The traditional on-campus interviewing (OCI) process at law schools may become a relic of the past, per recent indications in the legal realm. Biglaw firms seem to be gravitating more towards ‘precruiting’ law students, an approach that bypasses the structured recruitment programs of educational institutions.
The paradigm shift has been revealed in the words of Caroline Menes, director of legal recruiting at Sheppard Mullin. In a conversation with the American Lawyer, she expressed a feeling of inevitability regarding the diminishing importance of OCI, stating, “I think the reality is that pretty soon we’re not going to be participating in OCI at all.”
Menes, however, didn’t neglect the mixed feelings that this transition stirs within her. She reminisces on the clarity of the recruitment process in the past and voices concern about students being potentially robbed of sufficient decision-making time in the current scenario. “It’s hard because I feel like students are not getting as much time to consider and explore all their options before making a decision that’s going to impact their career for a long time.”
Among the early adapters to this developing scenario are Yale and Stanford Law schools, which have moved forward the dates of their virtual on-campus interviews, in raw response to the precruiting trend. On the other hand, many law schools are yet to establish their stance vis-a-vis this upheaval.
Statistics provided by Nikia Gray, the executive director of the National Association for Law Placement, offer a window into the magnitude of this change; nearly half of all summer associate offers in 2023 were made prior to the launch of law schools’ formal interview programs.
While this transition bestows control to law firms over the candidates they speak to, the question arises whether this revolution is coming a little too swiftly, disrupting the comfort zone of traditional legal recruiting.
Reference: Above the Law