Year Students by OCI, Off-Campus Program, and NALP Member Employers:

  1. Offers made to 2Ls should remain open for at least 14 days after the date of the offer letter, with reasonable requests for extensions beyond that time to be granted insofar as possible.
  2. Employers may request that students to whom they have extended an offer affirm their interest in maintaining the offer within 14 days of receipt of the written offer.
  3. Students may not hold more than five (5) offers open at the same time. Once a student has reached five open offers, within one week of receiving any additional offers, the student should decline sufficient offers to bring the number of open offers back to five.
  4. Students may request one employer extend the deadline to accept an offer until April if the candidate is actively pursuing positions with public interest or government employers. Employers are encouraged to grant any such requests.
  5. Students are required to report weekly to the CDO on their status with the employers to which they have applied.

Full-Time Post-Graduate Employment:

  1. Candidates Previously Employed by the Employer: Offers for permanent post-graduate employment made by employers to students previously employed by the employer should remain open until October 1st of the student’s final year, or for 28 days from the date of the written offer, whichever is later.
  2. Candidates Not Previously Employed by the Employer: Offers for permanent post-graduate employment made by employers prior to December 15th should remain open for 28 days from the date of the written offer; offers made after December 15th should remain open for at least two weeks.

1L Law Students

Recognizing students’ attention during their first semester of law school should be primarily focused on their academic pursuits, BU Law recommends employers focus their contact with 1Ls during this time on career exploration matters, rather than on employment-related contact. The CDO encourages employers wishing to connect with 1L students, whether individually or collectively, to consult with the CDO on how best to do so while respecting the students’ academic acculturation.

All offers to first year law students for summer employment should remain open for at least two weeks following the date of the offer letter.

Non-discrimination Policy

BU Law has adopted a “Policy On Equal Opportunity In Recruiting” that addresses discrimination and sexual harassment issues. Employers who participate in our recruitment programs are asked to review and sign a copy of the policy as part of their registration process.

Note: Boston University School of Law affords the use of its facilities and services, including the posting of job opportunities through its CareerHub system, only to employers who do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status, and who do not engage in sexual harassment on and off the campus of Boston University School of Law.

Due to the threat of the loss of federal funding to Boston University resulting from the Solomon Amendment, the Law School has suspended the application of this policy to military recruiters. This exception in no way reflects acceptance of, or agreement with, any discriminatory hiring practices.