Private Sector

Most large law firms have formal summer associate programs for law students. These programs generally are for students who have completed their second year of law school. Most of the hiring is done during the late summer/early fall of students’ 2L year through law school recruitment programs and specialty job fairs. Firms generally will also accept applications directly from 2Ls if the firm does not recruit on campus. Some firms will also accept direct applications from 1Ls, although these opportunities are very limited. Unlike many other legal employers, large firms usually are able to predict their entry level hiring needs several years in advance and typically will make permanent employment offers to 2Ls upon their successful completion of the summer associate program.

If you are thinking of applying for a summer associate position at a large law firm as a 2L, it is important to cover all your bases: this means identifying and applying to (i) firms that participate in all of BU Law’s official recruitment programs, including On-Campus Interviewing or “OCI” , Off-Campus Recruitment Programs, and resume collections, (ii) firms that participate in other diversity and specialty job fairs, and (iii) firms that don’t formally participate in our recruitment programs or local job fairs due to geographic or other considerations.

Before you begin applying to large firms, it is important to do a bit of self-reflection. Start thinking about your career goals, where you want to practice (including smaller markets), your preferred practice settings (small or large; regional or national), and your substantive areas of interest (litigation, transactional, IP, health law, etc.) Once you have completed a self-assessment, it is time to begin researching prospective firms.

Researching Firms & Practice Areas

There are many resources available to help you research large law firms and practice areas. The following list will help you get started:

• The NALP Directory of Legal Employers is often the best place to start your research. NALP’s membership consists mainly of large law firms that recruit during OCI, and its searchable Directory will give you a “snapshot” of a firm’s demographics, recruitment information, diversity initiatives, and other helpful information.
• It is also important to consult individual firm websites. Once you have identified the firms in the geographic area(s) you are interested in, review their individual websites for information about practice areas, individual attorneys, community involvement, and summer associate programs.
• For information on specific attorneys, review Martindale Hubbell.  This website allows you to tailor your search by the size of the firm and practice area(s), as well as identify alumni/ae from BU Law or your undergraduate institution.
• There are also many commercial resources that can provide some information about practice areas and a firm’s strengths, such as Chambers Associate.
• Another popular resource is the Vault guides, which rank firms nationally, by practice area, and by reputation in specific geographic markets. They provide descriptive information about firms and associates’ anonymous responses to survey questions about life at their firms.
• The American Lawyer Summer and Midlevel Associate Surveys are also great resources for students looking for additional insights on firms, including information and rankings regarding associate satisfaction. The surveys are available in the CDO reference room.
• For information about legal opportunities in law firms and other employers abroad, look on CareerHub under the OCI & Job Listings tab. Also review the American Bar Association section of International Law’s International Internship Program.
• The BU Law Summer Employment Surveys on CareerHub will tell you about your BU Law classmates’ experiences at large firms (and other employers).
• The New York Law Journal’s Developing and OCI Game Plan and Major Lindsey & Africa’s Practice Area Summary will help you start learning about the variety of practice areas available at large law firms.
• Check out Akin Gump’s “Finding the Right Law Firm Fit” to learn more about how to distinguish among firms.

Recruitment Programs

Most large firms do their summer associate hiring through law school recruitment programs. These links provide helpful information about BU Law’s recruitment programs.

• Fall Recruitment Timeline
• On-Campus Interviewing (OCI)
• Off-Campus Recruitment Programs
• Diversity Recruitment Programs
• CareerHub & Technical Tips
• Transfer Students & Fall Recruitment
• Resume Collections
• Employer Events
• Rules & Policies
• FAQs

Diversity Programs

As part of their commitment to diversity, many large firms recruit 1L and 2L students through diversity job fairs and diversity fellowship and scholarship programs. You can find more information about diversity recruiting here.

Targeted Mailings

To apply to firms as a 2L in markets outside of Boston that do not participate in BU Law’s recruitment programs, a targeted mailing is the recommended process. This is also the recommended process for 1Ls hoping to secure a summer associate position. As part of your targeted mailing, you should include your resume and a cover letter that briefly explains your specific interest in that firm  and outlines the relevant skills/experience you would bring to the firm. If you send your materials via email (which is generally the recommended method), you should include a brief message in the body of the email stating that you are applying for a summer associate position and indicating that you have attached a resume and cover letter. You should include your resume and cover letter as attached pdfs (NOT Word documents), rather than including them in the body of the email. You can create a mail merge for a targeted mailing of large law firms using the NALP Directory. Click here for instructions about creating a mail merge.

Salaries

The starting salary for new associates (and summer associates) at large firms is fairly consistent among firms in a particular city, and generally is not negotiable. You can find more information about large firm salaries in various cities using NALP’s nationwide Associate Salary Survey and at particular firms using the NALP Directory of Legal Employers.

How to Succeed as a Summer Associate

Of course, getting a summer associate position is just the first step in the recruitment process. The next step is successfully completing the program.  These resources will help you get started:

The CDO’s How to Have a Have a Successful Summer; and

Vault’s 13 Tips to Make the Most of Your Summer BigLaw Internship.

Many small and mid-size firms hire 1Ls and 2Ls for summer associate positions and 3Ls and recent graduates for permanent positions. Unlike large firms, smaller firms generally cannot predict their staffing needs several months or years in advance so they typically hire both summer associates and permanent attorneys on an as needed basis. This means that the hiring timetables for small and mid-size firms vary greatly—ranging anywhere from late fall to late spring for summer associates and throughout the year for permanent positions. It also means that a successful summer associate will not always be offered a permanent position with the firm. There are, nevertheless, many benefits of summering in a smaller firm, including significant levels of responsibility, direct client contact, and substantive experience working on varied legal matters.

Hiring at smaller firms is usually handled by one or more attorneys at the firm, and positions are often filled through connections rather than formal job postings. Therefore, it is important for students to begin researching firms and networking with attorneys in the smaller firm market well in advance of any potential hiring decisions.

For more resources, review this handout for a list of hiring resources, and take a look at this recording of a September 23rd event with Blair Edwards and Jess Leveroni on this topic! The event PowerPoint can be found here.

Researching Firms

Researching smaller firms can be challenging because there is no web-based directory of firms (like the NALP Directory in the large firm market) to give you a snapshot of the firms in your geographic area(s) of interest. The CDO, however, maintains detailed lists of small and mid-size firms in a variety of geographic markets, including California, Chicago, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Houston, Vermont, Washington, DC, and Washington State. These lists can be sorted by practice area and include contact information for the hiring attorney and any BU Law alumni who work at the firms. Download any of these spreadsheets from the Job Search Resources website.

You can also find additional information about smaller firms on Martindale Hubbell and individual firm websites.

Search Strategies

Networking and Informational Interviewing

The best way to get started searching for a summer or permanent job in a small or mid-size firm is to begin networking with the attorneys who practice in these firms. You can begin by approaching people you already know–family, friends, alumni mentors, friends of friends, professors–who do the type of work (or know people who do the type of work) you are interested in. Next, reach out to alumni from BU Law or your undergraduate institution who practice the type of law or work in the geographic area you are interested in. For more information about how to identify alumni and other contacts, see our Developing Contacts page. When you connect, ask for an informational interview to discuss their practice and seek advice about how best to market yourself for a position with a smaller firm in their field or geographic location. If you are unsure about how to phrase your initial communication, you might write something like this:

“I am a student at Boston University School of Law and am interested in labor law. I understand you specialize in this area. I wondered if you might be willing to meet with me at your convenience for an informational interview. I am eager to learn more about the field, and would especially value the chance to talk with a BU Law alum. I look forward to speaking with you.”

Attending bar association and continuing legal education meetings is another great way to meet attorneys in the fields and locations that interest you. Many bar associations and continuing legal education providers offer free memberships and/or programming for law students. Their meetings and social events are a great opportunity to meet practicing attorneys and develop your networking skills. The CDO also sponsors alumni panels and networking events geared towards the small-mid-size firm market. You can learn more about upcoming events in the CDO weekly emails and events calendar and by joining or signing up to receive email alerts from sponsoring organizations. To get you started, here is a list of several bar associations that offer free or discounted memberships to students:

• The Boston Bar Association
• The Massachusetts Bar Association
• The Women’s Bar Association
• The American Bar Association
• Massachusetts Lesbian & Gay Bar Association
• Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association
• Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys
• International Bar Association
• The Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts
• American Association for Justice
• Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association

Targeted Mailings

Beginning in the spring semester, you can begin to send targeted mailings to firms. Targeted mailing describes the process of sending your application materials to firms of particular interest (given their practice area(s), size, location, etc.). As part of your targeted mailing you should include your resume and a cover letter that briefly explains your interest in the firm and highlights your relevant skills and experience. If you send your materials by email (the preferred method for most firms), include a brief note in the body of the email and attach your cover letter and resume as pdfs (NOT Word documents), rather than including them in the body of the email. It is important to note that targeted mailings are more effective than mass mailings (which are not targeted to specific firms). Firms look for candidates who are sincerely interested in them and have relevant skills and experience. Taking the time to identify and target firms that are a good fit for you and crafting application materials that are tailored to those particular firms will help you distinguish yourself from the many other applicants who apply to small and mid-size firms each year.

Postings

While positions with small and mid-size firms are often filled through informal channels, many small and mid-size firms also post summer and permanent positions on CareerHub and other sites like Lawyers Weekly and LawJobs.com. Given the variability of the smaller firm hiring process, it is important to check for postings throughout the year (although you are likely to see more postings in the spring than in the fall).

Salaries

Salaries at smaller law firms often vary a great deal. Some mid-size firms may offer salaries equivalent to large firms, while smaller firms typically pay far less. Salaries are influenced by the size, practice areas and billing rates of the firm. There are several resources, most of them available online, that can give you some general indication of the going salaries in various geographic areas. For example, NALP publishes a nationwide Associates Salary Survey every year. The survey provides aggregated information about salaries at firms of all sizes. Some legal placement firms, such as Robert Half Legal, also publish annual surveys of associates’ salaries. For information about how to negotiate salaries, see our Negotiating Salaries page.

How to Have a Successful Summer

Because small and mid-size firms typically do not have formal summer associate programs, each student’s experience at a particular firm is likely to be unique. Nevertheless, these general tips about how to have a successful summer should help you better understand what to expect as a summer associate and how to make the most of your summer experience.